“I think we wouldn’t have come if it hadn’t been free…”. Tray of fries in hand, David and his son are preparing to discover the Charléty stadium (Paris 13th arrondissement). Like them, a certain number of them visited the grounds of Paris FC for the first time, which faced Bastia this Saturday evening during the 14th day of Ligue 2 (1-0). And for good reason, the PFC has launched its “free” operation for all its home championship matches both for its women’s team in Division 1 and its men’s team in Ligue 2. On the other hand, free tickets do not concern Champions League matches of the women’s team.
“There are two issues,” explains Pierre Ferracci, president of the PFC. One is operational for the club. The idea is to better fill Charléty, who still remains one of our weak points. The second issue is societal. We want to make football more attractive (…) Citizens have purchasing power problems, young people in particular (…). In these cases, what do we do? Leisure activities are being cut, particularly football and cinema. So we come there less. We want to make this football more accessible and more popular.”
At each meeting, a maximum gauge will be set according to the posters. Saturday evening against Bastia, it was around 8,000 free places and had even been reached during the week. Ultimately, 6,438 spectators came to Charléty (so less than expected). The club will therefore have to face the problem of “no-shows”, these people who take a ticket but who do not come. “Little by little, things will settle down,” Pierre Ferracci wants to believe. “We are going to do a lot of communication work on this plan to make citizens responsible. If you book, come! », Continues the president of the PFC. The fact remains that for this meeting, the attendance was higher than last season’s average (4,135 spectators per match in 2022). Ultimately, Paris FC hopes to double this figure.
