The members of the French Federation scattered across the four corners of the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium on Tuesday during France-England (1-2) were not enough to fill the big void in the enclosure, but had to end up with tinnitus despite the sad silence of the place. Their ears were indeed ringing all evening at the dreary atmosphere provided by only 10,194 spectators, the worst attendance of the Hervé Renard era, who nevertheless dreamed of a boiling Cauldron.
The English colleagues took great joy in talking about a French “shame”, while the first leg of the clash in Newcastle (victory for the Blues 2-1) on Friday brought together more than 42,000 fans. Lionesses at Saint James’ Park. New boss of French women’s football, Jean-Michel Aulas seemed impressed by the spectacle in the north of England and could only note the gulf compared to the Chaudron, who did not fail to “greet” in his own way the ex-Lyon boss.
“We hope that for the Olympics, things will go differently”
Grace Geyoro, vice-captain of the Blues
Five years after the Women’s World Cup in France, which was supposed to boost the discipline in France, interest in the Blues still remains quite discreet. “It’s a shame, we tried to send messages, to attract as many people as possible to fill the stadium, but we didn’t succeed,” said vice-captain Grace Geyoro, bitterly. We hope that for the Olympics, things will go differently. » The French women will indeed return to Forez for their second match against the Canadian Olympic champions, on July 28.
Should we be worried about seeing them play in sparse enclosures at the Games? It is too early to panic, especially since before the flop in Saint-Étienne, the French had achieved some good attendances, in Rennes against Austria (3-0, December 1, 26,453 spectators) or with a home record outside the World Cup against Germany, at Groupama Stadium in Décines (2-1, February 23, 30,267 spectators).
On the FFF side, Tuesday evening, we favored the economic thesis, in a town of Saint-Étienne which had just largely celebrated the rise of the Greens in Ligue 1. And the games during the week do not help to attract families. The Federation should have fewer headaches for the reception of Sweden at the Gaston-Gérard stadium in Dijon on July 12, the last match in France before the Games, since the 15,459-seat enclosure seems better proportioned.
