Pulling all the stops out?
With two days to go until the derby, the atmosphere is building up slowly at the Route de Lorient. Before a game opposing two clubs that never met in such advantageous sportive position at the same time, Stade Rennes is trying to set up the atmosphere with a score of Breton symbolic and references.
« The agenda of a minister ». This is how Le Télégramme describes, today, the current daily schedule of Raymond Keruzoré. A former player and manager of both teams, the former French international hasn’t stopped receiving the media attention from his home in Thorigné-Fouillard.
It has be agreed that the former midfielder is the perfect man to discuss this topic. Affable, a key character of both Rennes and Brest’s histories and a very knowledgeable person on both clubs, Keruzoré is the symbol of this link that unites the Finistère and the Ille-et-Vilaine, two departments united in Brittany but very different however. Born on the Aulne side, adopted by and embracing Rennes, the face of an elegant Breton football directly inherited from Jean Prouff, he was the perfect man to give the kick-off to such a match. It will be happening on Saturday.
Marketing the Breton identity as a brand
The presence of Raymond Keruzoré will be part of a big initiative by the Stade Rennais to turn the derby into a cultural celebration, following the dynamic they have tried to create over the last few years. It doesn’t matter that some Brest fans refuse to consider their hosts as real Bretons (some would even call their travel a trip to Mayenne), or that very few players in the first teams are actually locals. Patrick Le Lay, talking to the Télégramme, refuses to listen to these arguments and prefers to give sportive reasons. “Ideally, all players would have a name starting with “Le” something, or “Ker” something, he affirms. But I’m not sure it would make us finish first, fifth, or even twentieth in the League”. An explanation that has probably already been given to François Pinault, who expressed the wish of a team strongly representative of the region when he took control of the Stade Rennais in 1998 (ed.: As many presidents at the club before him, such as Louis Girard in the 1960’s or Joseph Dault in the 1970s).
While waiting for a successor to Arnaud Le Lan - the only Breton player ever recruited by Pierre Dréossi since he joined Rennes, it was in 2002 -, the Stade Rennais continue marketing the Breton identity as its own brand, multiplying the hermines and the bagadoù.
« The Breizh epopee », this is what stood on the advertising posters for the « Gwen ha du » shirt this summer, on a background of warrior symbols. An away shirt carefully brought to the front of the scene by the Stade Rennais, creating the public expectation (the other two shirts were launched first, with a teasing during their introduction) and giving the shirt maximal exposure, at the club’s shop or during the summer friendlies.
It would not be a much of a surprise if the SRFC was to play with that away shirt on Saturday evening, if only to match the Breton flags that will be sold around the stadium before the game
«If the fans could sing the Bro Gozh ma Zadoù...»
Surfing on the wave of the 2009 Coupe de France final, Stade Rennes is also trying to bring the charm of the Bro Gozh ma Zadoù (the Breton anthem) all the way to the Stade de la Route de Lorient. A slightly artificial initiative (the number of spectators actually able to understand the Breton words is certainly meagre) and reminding many of a day they would like to forget. But Patrick Le Lay insists, he would like this regionalist reference to last. “If the fans could sing the Bro Gozh ma Zadoù, I would be thrilled”, he affirms, still to the Télégramme. Alas for the president, 30,000 spectators singing is not as easy to manage as the applause of a hundred of spectators in a TV studio.
Whatever happens, after Lors Landat before Rennes - Lyon, Yann-Fañch Kemener will be singing the Bro Gozh ma Zadoù this time for the Stade de la Route de Lorient. And maybe in a near future, the Finisterian Nolwenn Leroy, a former winner of the French singing contest Star Academy, who has recently included the chant in her new released album?
Beyond these considerations, the sportive rivalry remains between the only club to have ever dominated the Breton football (Ed: The boundaries of the Ligue de Bretagne de Football are not including Nantes). Taking a look at the very limited number of games between the sides, one could deem it as inexistent, forgetting that generally when the Stade Brestois shine, Stade Rennes is in trouble, and vice versa. Now that both clubs finally meet at the very top of the French elite (for the first time!), there is a lot of regional prestige to be played this season, at the Route de Lorient just as at Francis-Le Blé.
Au-delà de ces considérations, reste la rivalité sportive, celle qui oppose les deux clubs à avoir jamais dominé le football breton (NDLR : en se limitant à l’actuelle Ligue de Bretagne de football, s’entend). Au vu du faible nombre de rencontres entre les deux équipes, on pourrait la croire inexistante, oubliant que généralement, quand le Stade brestois va bien c’est que le Stade rennais va mal, et vice versa. Aujourd’hui que les deux clubs se retrouvent au sommet de l’élite hexagonale (une première !), c’est une bonne part du prestige régional qui se jouera cette saison, à la route de Lorient comme à Francis-Le Blé.
Brest will be travelling to Rennes with an extreme motivation to show the «big brother », as Keruzoré calls Rennes, that they are really intending to match up with him. “If Brest wins, it will be talked about for ten years. And if we win, it will be discussed for a week. It’s unfair, Le Lay affirms. I hope they will have the elegance to come with nice intentions towards their hosts”. Not sure they will think the same.