Flashback: Rennes - Toulouse 1998

Context

With only a game left before the end of the Division 1 championship, season 1997-1998, three teams were neck and neck with the common goal to save their position in the French top flight: RC Strasbourg (14th with 34 points), Stade Rennais (15th with 33 points) and En Avant de Guingamp (16th with 33 points). With only two of these three teams to be rescued, everything was there to lose. Far from this mathematical considerations, Chateauroux and Cannes were already sentenced to be relegated in second division.
At the end of a thrilling 33rd match day, Rennes had gone through all sorts of states. Pushed around for most of the game, Rennes eventually snatched a salvaging equaliser at the Stade de la Beaujoire, in Nanres (1-1, goal by Yoann Bigné). In the same time, Le Havre’s striker Cyrille Pouget punished the Armoricans from Guingamp at the 88th minute (The HAC won 2-1 at the Roudourou). While the “Rouge et Noir” had seemed to be stuck in a dead end for long weeks, cards suddenly seemed to be reshuffled. Stade Rennes hosted Toulouse as part of the final Championship match day, with the advantage of having their fate in their own hands. A success against the Occitan team (already sure to remain in Division 1) would guarantee the club’s survival in the top division. An ending to the season not many still believed to be possible only a few weeks earlier.

Before the game: high tension in Rennes

The final moments of the season brought high pressure on the Vilaine banks. Guy David, the SRFC manager, called for support from the whole region to push his player in this crucial final game against Toulouse, on May 9, 1998 at the Route de Lorient. The man from Marseille had planned it long ahead, affirming it loud, like an oracle: “Everything will be played on the last game week, not before”.
Fifteen days earlier, Rennes had snatched a point on the road, En Avant lost one at home, punished by a Le Havre team playing their game until the last minute. In the closing stages of a 34 games long drama, Brittany was torn once more between its two biggest teams (EAG had come to win in Rennes, 2-1, in the 32nd match day) and half of the region could truly thank Normandy. This is why Loïc Lambert, the iconic Stade Rennes player, offered his praise to Le Havre, the judge of an encounter close-fought as ever. Before entering the game, the Rennes players were rather optimistic, and confident in their ability. “Based on what we’ve tried and achieved this season, honestly – I’ve not known a squad as united, as motivated as this season”, Loïc Lambert explained, before adding: “At some point, we were 5 points behind the safe zone and everyone thought we were condemned to relegation. It’s our mental ability that will make the difference. I’m convinced of it now”.
Yves Colleu, Guy David’s assistants could only pull in the same direction: “It’s great to have our fate in our own hands. I believe we will use the disillusion against Guingamp to work hard and get in the last gams in the best mental dispositions”. As for Laurent Huard, he repeated to whoever wanted to listen to him: “We actually are on a positive note since three months”, while reckoning :”Even though En Avant have knocked our confidence, we know what we’re worth and we know we deserve to remain in Division 1. We have returned from the point of no return, we won’t give up now”.
Indeed, Guingamp really seemed to have buried all Rennes’ hopes a few days earlier. Everyone in Rennes had somehow given up hope after the first half in Nantes and the goal by N’Diaye. Forty-five minutes however, the winds had changed, magically, as if the Gods of Football had suddenly decided to back the club from the Breton capital to the detriment of their competitors from the Côtes-D’Armor.

The Outcome

D-Day, The stadium was packed for the occasion, 18.883 spectators rammed in the Stade de la Route de Lorient, all of them hoping they would be able to sigh in relief at the end of the game. The Rennes supporters, many of them equipped with Walkmans and radios were soon feeling a bit better. Indeed, Cannes had scored first against Guingamp after only eight minutes in the game, thanks to a goal by former Saint-Brieuc man José Bray. In Alsace, RC Strasbourg also scored first against Auxerre, through Frédéric Arpinon, nearly guaranteeing their survival in the top flight. In Rennes, Goussé faced Gouaméné on a one-on-one, but the Toulouse goalkeeper won the challenge brilliantly. As expected, the game was of very average quality, but this wasn’t the most important. At half-time, Rennes was virtually saved, the tension remaining palpable in the stadium however. After the break, Tasfaout equalised in Cannes (2-1) before Moreira put Guingamp in front. 56 minutes had been played, and Stade Rennes was heading to Division 2! The Parc des Sports de la Route de Lorient was stunned and the fans could not believe it. Thanks to the man who would wear the Rennes shirt during three seasons (2006-2009), Guingamp had returned in front of Rennes, unable to take the edge on a rather lacklustre Toulouse. Pressure was high, nearly unsustainable, as the wrestle between the Breton teams kept on holding all its promises. Seventeen long minutes would follow, in which Rennes saw themselves in all sorts of troubles… until a bolt of lightning at the 73rd minute, by joker Kaba Diawara. At the reception of a beautiful delivery by Mikaël Silvestre, the Rennes striker headed the ball to score his third goal of the season (after Châteauroux and Guingamp) at the ideal moment. The old Stade de la Route de Lorient was falling into raptures. Rennes had finally taken the advantage, and virtually saved their place in D1. The last fifteen minutes were as tense as it gets. Guingamp scored a third goal in Cannes (1-3), while Strasbourg dominated Montpellier on the unquestionable score of 3 goals to 0. Rennes had no choice but sticking to their slight advantage or Division 2 would become more than a nightmare, a sad reality. After a few more cold sweats, referee Gilles Veissière finally offered Guy David’s players their liberation. The crowd could celebrate, Stade Rennes would remain in Division 1 for another season.
On the brink of collapse, the “Rouge et Noir” found the resources to avoid the dishonour of relegation. After the game, Guy David and the “Rouge et Noir”’s coaching staff revealed they had been informed of the other scores throughout the games, and especially’s of Guingamp’s in Cannes: “So when I heard En Avant was leading 2-1, I immediately brought Eli Kroupi in”, the Breton manager explained. Finally, it was another Rennes striker who would make the difference a few minutes later, to the delight of the Marseille coach and of all the Rennes fanbase.

Match facts

Rennes 1 - 0 Toulouse
Division 1, 34th Game week
May 9th, 1998

Stade de la route de Lorient
Attendance : 18 883 spectators

Goal: K. Diawara (73’) for Rennes

- Rennes : Heurtebis - Brinquin, Capron, Rossi - Silvestre, Viaud (Kroupi, 63’), Bigné (Grégoire, 76’ème) - Huard, Weiser, Diawara, Goussé (Réveillère, 77’). (Manager. : G. David)

- Toulouse : Gouaméné - Paviot, Arribagé, Galdamès, Santini (Tchimbakala, 46’) - Strzelczak, Salaün (Loret, 77’), Taborda - Moreau, Tiéhi, Maharzi (Patouillard, 30’). (Manager. : Giresse)

Aftermath

Beyond the sportive relief, François Pinault, very attached to the club of his childhood, had promised he would invest money in Stade Rennes if the club was to remain in the first division. The mission was accomplished after this short but mighty victory over Toulouse. The man who had helped to bring Laurent Pokou, the club’s best player ever, fifteen years earlier, then bought up the club from the Breton capital and named Pierre Blayau (CEO of Moulinex) as the Stade Rennais President. A sponsor since several years, François Pinault took charge at the helm of the club in May 1998, setting up much higher goals. The first mission was to stabilise Rennes in the French top flight, then arm it with an important financial and economic stature. But this wasn’t all. The then president of the huge Pinault-Printemps-Redoute (PPR) constorium then announced his final aim to win the France Champion title within ten years.

Sources :
- Archives from Ouest France and France Football