Updated 28th February

THIS WEEKEND. Red Star have a tricky trip across Paris to play Ivry on Sunday. In the match earlier this season at Marville, Ivry won 2-0 against a very poor Red Star. Elsewhere in the CFA 2 this weekend, Rethel play another relegation candidate Chantilly, at home. Aubervilliers are at home to Orléans whilst Chartres and Chaumont travel to Choisy-le-Roi and Créteil respectively. Other games : Auxerre - Châlons-en-Champagne, Saint-Quentin - Reims and another Picardy derby between Roye and Beauvais. DIVISION HONNEUR. Red Star reserves are at Villemomble, Sunday at 3-30pm CET DNCG . THE DNCG, which controls the finances of French fooball clubs is to set up regional commissions especially for clubs in the Championnat de France Amateur 2 (CFA2) and the Division d'Honneur (DH). HABIB SISSOKO. Former Red Star man currently at Nîmes (National) had a fall-out with supporters of his new club last Saturday, which has resulted in him being suspended by the club.

Updated 25th February

Kébé, Yessad, Hamdane (captain in the absence of the dropped Santos), Carles and Lakrout all were probably closely watched on Saturday by Cherif Oudjani, former player now a scout at Lille. DIVISION HONNEUR. Bobigny 1 Red Star 0 (0-0). Despite having numerical superiority, Red Stars' reserves failed to cash in and lost to a goal scored by Jean Gilles (77). Red Star : Bensassi, Fofana, Fourneuf, Mouflard (Dewambez 82), Lebuyan, Boukouya (Yliha 61), Chéribi (Debbah 80), Gire, Dao, Mangin, Uger. Coach: Badoud. Elsewhere : Meaux - Brétigny 1-0, Racing - Le Mée 0-0, Versailles - Arménienne 0-1, Evry - Villemomble 1-3, Sainte-Geneviève des Bois - Paris FC 3-0. Table : 1. Le Mée 43 pts, 2. Versailles 42 pts … 12. Evry 25 pts, 13 Red Star 24 pts, 14. Meaux 20 pts. VICTORY. Under 16s : Troyes - Red Star : 2-4 MINUTES' SILENCE. A minutes silence was observed at Bauer on Saturday in honour of Fred Aston.

Updated 21st February

DECISION. Red Star can finishe this season, that's the good news, after the decision announced yesterday by the courts in Bobigny. The next decsion will be taken on May 15th. UNCERTAIN FUTURE. The debts of Red Star appear to be greater than the 1 570 987 euros previously announced. Creditors are appearing from all sides, and Red Star risks to be in trouble for sacking youth team coaches whilst still under contract. Therefore, barring a miracle, liquidation will be announced on the 15th of May - unless an investor arrives with 2 million euros in his pocket ! If this were to happen, AS Red Star would continue to trade. Liquidation does not signify the end of the club, it could be reborn under a new name, including "Red Star", as in 1978, when Red Star FC became AS Red Star. All it takes is for someone to cough up enough cash and have a reasonable project for the club. It is up to the judge to decide who will take over the club and when. Automatically with liquidation the former directors are not allowed to be involved with the new set up, but this does not prevent them from appointing their own stooges to be candidates for the takeover. Vigilance is necessary - we have been informed that the name "Red Star FC" could have been registered by people closely linked with the current directors ! Should the club be taken over, there is still therisk of the FFF forcibly relegating the Saint-Ouen club to the local DH, as happened in 1978. If the club is relegated anyway, the Ligue de Paris could grant Red Star a favour in allowing them to play in the DH 2003-204. CANDIDATES. According to the press, two candidates have emerged to take over the club. The first is William Delannoy, town councillor for the opposition at Saint-Ouen and former president of the "Puces" market at Saint-Ouen. He has created an association at the end of November called "Together for the regeneration of Red Star". His project is backed by several large businesses in Saint-Ouen. In the statutes registered at the préfecture, it is clearly stated that no member of the former administrative council of the club can be associated with the new set up. The second potential saviour is Monsieur Jean-Yves Le Gourrierec, director of a communications agency and a long-time supporter of Red Star. He aims to finalise his project at the end of March. CLAUDE CHAZOTTES. Former player and hero of Red Star FC and currently president of the former players association, Claude Chazottes stated in Le Parisien "It's great that the court has let the club continue until the end of the season, but liquidation might not be such a bad thing, as it lets the club start again from zero, because the club cannot continue as it is. We didn't just fall D II to the CFA 2 in four years without there being serious errors in management, recruitment and a sort of delusions of grandeur. Last season, the academy was financed by private funds and costed between € 700 000 and 900 000. I'm not pointing the finger at anyone, but I was assured that the club had a sound financial base after the Coupe de la Ligue semi final and the Coupe de France cup run in 2000. I'm ready to help Red Star but not to be manipulated.." ALSO IN THE PRESS. Yesterdays L'Equipe ran a half-page article on Red Star (when was the last time we saw that ???), illustrated by a photo of Steve Marlet playing for the club, and it gave a teams of ex-Red Star players now plying their trade elsewhere: Itandje (Lens), Capron (Sedan) Meïté (Marseille), Natchimie (Sedan), Fellahi (Saint-Etienne), Pizzo (Grenoble) Marlet (Fulham), Fadiga (Auxerre), Saci (Guingamp) D. Kamara (Modene), Eloi (Guingamp) … then the subs.... THIS WEEKEND. As well as the clash Red Star v Rethel, other games taking place are Reims - Aubervilliers, Orléans - Créteil, Choisy-le-Roi - Beauvais, Chartres - Châlons-en-Champagne, Chantilly - Auxerre, Chaumont - Ivry and the Picardie derby Roye - Saint-Quentin. Normally Red Star should start with the same squad as the one which came close to an upset at Auxerre. Mickaël Santos will however be suspended for the trip to Ivry. OFFICIALS. Referee tomorrow evening is Christophe Delacoste, aged 41 ans of the Ligue du Centre. Assistants will be Luc Chevereau and Jean-Philippe Bartier. OTHER GAMES. Troyes v Red Star, in the Championnat de France (under 16s) and Red Star v ACBB, in the DH under 18s.

Updated 20th February

RED STAR REPRIEVED The Tribunal de Grande Instance de Bobigny have authorised Red Star to continue up until the end of the season. This is merely a reprieve, the financial situation of the club is worse than the original debt of € 1 570 987. Other debtors have since pressed their claims against the club. The authorisation has been given thanks to the financial contributions made by the Conseil général in January this year, and the contributions of the Saint-Ouen town council. RED STAR ARE STILL IN TROUBLE.

Updated 12th February

TRIBUTE TO FRED ASTON. In less than six months, the most famous Red Star partnership is no longer with us. Last year André Simonyi passed away, this time it is Fred Aston. A page in the history of the club has been turned. There are still one or two of the older Red Star supporters whom have memories of the great man. The career of the "Will O' the Wisp" as he was nicknamed spanned two decades, a feat rarely achieved these days. As Georges, a supporter of the club now in his 80s said only last Sunday, "I have trouble to remember games from nowadays, whereas the matches from the thirties up to the sixties I remember as if it was yesterday." Freds' name was mentioned during these recollections on Sunday, no-one thought that he was about to join the other legends of the Beautiful Game. Adieu Fred, forver you will be a legend for the supportors at Saint-Ouen.      Fred Aston in France Football, December 2001, and right, at Saint-Ouen during the 1940s. FRED ASTON Born Chantilly, 16th May 1912 Clubs : Chantilly, Red Star (1932-1938), RC Paris, Red Star (1939-1946), Angers, Stade Français. One of the aces of French football during the thirties and the forties, "Will O' the Wisp" practiced his science of dummy and swerving to perfection. A true marvel for the fans, the older ones will remember his partnership with André Simonyi. He signed a contract for 500 F in 1932 for Red Star. In his forst season he was selected for a Paris team which won the Challenge Kentish in 1934 and in the same year was capped for his country. It was the first of thirty one, and also represented the European Continent in a challenge match against England in 1938. He played for Red Star for eleven years. During the season 1946-1947, with SCO d'Angers, he linked up once more with his old partner Simonyi before returning to the Paris region with Stade Français who had just merged with Red Star. Aston won the Coupe de France in 1942 but lost out in 1946. Champion de France Northern Zone in 1941-1942. His international career spanned twelve years and he played in two World Cup finals in 1934 and 1938. In a game France v Belgium in 1944, he scored a goal as did his friend Simonyi and ended his careeer with a brilliant win over the kings of football at that time England at Colombes in front of 60 000 spectators. Here's hoping that before the France - Czech Republic friendly this evening, there will be a tribute to the great man. CHARLES ITANDJE. Meanwhile, ex-Red Star goalkeeper now impressing crowds in the Ligue 1 with Lens, Charles Itandje, is the regular under-21s goalkeeper. He played in the 1-0 won over the young Czechs yesterday evening, but quit the game in the second half through injury. THIS WEEKEND. No first team game, so why not pop along to see the reserves play Versailles at Stade Bauer, kick off 3-30pm CET on Sunday ?

Updated 5th February

AUXERRE. Auxerre v Red Star will kick off on Sunday February 9th at 3pm CET, on the Reserve teams' pitch, situated behind the main stand at Auxerres' ground. There is a reasonble sized grandstand in case it rains ! More importantly, no fences either. Guy Roux could very well be there, as he rarely misses a game of football of one of his teams, irrespective of the level. Either way, our heros will be up against it on Sunday. Auxerres' third team have lost only once this season, and that was a couple of weeks ago against their main rivals for the championship, Roye. In the match at Marville earlier on this season, a strong and youthful Auxerre side won 2-0. It will take a miracle to win the game, given Red Stars' recent run of form, but if Santos & co. can keep Auxerres' strikers at bay as long as possible, then who knows, perhaps we can nick one at the other end. ALLEZ RED STAR !

Updated 4th February

FIRST HOME DEFEAT AT BAUER. The home defeat, which represents the first for Red Star since their return to Stade Bauer in October 2002 could not have come at a worse time, with the Tribunal de Grande Instance at Bobigny pondering the clubs future. A date of 20th February has been set for the decision on Red Stars' future. As for the game, the visitors took the lead early on only for Red Stars' M'Boungou-Matondo to pull one back. Before the break Châlons had restored their lead, and then extended it futher into the second period. With Red Star being the only team to have played this weekend, their immediate rivals at the foot of the table now know exactly what they have to do in the relegation battle. The solid pitch and Arctic conditions made playing conditions hazardous and having lost and lost badly, Red Star must now wonder why they wanted to play in the first place. Freezing pitch at Bauer on Saturday OPTIMISM. The rag handed out by the clubs' management on Saturday contained much of the usual, but raised smiles from the few supporters present; this time it seems that the rags' editorial team had printed their sheet before the news had broken about the February 20th date: according to the club, Red Star had been given a lifeline by the courts to continue up until the end of the season. The leaflet went on to have a go at unnamed enemies of the club who are it seems taking pleasure in seeing Red Star die a miserable death. Presumably they refer to the "Dead Branches", the ones that pay good money and spend their afternoons chasing around watching and encouraging the players. Just to state it in plain English, we supporters are independant, we don't want to see the club die, nor do we take masochistic pleasure in watching the youngsters lose. WE SUPPORT RED STAR AND HOPE THAT THE TGI AT BOBIGNY GIVE RED STAR THE GREEN LIGHT TO CONTINUE UNTIL THE END OF THE SEASON Meanwhile, AllezRedStar.com were on the radio on Friday evening, broadcasting on Europe 1, Gérard and former Red Star coach Pierre Repellini were interviewed on the deplorable state of the club. The interviews lasted a good half an hour and gave an unbiased view of the recent years of the Saint-Ouen club. Finally, should any of the clubs' directors wish to state their case using this site as a platform, then the door is wide open, we would welcome any contribution from them. After all, this is a democratic site !

Previous Page      Back to the Index Page