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It is a well-established ritual for journalists. Arriving at the stadium in an empty parking lot, passing a badge, signing the register, setting up in the press gallery, some debates on the composition, the entry of the teams accompanied by a game of light and Justice. And then the silence. So heavy, so heavy. For a year now, supporters of France have been living football from afar, deprived of a stadium, partially given the gauges, or totally. Roazhon Park has sounded hollow far too many times this season, empty of its followers now stranded behind a screen. If in 2021 we still follow a match on the radio or TV, we do not miss a beat on Twitter. “It is an essential tool that I associate with the Stade Rennais all the time. It is the good wine that accompanies a meal. ” Explain Marcoleptik, troublemaker of the red and black community with the valves always well felt. “Twitter allows me to keep in touch with the community, with the club, much more than if I were just reading articles. It is a community of discussion, of enthusiasts. »Testifies for his part Tomjez, expatriate supporter for many years, and therefore used to living his passion for the SRFC from afar. However, the winged network has its limits according to Fabrice, co-creator of Memory Red, site collecting all possible information on the club, a true encyclopedia of its history, and today maintained by a large team. “Twitter is just a plus for sharing information, keeping a link in the community of supporters. This is not what generates the passion. “
However, can we consider that failing to be able to go to Roazhon Park, a virtual stadium has been created this season? “Completely, or a virtual bistro with about 30 people over a beer, to make jokes, and shout when there is a goal.” It has this substitution function. Abounds Tomjez, joined by Marcoleptik. “We have a little less passion, no one is at the stadium so everyone is on an equal footing. It’s different, but still interesting to follow. If dialogue is therefore possible in writing on Twitter, exchanges at the refreshment bar or in forums have become impossible. It is in this spirit that Julien Monnier alias Jean Villejan decides during confinement to create a podcast dedicated to supporters of Stade Rennais, The Red and Black Talk. “I had time to do something seriously, I asked Mélanie Durot to accompany me, we did a pilot, then afterwards we invited supporters because the Rennes community is quite active and funny, and was developing. . We saw a lot of people participating in all of this, and since we couldn’t go to the stadium anymore, we thought it would be nice to give people a say. The podcast made it possible to reach a lot of people, like when you meet at the local before entering the stadium, to talk about our memories. There we could no longer do it. “
A virtual stadium?
Roazhon ParkCredit Photo – Icon Sport
Exchange, meet, remember, but also debate, shout, encourage, lament, exult. The stadium makes the fans go through all the emotions at every meeting, which can be more difficult to reproduce at home. “It causes more fatalism. If we lose, no one was able to attend so we did not come for a disappointment, we just experienced it on Twitter. I have the impression that since the matches are behind closed doors, there is less waiting. There is less excitement in waiting for matches. »Judge Marcoleptik. Fabrice de Rouge Mémoire has another vision. “I think it’s exacerbated even more this year by not being able to go to the stadium. A lot of people see the players through 2-3 sequences of a few minutes each, whereas if they saw them at the stadium they would have a different perception of the overall performance. Everything is extreme for little. A missed opportunity and the player is a draw for life, an opportunity put and he signs for Barça tomorrow. Steven Nzonzi, if he leaves this summer will have seen almost nothing but Stade Rennais behind closed doors, and the opinion that people will keep may be a little wrong since his game is not necessarily visible on television, and understandable. “
Prevented from going to Roazhon Park this season, totally or partially when gauges of 5,000 people were still possible at the start of the season, has the Rennes community become more critical? “Yes, this is an observation that I share. I’m trying to stay optimistic, but the season is not as good as we expected. »Admits Marcoleptik. “There are a lot of reviews on this network. We can’t go to the stadium any more, maybe people are taking the game as an outright consumer product. As we cannot say what we think when going to the stadium, it is felt on the social network. This is not, however, the opinion shared by Julien Monnier. “I don’t think it’s the social network that’s changing that. I’ve always known that without the social network. My father is proof of that, he watches a match he groans, then there is a goal and he will say “well done”. People are like that, and the social network only shows the character of the supporters. I don’t think they’ve really changed fundamentally, even if some will sometimes be in excess. “And Tomjez to try to summarize what the Stade Rennais community represents. “It must be said that we still have a community that messes around a lot, that has a lot of self-mockery. This is something that I find super healthy. Most supporters have a lot of perspective and humor about the club, because when you support it for 25-30 years, if you have no humor, you snap. “
Question of perception
Erminig, Jean ProuffCredit Photo – Icon Sport
More critical or not, the SRFC community brings club news to life at the rhythm of the meetings. But unlike the local refreshment bar, it has this difference: it is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. “Social networks are before, during and after the game. You take it from all sides, and it is not easy to sort it out, not to be influenced, to try to remain lucid. If you don’t cut, it rinses you off. »Explains Julien Monnier. Yet this abundance of information is not enough for Fabrice to compensate for a thirst for stadium. “Football is virtual this year. The Champions League, we know that we have been there, that we have lived it, but without having experienced it at the stadium, we have the impression that it is virtual, something that has taken place but not will not be remembered. We will have to go back there with the public one day. “It may not be today or tomorrow, but the supporters will come back, probably by gauges, a concept far from unanimous. “For me it’s horrible not being able to go to the stadium anymore. Even a stadium at 5000, I would have preferred to leave my place because it would not have been the same. I always want to go to the stadium, but not under these conditions. »Proclaims Julien Monnier, joined by Fabrice. “Even with 5,000 people, it’s not Roazhon Park that we know. We have an audience that for two years has brought points and results. We must be one of the teams that suffers the most from the absence of an audience. “At Tomjez, same observation. “Being in this situation, not being able to travel or go to the stadium, it’s hard. If Rennes had played in front of full stadiums, with the Champions League or the moments a little fairer in the league, we would not have sunk like that. “
It is in any case from afar and on Twitter that the supporters of Stade Rennais will experience their next meeting (s). The social network, so divisive, keeps its advantages as well as its disadvantages and sometimes even allows to create opportunities. Marcoleptik was thus able to access the radio through a recurring column on France Bleu Armorique, or to other communities through Twitch. Twitter remains a place to share, but life without a stadium continues this season, and the prospect of a return to the coveted venue is still a long way off. By gauges or not, the public will sooner or later return to Roazhon Park, in a few months, a few years. Until then, on the outskirts of the Vilaine, in town or on a social network, one thing is certain: Stade Rennais will never be alone.
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