Calais RUFC (France)
Calais
Racing Union FC. Let me tell their story.
Nicknamed
‘Les Sangs et Ors’
(The Blood (Reds) and Golds), Calais Racing Union FC was founded in 1974 after
two amateur clubs in the area, Racing Club de Calais and Union Sportive. Racing
Club Calais were somewhat cup specialists, featuring in the last 16 of the
Coupe de France quite regularly in the 1920’s.
They even managed, as an amateur club, to reach the quarter finals of the cup
in 1922. Their biggest result was beating CASG Paris in the second round of the
tournament, 3-2 in 1921. The club opted to go professional in 1933, but
struggled financially and so they dropped out after only five years of
professional football in 1938. They remained in the amateur leagues until 1974
when the merger with Union Sportive happened.
Union
Sportive was founded later than Racing Club de Calais, in 1947. They were a
product of another merger of two amateur clubs before them, they had a less
glamourous history, with the only notable success for them was reaching the
last 32 of the Coupe de France. It was 1974 when the two clubs decided to
merge, incorporating both their names into the new club’s name, Calais Racing Union FC. They also used both
of their original club colours for the new club. The club remained an amateur
side, playing in the lower leagues of the French football pyramid, having
moderate success as well. They were crowned champions of the Division Three
(North) league in the 1980-81. They also were crowned champions of CFA Group A
four times in 1987-88, 1997-98, 2002-03, and 2009-10. They were title winners
in CFA 2 Group B as well in 2010-11. CFA, is the Championnat de France Amateur
league in which 64- clubs compete in different groups. It is effectively the
fourth tier of French football under Ligue 3.
It
wasn’t Calais Racing Union FC’s league triumphs that interested me though while
researching them. It was their cup won in the 1999-00 Coupe de France and the
story that it told. I had been informed by French football experts that this
cup run was like no other and that it could easily have been mistaken as a
movie. When I investigated it, it really did come across as Roy of the Rovers
kind of stuff and it was just too unbelievable not to include in this book. In
1999-00 Calais entered the Coupe de France, not realising that they would be
embarking on a surreal journey. The club would knock out professional clubs
such as Racing Strasbourg and Bordeaux on their way to reaching the final at
the Stade de France here they would face Nantes on the 7th of May
2000 under the guidance of Spanish coach, Ladislas Lozano.
The
round of 16 saw Calais narrowly get past Division 2 side AS Cannes on
penalties, winning the shoot-out 4-3 after the match had been drawn 1-1. The
quarter finals saw Calais take an even bigger scalp, defeating Division 1 side
Strasbourg 2-1 to set up a semi-final tie with French football giants Bordeaux.
With the game being played at the Stade Felix Bollaert, Lens, not many gave the
amateur side a chance, but like in previous rounds, they surprised everyone.
With the game ending 0-0 in 90 minutes, it went to extra time. Many would have
predicted the professional side, Bordeaux would have too much for the amateur
side in regards fitness levels. But their predictions would have been proved
wrong as Calais took a surprise lead in the 99th minute with a goal
from their midfielder, and local lad, Cedric Jandau. Bordeaux hit back quickly
though, with the French International forward, Lilian Laslandes equalising in
the 108th minute. Calais weren’t
shaken by Bordeaux and took the lead again just before half time in extra time
when Milien struck in the 113th minute. They were now fifteen
minutes away from an unthinkable Coupe de France final. The amateur side held
on, and even improved the scoring by getting a third in the 119th
minute and all but sealing their place in the final with a goal from Gerard.
The
final was played in front of 78,717, something that the Calais players would
never have experienced before, with many of them still working their day jobs
as dock workers, teachers and office clerks. Nobody would have blamed them for
letting the occasion get the better of them, but that was not to be the case.
Like the other rounds before, Calais went on the attack and showed no fear to
their professional counterparts, and even took a surprise lead thanks to a 34th
minute goal from their number eleven, Jerome Dutitre. Nobody could quite
believe what was happening, with the amateur side looking like the professional
one, with one hand on the cup as they took their lead into half-time. Pundits
and fans were awaiting the second half with huge anticipation, hoping to see
something special happen. An amateur side winning a major honour in one of the
top leagues in Europe is not something that anyone could envisage in today’s game, not even 20 years ago. Unfortunately, five
minutes into the second half, the fairy tale ending started to disappear when
former Manchester City, Newcastle United and Wigan striker, Antoine Sibierski
equalised. He, his teammates and the Nantes fans were probably the only people
to celebrate the goal as the willingness to see the underdog win by a whole
nation was obvious. Calais defended brilliantly for the rest of the game and
had their own chances to take the lead.
At 1-1, going into the 90th minute, Calais looked like they
would get another thirty minutes in extra time to re-group and have another go,
but then their dreams came crashing down when referee Claude Colombo awarded
Nantes a penalty in the 90th minute. Up stepped that man again,
Antoine Sibierski to spoil the party and he did it with no hesitation, slotting
away the penalty, giving Nantes a 2-1 lead and winning them the Coupe de France
for the 3rd time in their history, and retaining the title from the
previous season. Consequently, Sibierski finished the top goalscorer in the cup
that season with six goals. I spoke with French expert (INSERT NAME) and he
told me what it was like watching that whole cup run back then, and how French
football couldn’t believe what they were seeing.
(Interview)
Thank you for taking the time out to talk about Calais Racing
Union FC. Such a great modern day football story. What can you remember about
that cup run>
It happened just after World Cup, France 98’, so there must have been
such a buzz in the country at the time already. Do you think France winning the
World Cup may have inspired that Calais team in their success?
Some people outside of France may say that the Coupe de France isn’t a trophy that many big
clubs in France take too seriously and that’s why an amateur team like Calais were able to make it to the
final. What do you say to those people?
What player sticks out in your mind when you think of Calais?
They are a ‘Forgotten Club’ because they have dissolved, which is a shame. Did people in
France feel sad that a club who created so much excitement only a few years
before were no longer in existence?
France is no different to other countries in that they have had
their fair share of ‘Forgotten Clubs’ over the years. What are the reasons for so many cubs dissolving
in your country?
Finally, Do you think the original Calais will ever make a return
to the football leagues in France?
That
was to be the highlight of Calais Racing Union football Club’s history, with the club playing in the lower
leagues until they were dissolved in September 2017 due to financial reasons,
having been relegated the previous season due to going into administration
because of FFF rules. The club Calais will be forever known as the underdogs of
modern football, coming so close to winning a major trophy in one of the major
footballing countries in the world. Their story gives hope to those clubs who
enter their respective cup competitions, with the dream of reaching the final
against all odds. With the gap from top to bottom growing ever wider, due to
finances that the top tier clubs have compared to the non-league clubs. In
France it has happened a few times, but few would have predicted it would happen in 1999-00, and it
still remains as a special story in French football. That’s why we love football. Anything can happen. As for
Calais, that area of France doesn’t
have a football team representing since Calais Racing Union FC. Will there be
one founded in the future? The have a lot to live up to if there is.