Women’s football has, perhaps, never had it better. At least in terms of interest it has generated among fans. Atletico Madrid’s Wanda Metropolitano and the Juventus stadium witnessed unprecedented crowds thronging the stands in recent times, for instance.
Paris were expected to follow suit. The occasion couldn’t have been for the French capital to affirm that, women’s football, across Europe is gathering significant momentum. The long queues outside the Jean Bouin Stadium, packed with young boys and girls, just before kick-off was an encouraging sight.
The occasion needed the fans to rally behind their team, who were trailing by two goals. Paris Saint-Germain women were facing Chelsea women in the quarter-finals of the Uefa Champions League, the continental showpiece. Inside the stadium, though, the occasion had taken a backseat. A big group of PSG supporters and their unrelenting chants to the beat of drums took centrestage.
It didn’t really matter what was going on, on the pitch. The group, identifying themselves as Collectif Ultras Paris had a number of things to say and expressed themselves through banners. One moment, it was about “depriving their freedom” and another, a flag with “Save Mali” written on it was unfurled.
However, the chants continued to be eulogies about PSG and their supposed greatness. Football Ultras and their conduct, run-ins with opposition fans, and the violence that breaks out every now and then has been a recurring theme. While England have tackled with the problems these groups bring, it is not the same in other parts of Europe.
Factions of fan groups have given the local police a bit of a nightmare over the years. Boulogne Boys – another PSG wing – and the Ultras clashed in March 2010, and things would change forever in the stands. Yann Lorence, a member of the Boys was killed and the club decided to take matters in their own hands with then president Robin Leproux banning all ultra groups from Parc des Princes, the home of PSG men.
This, of course, was during a time when the club didn’t have the billions of Qatar Sports Investment backing them. It was unfathomable that PSG could attract some of the biggest names in world football.
After the takeover of QSI, more problems cropped up with the owners hiking their ticket prices significantly at the end of their first year in charge. The mega-project was here to stay and the Ultras, who recognise themselves as the heart, and definitely, the voice of the club felt like they were handed out a raw deal.
Ban? No problem
Being chased away from Parc des Princes didn’t deter CUP. They just had to get across the street for their voices to reverberate across the stands. The Jean Bouin gave them a new lease of life and they rallied behind PSG women.
The prices for the women’s matches continues to be nominal and CUP found an outlet to vent their ire and importantly, back the dark blue jersey. There are songs that are aimed at the new regime. A 2015 report stated that PSG was working in tandem with the police to collect personal data on their supporters. Two years earlier, a little more than two thousand fans received stadium bans.
The QSI regime under Nasser El-Khelaifi can argue that there were several far-right elements, racist and anti-Semitic, who were tarnishing the club’s image.
As things stand, the CUP have found their backing the women’s team. Ashley Lawrence, Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Formiga are now encouraged by deafening noises, consistent irrespective of what was happening on the pitch. All’s not pretty and during the first leg at Chelsea, a handful of fans were found having knifes and drugs outside the stadium.
The CUP nearly witnessed their team mount a memorable comeback. Being 0-2 after the first leg, PSG put up a dominant second half performance to level scores. Alas, they were halted in their tracks by Maren Mjelde’s last-gasp goal, that put Chelsea women in the semi-finals.
Gender clearly doesn’t discriminate when it comes to PSG’s rotten luck in the Champions League.
The CUP were not deterred. They saw their team show heart, control the game and create loads of chances. The red flares went up (something that is banned across the French league) and the heartbroken PSG players, who looked poised to set up a mouthwatering all-French clash with heavyweights Lyon walked up to Ultras to thank them for their support. Very few women’s teams around the world can now boast of such a boisterous, loyal group of fans.
Disclosure: This reporter traveled to France on a trip sponsored by Ligue 1.
