Christmas is also made up of small, unexpected miracles. And in the north of France, before the end of the year in the major European championships, in a mining area hit by unemployment, this has been happening for weeks. Lens, a small town of 32,697 inhabitants, is only one match away from seeing its team, the pride of the entire region, become winter champion of Ligue 1. An unexpected feat in a competition governed by clubs with enormous economic power like PSG, teams with a long history, like Olympique de Marseille, or entities with great work in grassroots football, like Olympique de Lyon. “It’s true, we’re a bit of a Christmas story. But everything responds to a strategy of coherence, work and alignment of the entire club,” explains Benjamin Parrot, general director of the Racing Club de Lens, by telephone.
Lens, owned by the president of Grupo Prisa (publisher of EL PAÍS), Joseph Oughourlian, started the season at rock bottom. The team was forced to sell some of its key players, like El Aynaoui, Facundo Medina, Ryan and Andy Diouf, all holders, due to the financial drought of French football, caused largely by the shortage of distribution of television rights. The team changed coach (Pierre Sage was signed) and sporting director (Jean-Louis Leca arrived). Parrot himself landed in the mining town, promoting a careful renewal process combining quality signings at very reasonable prices (no more than seven million euros), important transfers to Rome and Inter Milan and the gradual incorporation of young players (seven in the first team). The result is an intense team that is very difficult to control: three defeats and one draw. And a solitary leader, one point above the almighty PSG and five ahead of Marseille, third team, and only one match – that of January 2 against Toulouse – from the title of winter champion.
The scale of the Sang et Or’s feat – which owes its name to the club’s colors, adopted by the Spanish flag – can be deciphered from several angles. The first responds to the importance that the club has in the territory (Haute-France region). The Bollaert-Delelis stadium has a capacity of 38,223 people, more than the number of people living in the city itself. “Our motto is to be proud to be from Lens. And you can come from the city, but also from elsewhere. In fact, the average time it takes for fans to get to the stadium is 50 minutes. And that speaks to the interest in watching the games,” says Parrot.
The history of Lens, as is the case of only a few clubs in Europe, has its roots in the love of the territory, emanating from a strong link with a place where the unemployment rate is one of the highest in France and in the city where 60% of the population lives in social housing. There have been over 60 years of mining, 4.8 million tonnes of coal extracted from the pits, 2,500 employees at peak activity. The conversion was difficult. And the Pas-de-Calais department, also under pressure from immigration, has for years been experiencing an ideological transformation where the far right has imposed itself by exploiting certain social inequalities. The stadium is, however, a free zone where unity around the team is total. “Being Lensois means restoring pride to a territory. And knowing our roots, perpetuating our traditions and promoting our identity gives us strength and it is also important for the management of the club,” believes Parrot.
The miracle of Lens, or the relevance of this first place (the team only won one championship in the 97-98 season), can be understood through the economic figures. Ligue 1 has experienced a long and difficult process of decline in its capacity to generate television revenue. Today, the money distributed between clubs amounts to 300 million euros (the Premier League reaches around 2,000 and Ligue 1 100). Lens is owed around 11 million euros and must compete with other clubs who offset that revenue through shareholder power, such as second-placed Paris Saint-Germain itself.
In this context of absolute scarcity in the distribution of television rights, the club allocates 27 million euros to the salaries of its players, the tenth in payroll of the entire competition. However, it is fourth in terms of commercial revenue and third in t-shirt sales. Lens, which has a waiting list of 25,000 people to become season ticket holders of the club, has become a sort of religion for many supporters. “Today, football companies are proliferating, but we are a club. And that requires building very strong human synergies. Forging links that go beyond the contract.”
Next January 2, in Toulouse, these links could certify their success by crowning the team champion of the first round. From there, nothing will stop us from continuing to dream of a title that only three teams have – Montpellier in 2012, Monaco in 2017 and Lille in 2021, have managed to challenge PSG over the past 15 years.
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