Bauer's da Name ⋆ An Old International

Bauer’s da Name

A football ground is so much more than just a football ground for football fans. It is home, it is a sacred space, a place where people meet friends and family. Its names are just as sacred as the places. Red Star FC’s fans will feel elated these days.

For years if not decades, the home ground of Red Star has been known under two names: its official one and its nickname chosen by the fans. Matchday programmes and tickets bear the name Stade de Paris, while the fans will sing

‘Le Red Star c’est seulement à Bauer!’

thus indicating that the designations for the stadium differ between fans and club. It is not the only point where opinions vary to the point where they are simply at opposite ends of the argument.

Fans make their mark


It is already the second issue on the club’s agenda where their supporters have made their mark and got their will. A few months back it has been decided that Red Star will stay at their ground and redevelop it instead of moving to a newly built ground somewhere else in the town of Saint Ouen.

As of February 8, 2021, the club’s ground is now named Stade Bauer, officially. Since its opening in the early 1910s, the name has been Stade de Paris, indicating the proximity to the French capital. You can see Sacré Cœur from the main stand, hear, see and smell the boulevard périphérique, the Parisian ringroad. However, the ground is located in the rue du Dr. Bauer, a local communist medic and member of the résistance who was shot in 1942.

The fans have thus more reason to celebrate as their club does NOT move away from this historic site, something for which they have lobbied for years and now their beloveth football ground carries officially the name it has been given ages ago.

There is only one wish left: getting back to Ligue 2 and play at their home ground. Football has always had a romantic edge to it and fans do Red Star will long time not wake up from this romantic dream.

Good writing does not come by chance, so consider this:

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