It is therefore AS Saint-Etienne which will be in Ligue 2 next season and will face Stade Lavallois. The Greens lost Sunday night on penalties against AJ Auxerre. A reunion between Tango and the Greens hadn’t happened since the 2003-2004 season, it was already in the second division. But a Laval-Saint-Étienne match reminds above all the great years of Stade Lavallois, the 1970s and 1980s when the Mayenne club was then playing in the first division. In Michel Le Milinaire’s squad, there were players like Jean-Marc Miton, Jean-Luc Arribart and Jean-Marc Furlan.
Playing in the “Cauldron” is never easy
Jean-Luc Arribart faced Saint-Étienne when he was a central defender with Stade Lavallois. He remembers complicated trips at Geoffroy-Guichard, the emblematic stadium of the Greens: “We knew we were going to suffer, but at the same time they were legendary stadiums where we had fun. Without being masochistic, we enjoyed going to play because it was an opportunity to shine against the best teams in the world. championship. And it’s still so much more pleasant to play in full stadiums where there is a lot of life, a lot of atmosphere.”
– Julien Provoyeur
Among long-time supporters, we remember great matches against ASSE. Michel Barat has been behind Stade Lavallois since 1966 and he saw matches against Saint-Étienne. At home, he has a room dedicated to football and Tango. He remembers trips to Geoffroy-Guichard, the emblematic stadium of the Greens: “I will always remember that. The club arrives by bus in front of the stadium, the players get off and they give us their accommodation because it was a nice club, a family club.”
– Julien Provoyeur
But above all, Saint-Étienne is historic attendance at the Le Basser stadium in Laval: 20. 849 spectators for the Laval-St Etienne match in August 1979 (Stade 3-2 defeat) and Michel was there: “There were fans on chairs, there were some hanging all over the railings, even in the trees. There were chairs on the pitch, along the lawn.”