How AS Saint-Etienne went from the depths of Ligue 2 to a return to the elite, after two years of purgatory

After two chaotic seasons in Ligue 2, AS Saint-Etienne is back in Ligue 1 on Sunday.

Green is the color of hope, soothing, which inspires calm and harmony, it seems. Quite the opposite of what AS Saint-Etienne lovers have experienced for a little over two years and the relegation of the Stéphanois to Ligue 2. At the end of the 2021-2022 season, the Greens returned to the second division for the first time in eighteen years.

But, on Saturday, August 17, Saint-Etienne is preparing to take back its place in Ligue 1, with a trip to AS Monaco (9 p.m.). The end of a parenthesis that will not have spared the hearts of a Saint-Etienne people who, without knowing it, had bought a ticket for two years of roller coaster, before experiencing liberation on Metz’s pitch, on May 30, during the return play-off for promotion to Ligue 1.

Before this evening in Lorraine, the play-offs remained a nightmare for the Greens. In May 2022, after several seasons flirting with relegation, ASSE was playing for its survival against AJ Auxerre. After two draws (1-1, 1-1), the drama of the evening was pushed to the extreme with a fate that was decided on penalties: 5-4 for Auxerre, promoted to Ligue 1. In the Chaudron de Geoffroy-Guichard, the anger of the Saint-Etienne public spilled onto the pitch, while several of them tried to physically attack the leaders.

A few weeks later, when it was time to start their new life as a Ligue 2 resident, Saint-Etienne was punished with several matches behind closed doors and a three-point deduction. A context far from ideal for the 10-time French champion club, a natural candidate for immediate promotion. To give themselves the means, the Verts then called on Laurent Batlles, former player and assistant coach of the club, who had brought Troyes up to Ligue 1 in 2021. But, like a 6-0 conceded at home against Le Havre, the first part of this 2022-2023 season turned into a nightmare.

At the start of 2023, Saint-Etienne was bottom of Ligue 2. Once again, anger began to rumble. But, driven by a fiery scorer (Jean-Philippe Krasso) and high-performing winter recruits (Gautier Larsonneur, Niels Nkounkou), the Greens were getting back on track. Enough to finish the season in the top half of the table, win back the public and, above all, restore hope and ambition for the following season. Because if ASSE missed out on promotion in 2022-2023, there was no way it would be the case again the following season.

For its second consecutive season in Ligue 2, Saint-Etienne assumes its status, despite the departures of Krasso and Nkounkou. Installed in second place in the championship, the Greens host Paris FC on November 4, 2023, the date chosen by the club to celebrate its 90th anniversary. Against all expectations, ASSE loses (0-1).

The green of hope then darkened in a few weeks, with five consecutive defeats: something unheard of in Forez since before the war. The situation was serious. Saint-Etienne fell back to 7th place and Laurent Batlles was relieved of his duties. Olivier Dall’Oglio was called to the helm of the Saint-Etienne ship. He stopped the bleeding before his team blew hot and cold for a few weeks.

Spring 2024 arrives and, as it does so well, it greens the landscape around the Chaudron. On the pitch of Angers, then a solid second, AS Saint-Etienne wins 3-0 on the 25th day. Better still: loaned in January by Augsburg, striker Irvin Cardona finally unlocks his counter with a double. The start of a crazy end of season for him, author of 10 goals in 22 games, and for the Greens. After seven wins in eight games, including a pivotal match against Bordeaux (led 1-0 in the 90th and reduced to ten, ASSE wins 2-1), Saint-Etienne is second.

Against all expectations, Saint-Etienne found themselves in a position to play for direct promotion to Ligue 1, by grabbing second place behind the untouchable leader Auxerre. But the Greens made several missteps and let Angers take the lead again. Finally third, the Stéphanois eliminated their bête noire, Rodez, in the playoffs (2-0). Enough to validate their ticket for the two-way play-off against FC Metz, 16th in Ligue 1.

In a sold-out Geoffroy-Guichard stadium for the seventh consecutive match, a record in the club’s long history, the Greens won the first leg (2-1). On May 30, they approached the return leg in Metz full of confidence, but the Lorrainers were transformed and won (2-1). The interminable wait dragged on for the Greens, who feared another cruel penalty shootout, like against Auxerre two years earlier. But, on a goal from Ibrahima Wadji, ASSE snatched their ticket to Ligue 1 at the end of extra time.

Good news never comes alone, so the very next day, an announcement was made: after years of negotiations and disappointments, Bernard Caïazzo and Roland Romeyer were finally selling the club. The two co-presidents sold their shares to Kilmer Sports Ventures, a Canadian group based in Toronto, specializing in investments in the world of sport and media. The figurehead of this new project: the South African Ivan Gazidis, appointed president of ASSE after having been general manager of Arsenal (2008-2018) and president of AC Milan (2018-2022).

In a few days, the two dark years in Ligue 2 are swept away by the wind of hope that greens the hearts of Saint-Etienne. AS Saint-Etienne finds, one after the other, Ligue 1, financial stability and ambition, after years of tinkering with bits of string. The end of a nightmare, while waiting, perhaps, for the Greens to one day become the strongest again.