On May 12, 1976, the fabulous epic of Greens ends, Saint-Etienne loses in the final of the Champion Clubs’ Cup against Bayern Munich.
Robert Herbin, Dominique Rocheteau, Jean-Michel Larque, Hervé Revelli, Dominique Bathenay or Ivan Curkovic : 44 years after the famous epic of Greens, the names of these heroes of Saint-Etienne always ring softly in the ears of all the French football fans who knew this era. “Who are the strongest? Obviously, Greens ! “: in the spring of 1976, the refrain flooded the radios and made a splash all over France. The whole country fell in love with these long-haired players from the depths of the Loire. It must be said that on the There were few occasions to catch fire for blue-white-red footballers. Blue at World Cup 58, with the goals of Just fountain, and the European exploits of the Stade de Reims, led by Raymond Kopa, hexagonal football eats its black bread: the national team missed the World Cups 62, 70 and 74 as well as EUROS 64, 68 and 72; and no more French clubs, except Lyon in the 1968 Cup Winners’ Cup, have reached the semi-finals of a European Cup.
The epic of Greens de 76 really started five years earlier: in 1971, many players left Forez, notably for OM, and the successful coach, Albert Batteux, champion with Sainté in 68, 69 and 70, resigned. To replace him, the president Roger Rocher bet on Robert Herbin, who has just hung up his crampons, and the emphasis is on youth with in particular the winners of the 1970 Gambardella Cup (Gérard Jeanvion, Christian Lopez, Dominique Bathenay, Christian Sarramagna) to which two foreign recruits will be added the following year: the Yugoslav goalkeeper Ivan Curkovic and the Argentine defender Oswaldo Piazza. And the sauce wasted no time: in 1974, ASSE achieved the double Coupe-championship and unlike their predecessors, Greens rejuvenated also begin to shine in Europe. The turning point is probably in the fall of 74: in eighths of C1, Saint-Étienne succeeds in eliminating the Hajduk Split in overtime (5-1) after being heavily beaten in the first leg (4-1 ). In the process, they still take the measure of the Poles of Ruch Chorzow, before falling in the semi-final against the future winners, Bayern Munich.
Again authors of the national double, the men of Herbin, nicknamed the Phoenix as he remains impassive in all circumstances, are determined to take their revenge on the continental scene. After leaving KB Copenhagen and the Glasgow Rangers without trembling, the Stéphanois take a cold spell, literally and figuratively, in Kiev where they bow to the local Dynamo (2-0) during an icy evening of March. But once again, the Cauldron de Geoffroy-Guichard will be the site of a reversal of the situation which will remain in the annals. WhileOleg Blokhin, Ballon d’Or 75, misses the inevitable, Revelli gives the advantage to his own before Larque sends them into overtime during which a Rocheteau, wounded and exhausted, delivers the green people. In half, only one small goal from Larque, still him, is enough to Sainté to get rid of PSV and qualify for the Glasgow final.
Facing the French stands the ogre of the moment: Bayern Munich, winner of the two previous editions and led by its world champions Sepp Maier, Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck, Gerd Müller and of course Franz Beckenbauer. 30,000 ASSE supporters make the trip to Scotland and as most of the locals have also taken up the cause of the French, almost all of Hampden Park is behind the Greens.
If Saint-Etienne is deprived of Rocheteau, his Green angel, the French team dominates the match and even hits the amount twice through Dominique Bathenay and Jacques Santini. Poles which have the distinction of being square, unlike those of most stadiums which are round. Without this detail, would these balloons have crossed the line? The Germans, cold and realistic, in any case do not ask the question and 57e , Franz Roth scored the only goal in the game following a quick free kick by the Kaizer Beckenbauer. Despite the disappointment, the return to France is done with great fanfare: in Paris, the heroes of the epic descend the Champs-Élysées in front of a crowd of more than 100,000 people before being received by the President of the Republic, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing. If they will still be champions that year and in 1981 to bring their number of titles to 10, a record that still holds, the Greens have since returned to the ranks and apart from a League Cup in 2013, their record has hardly been stocked. The square posts, meanwhile, have disappeared from Hampden Park and are now enthroned in the museum of the Stéphane club, at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.
Robert Herbin, Dominique Rocheteau, Jean-Michel Larqué, Hervé Revelli, Dominique Bathenay or even Ivan Curkovic: 44 years after the famous epic of the Greens, the names of these heroes of Saint-Etienne still ring softly in the ears of all lovers of French football who knew this era. “Who are the strongest? Obviously, it’s the Greens!” : in the spring of 1976, the refrain flooded the radios and made a splash all over France. The whole country falls in love with these long-haired players from the depths of the Loire. It must be said that at the time, the opportunities to ignite are rare for blue-white-red soccer players. Since the third place of the Blues at the World Cup 58, with the goals of Just Fontaine, and the European exploits of the Stade de Reims, led by Raymond Kopa, hexagonal football eats its black bread: the national team has missed the Cups world 62, 70 and 74 as well as EUROS 64, 68 and 72; and no more French clubs, except Lyon in the 1968 Cup Winners ‘Cup, reached the semi-finals of a European Cup. The Greens’ epic of 76 really began five years earlier: in 1971, many players leave Forez, especially for OM, and the successful coach, Albert Batteux, champion with Sainté in 68, 69 and 70, resigns. To replace him, the president Roger Rocher bet on Robert Herbin, who has just hung up the crampons, and the accent is put on the youth with in particular the winners of the Gambardella Cup 1970 (Gérard Jeanvion, Christian Lopez, Dominique Bathenay, Christian Sarramagna), to which two foreign recruits will be added the following year: the Yugoslav goalkeeper Ivan Curkovic and the Argentinian defender Oswaldo Piazza. And the sauce wasted no time: in 1974, ASSE achieved the double Championship Cup and unlike their predecessors, the rejuvenated Greens also began to shine in Europe. The turning point is probably in the fall of 74: in eighths of C1, Saint-Étienne succeeds in eliminating the Hajduk Split in overtime (5-1) after being heavily beaten in the first leg (4-1 ). In the process, they still take the measure of the Poles of Ruch Chorzow, before falling in the semi-final against the future winners, Bayern Munich. Again authors of the national double, the men of Herbin, nicknamed the Phoenix as it remains impassive in all circumstances, are determined to take their revenge on the continental scene. After leaving KB Copenhagen and the Glasgow Rangers without trembling, the Stéphanois take a cold spell, literally and figuratively, in Kiev where they bow to the local Dynamo (2-0) during an icy evening of March. But once again, the Geoffroy-Guichard Cauldron will be the ground for a reversal of the situation which will remain in the annals. While Oleg Blokhin, Ballon d’Or 75, misses the inevitable, Revelli gives the advantage to his own before Larque sends them into overtime during which a Rocheteau, injured and exhausted, delivers the green people. In the half, only one small goal from Larqué, still him, is enough for Sainté to get rid of the PSV and qualify for the final of Glasgow. Facing the French stands the ogre of the moment: Bayern Munich, winner of the two previous editions and led by its world champions Sepp Maier, Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck, Gerd Müller and of course Franz Beckenbauer. 30,000 ASSE supporters make the trip to Scotland and as most of the locals have also taken up the cause of the French, almost all of Hampden Park is behind the Greens. If Saint-Étienne is deprived of Rocheteau, his Green Angel, the French team dominates the meeting and even hits the amount twice through Dominique Bathenay and Jacques Santini. Poles which have the distinction of being square, unlike those of most stadiums which are round. Without this detail, would these balloons have crossed the line? The Germans, cold and realistic, in any case do not ask the question and at the 57th, Franz Roth scored the only goal of the game following a free kick quickly played by Kaizer Beckenbauer. Despite the disappointment, the return to France is done with great fanfare: in Paris, the heroes of the epic descend the Champs-Élysées in front of a crowd of more than 100,000 people before being received by the President of the Republic, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing. If they will still be champions that year and in 1981 to bring their number of titles to 10, a record that still holds, the Greens have since returned to the ranks and apart from a League Cup in 2013, their record does not hardly ever stocked. The square posts, meanwhile, have disappeared from Hampden Park and are now enthroned in the museum of the Stéphane club, at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.
– .
