IS THIS THE END FOR RED STAR ?. Rumours abound that the historic club may cease to exist following the officialisation of the relegation from the National. Normally the club should be relegated to the Championnat de France Amateur (CFA), but as is normally the case with Red Star, anything could happen. Unfortunately, the latest noises coming from footballing circles is that Red Star are in discussions with another Paris club, Créteil (D2). According to press reports, Créteils' president, Monsieur Pédretti (former president at Cannes) held talks with the president of Red Star, Jean-Claude Bras.
One of the things we often hear in discussions with supporters and former supporters is "Red Star has already lost its' heart when it left Saint-Ouen. For me Red Star doesn't exist any more, officially !"
When people take this attitude then yes, the club will die. Turning your back on the club isn't going to make things better - in sickness support is required otherwise the patient will never recover ! To all those stayaway fans, just piss off, if you were real fans then you'd be there through thick and thin to support your team. This club needs true supporters - on the weekend that Brighton and Hove Albion FC achieved promotion, let's not forget those that stuck with that particular club when it appeared that all was lost. Similarly we raise a glass to the true supporters of Bournemouth, Wolves, Charlton Athletic and to all the other clubs that came back from the brink.
EX PFC MAN BURIES RED STAR. The only goal of the game was scored by ex Paris Football Club man Franck Soler. The goal that officially condems Red Star to the CFA.
BREST – RED STAR. The Bretons, despite only drawing 1-1 with Thouars are still on course for a shot at promotion to division two. Therefore a win over Red Satr is imperative. In the game earlier in the season, the score ws 2-2. Note that the 1-1 draw for Thouars sends Red Star to the foot of the table.

Programme of Red Star v Brest, 1977-78 (0-0 draw on the 29th April).

MONSIEUR FAUTREL. Tomorrow nights' referee is Monsieur Fredy Fautrel, aged 29 from Avranches. A referee since 1986, by trade he is a salesman. His assistants will be M. Franck Leloup and M. Fabrice Cotelle.
QUOTE UNQUOTE.... Last week we posed the question "whatever happened to Kader Ferhaoui"... well he was at Ajaccio, and he spoke the the press. In Le Parisien, Ferhaoui described being cast aside by Pierre Repellini as "What a waste !", and elaborated further "When I see the money this club has to spend, I believe that it is a complete waste !". No doubt, my friend, but perhaps it was also a waste to take on players at the end of their careers ?
STAYAWAY FANS.

Aspents of two games, Red Star v Valence and Red Star v Clermont. Congratulations to all involved in annihilating the Red Star. Whilst angry at the way certain have betrayed the club, isn't it also the fault of certain spectators for turning their back on the club in its' hour of need ? Is that the way trues supporters of a club express their anger by displaying apathy ?
NATCHIMIE AND PIZZO CALLED UP. The two Mickaëls, Natchimie (left) and Pizzo (pictured in action against Thouars) have been selected for a training course from the 8th to the 10th of May at Etrat (42). Sixty players born after 1978 have been chosen, and the two Red Star men are the only ones to have been picked from National clubs. Pierre Mankowski is on charge of putting together a squad for the Jeux de la Francophonie in Canada in September (a sort of Commonwealth Games for french-speaking countries) and Jean-François Jodar for the Mediterranean Games in July.
RESERVES NEWS. On Friday at Franconville, Paris Saint-Germains reserves came back from being two down to force a 2-2 draw with Red Stars' reserves. Soumare opened the score after ten minutes, then man-of-the-match Aïchour thumped in a twenty-yarder to double the score in the second half. However, firstly Ogbeche (66) then Boussalem (82) brought the scores level.
RED STAR 93 : Benhamou, Guidali, Faye, Deom, Tacalfred, Abda, Pendola, Aïchour, Malfleury, Soumare (Saïti, 88), Milton (Gomes Varela, 88). Coach : Fiatte.
PARIS SG : Decorde - Baca (Miguel, 78), Tessier, Jardini, Houacine - Stephan, Bengelloun (Rouag, 78), Chakir, Vaugeois (Boussalem, 78) - Vigier, Ogbeche. Coach : Guignedoux.
Goals : Soumare (10), Aïchour (54) – Ogbeche (66), Boussalem (82).
Referee : M. Félix
Bookings : Milton (22), Abda (27), Faye (53) – Obbeche (39), Stephan (43), Rouag (85).
Tomorrow the reserves are back in action with a re-arranged game at Ivry k-0 5pm CET, Stade Clerville, rue Lucien Selva at Ivry, Metro Mairie d'Ivry. Other results this weekend : Moissy-Cramayel 1 Chaumont 0; Poissy 0 Auxerre 0; Chantilly – Ivry 1-4, Châlons – Tinqueux 1-4 and Evry thumped Toul 7-3, Blénod – Créteil 1-2 & Saint-Dizier – Senlis 4-0.
As well as Ivry v Red Star, on Tuesday there will be Chaumont v Châlons, Tinqueux v Poissy & Saint-Dizier v Paris SG.
In the table : 1st Moissy 78 pts, 2nd Créteil 77 pts, 3rd Red Star 73 pts, 4th Poissy 73 pts, 5th Chaumont 72 pts.
CHAMPIONNAT DE FRANCE. Under 17s lost 3-0 at Metz.
DSR. In a fixture reminiscent of D2 games of the 1950s, Red Star beat the Circle Athletique de Paris (CAP) 2-1 at the Ile-des-Vannes.
VINCENT DOUKANTIE. Despite being absent from Strasbourgs' first team, Vincent Doukantie has been called up to represnt Mali in the African nations' Cup. He will be in good company, with the Diawara brothers and Brahim Thiam all having Red Star connections.
SAINT-ETIENNE IN D2. Despite drawing 1-1 with Lens, and a goal scored by ex-Red Star youngster Fousseni Diawara, Saint-Etienne have been relegated to D2.

GFCO AJACCIO – RED STAR. After a bight start to their season, in which goalscorers Christophe Meslin and Franck Soler were often on the scoresheet, Ajaccio have slipped away somewhat and now lie in a mid-table position (ninth). In their last home outing, they crused one-time promotion candidates Istres 4-0. At home they have mustered 34 goals, whereas in total our heros have only scored 36 ! An uphill task awaits Red Star, demoralised and demotivated.
SACI BACK. Hakim Saci who missed the Clermont fiasco thrugh suspension will be back for the trip to Corsica. Coach Pierre Repellini has named the following squad : Itandje, Natchimie, Richard, Saxemard, Busuttil, Traoré, Saragaglia, NGoma, Pizzo, Saci, Van Kets, Jolibois, Randget & A. Gomis. Patrick Van Kets (photo) and Fabrice Richard have both played for Ajaccio.
CHARLES ITANDJE. Following his trials with Liverpool, it seems that Red Stars' promising young goalkeeper will quit the club at the end of the season. A move to either a French club or England appears to be on the cards.
RED STAR – PARIS SG. This afternoon at Franconville sees the derby between Red Stars' reserves and Paris SG at the Stade J. Rolland in Franconville (95). Red Star will be hoping to keep the momentum going with the hope of finishing in the top three. Note also that on 1st May, they travel the short journey to Ivry at the the Stade Clerville, k-o 5pm CET.
HEROS. The father of former Red Star player Guilhermo Mauricio was with the lads at the fence on Tuesday evening - he didn"t stay to the end, having suffered enough already. Whatever, a Man of the People award to him from this site for making the effort and turning up. Similarly, another Man of the People award to Red Star player Mickaël Tacalfred (photo), the only player to have bothered to turn up and watch the game with the fans. Top man, great spirit - the fans will remember this gesture !
LAST HOME DRUBBING. on the 4th May 1991 Red Star received a home thrashing 6-0 at the hand of Le Havre in D2. The last 5-0 home pasting goes back to 11th October 1970 against Angers at Bauer in D1
CLAUDE MEDAM. Will officiate the game GFCO Ajaccio – Red Star. Referee since 1980, he is a salesman. Assistants are : M. Denis Crespo (Ligue Rhône-Alpes) & Eric Boitard (Ligue Aquitaine).
CHAMPIONNAT DE FRANCE. The Under 17s are at Metz this weekend, while the Unders 15s have a home derby against Villepinte.

SEASON ENDS IN DISARRAY. On a damp evening a handful of die-hards made a sad sight as they huddled outside the fences at Marville straining to watch the match from afar. Worse than that, the Red Star players never even tried - the match was lost before the twenty two actors took to the stage in an empty theatre. Bitter at those within the club whom have dragged it to the edge of the abyss... Worse than that, several supporters even turned up unaware that the game was being played behind closed doors !!! Not our fault, we add, hastily - the sports newspaper "L'Equipe" carried no mention of the game - probably too obsessed with whichever minority interest sport France is currently excelling at - handball or tiddlywinks or domino tumbling...

Don't fence me in...	The future of football ?

THE LEAST RED STAR COULD DO …... is to offer those that braved the elements to watch a non-event from outsde the fences free tickets to the game Red Star v Amiens on May 4th... but then again, that's asking too much.
No shortage of humour, though, with witticisms such as "At least I'll get my moneys' worth out of my carte orange transport season ticket next season, what with all the local matches we'll be playing !", and the police car which honked its horn when the players came out of the tunnel. Perhaps those who shouted "We want our money back" were pushing their luck a little ! Also one or two questioned where the "big name signings" of this season have gone... we'll put out wanted posters for Laurent Castro and Kader Ferhaoui.
THANK YOU. To those gentlemen at the LNF & FFF who run the competitions - recently when there has been National games taking place, we have had a Coupe de France semi final on TF1 and yesterday Austria - France Under 21s on Canal Plus. No better way to empty the football stadia....

THE SQUAD FOR TONIGHT. Pierre Repellini will have the following line-up for tonights' game behind closed doors : Itandje, Natchimie, Richard, Perron, Saxemard, Busuttil, Pizzo, Saragaglia, NGoma, Traoré, Serreau, Hutteau, Van Kets, Jolibois, Rangdet.
COULD THIS BE WORKSOP ?. One of the rare advantages of Marville is that being in a public park, and being surrounded on all sides by chain link fencing instead of a brick wall, one can easily watch the match from the exterior. Okay, so the view is a bit crap, but the best vantage points which we have found are just at the entrance to the main stand, to the left of the ticket booth. Oh - the link with Worksop - well, there are several who regularaly wath the matches at Sandy Lane from over the wall behind the stand... normally we condemn this practice, but in certain cases, desperation takes priority.
PITY. Even though Red Star have nothing left to play for, Clermont certainly do... so why does the LNF punish their supporters too ? Up to 150 were expected to make the long-ish trip for this game, only to have their hopes dashed... Bravo to those who decided to play such an important clash behind closed doors - how the f**k do they expect to promote football when they pull off a stunt like this ? Bravo also to the tosser that spat in the first place, but isn't it fair to say that much worse goes on than that EVERY WEEK at the likes of Marseille, Paris Saint-Germain and Saint-Etienne ? Grenoble bombarded the pitch with all sorts of stuff during a recent (televised) cup tie. Their punishment - nothing. One law for some, another for others...
INS AND OUTS. Hakim Saci is out, suspended, but back are Charles Itandje, Emmanuel Hutteau (suspensions), Yohann Randget and Franck Busuttil.
OTHER GAMES. Coupe de France finalists Amiens are at Dijon. Elsewhere leaders Grenoble travel to La Roche-sur-Yon, Istres welcome Alès, Brest – Valence & Reims – Louhans-Cuiseaux; Pau – Thouars, Besançon – Noisy-le-Sec, Valenciennes – Racing & Pacy-sur-Eure – GFCO Ajaccio.
TRIP TO CORSICA. The players leave on Friday and return Sunday.
BAD NEWS FOR FOOTBALL WIDOWS. In the CFA, we've done a quick survey as to whom awaits Red Star. Obviously, things can change rapidly in the lower levels of the game, but looking at the present set-up, we find a competition which is regionalised, divided into four groups roughly by regions, There are some anomalies, and things could be shaken up if as is the current situation two "northern" clubs go down from the National (Red Star 93 & Noisy-le-Sec), one "Western" (Pacy-sur-Eure) and one club which could be "Western" or "Southern" (Thoaurs). Briefly, in Group A of the CFA, we find leaders Boulogne, then we find last season' cup finalists Calais, Raon-l'Etape (ex-National), Dunkerque, Viry-Châtillon, Rouen, Mulhouse, Chapelle-Saint-Luc, L'Hôpital, and the reserve teams of Lens, Lille, Strasbourg, Nancy, Troyes and Metz. Of those, Viry-Châtillon is in the Paris suburbs, Rouen, Lens, Lille and Troyes are all "do-able" away trips.
In group D, bouncing back to the National look to be Saint-Maur Lusitanos. Other teams : Cherbourg, Paris FC, Tours, Mondeville, Saint-Lô, Pontivy, Vannes, Dieppe, Levallois, Les Lilas as well as reserve teams of Auxerre, Paris SG, Le Havre, Rennes. Probably less travelling than the other groups, PFC, PSG, Les Lilas and Levallois are in the Paris region; Cherbourg and Tours are "do-able", the others mostly in Brittany (ideal for followers based in the UK). Fine for the groundhoppers, bad news for football widows !
RESERVES WIN. Despite playing at ten at Senlis, following the sending off of Robert Gomis (again), Red Star weathered the storm from Senlis and took maximum points. On twenty minutes a fine twenty-metres drive by Gérald Milton (pictured, on the right of Mickaël Pizzo), top scorer. Coming up are : Sunday 29th April (Paris SG), Tuesday 1st May (Ivry), 6th May (Tinqueux), 13th May (Blénod) and finally Châlons on the 19th May.
RED STAR 93 : Benhamou, Guidali, El Othmani, Pendola, R. Gomis, Deom, Aïchour, Abda, Randget, Milton (Madjoub 85), Somare.
Booked : R. Gomis (11), Pendola (22), Guidali (68), Somare (72), Aïchour (81).
Red Card : R. Gomis (42).
CHAMPIONNAT DE FRANCE. Under 17s drew at home to Nancy whereas the Under 15s got a bit of a pasting against Strasbourg (2-5)
DISTRICT. Red Star – Neuilly-Plaisance : 5-0.
COUPE DE PARIS. Yes ! Our third team beat Trappes, on penalties (final score 3-3).

BACK FROM LIVERPOOL. Just before kick off, Charles Itandje flew in from Liverpool where he had trained along with the players, and had watched the UEFA Cup semi-final win. Also present was Franck Busuttil, out injured following a training collision with Djebrane Abda.
BUT WHAT DID THEY SAY ?. Just before the game, two of Red Stars' coaches were in deep conversation, Jacky Lemée (sacked in October) and Pierre Repellini.
CHANGES. Only five players for Red Star were invloced in the game earlier in the season at Marville - Natchimie, Serreau, Saragaglia, Traoré & Tacalfred.
IN THE COUNTRY. Poor turn out on Friday, less than 200 made the effort - perhaps the live cup match on TV between Strasbourg and Nantes (4-1) and the poor showing of the two clubs had a bearing. Still, the Thouars fans got behind their team and offered a helping hand.
FIRSTS. Dimitri Germond, normally a third team player with Thouars in the DH came on as a substitute on the hour and marked his entry with two goals, his first in the National. He came close to his hat trick, being denied by Gilbert Bayiha in the last minute.
WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY. Jacky Lemée : "A deserved win. At eleven against eleven, we both had the chance to make the break. Following the ill-deserved sending off of Tronchet, the players revolted and that turned out favourable for us. We deserve this win, the team proved again that they are making progress. I'm happy too for young Dimitri. Now we have to continue like that to take a maximum of points"..
Pierre Repellini : "We missed the bus in the first half. We didn't bury our chances. Nevertheless we succeeded in getting back into the game but at eleven against ten we panicked. Pity, we could have got a good result this evening. Tonight, our last hopes of survival have gone".
AT LEAST. Mickaël Serreau (photo) had the satisfaction of scoring a goal, to prove to his old boss that he isn't as bad as Lemée thought.
RESERVES WIN. Christophe Fiatte and Red Stars reserves pulled off their twelfth win of the season with a 1-0 success at Senlis, the goal scored by Gérald Milton. Other results - Auxerre – Moissy-Cramayel 0-1; Tinqueux – Senlis 1-1, Paris SG – Poissy 1-2, Ivry – Evry 1-0, Chaumont – Chantilly 2-0, Créteil – Châlons 5-0, Tinqueux – Blénod 3-0, Toul – Saint-Dizier 0-1.
Next weekend a Paris derby, Red Star v Paris SG, at Pierrefitte.
Table : 1st Créteil 73 pts, 2nd Moissy-Cramayel 72 pts, 3rd Chaumont 71 pts, 4th Red Star 71 pts, 5th Poissy 69 pts (a game in hand).
MONSIEUR JAFFREDO. The referee for tomorrow nights' game behind closed doors is Monsieur Lionel Jaffredo, from Vannes. Referee since 1986 he will be assisted by M. Castellani and M. Duboc.
FINALLY. Congratulations go to coach of Amiens, Denis Troch (photo), who has succeeded in reaching the final of the Coupe de France after beating Troyes on penalties. At the start of the season, ex-Red Star man Troch, who has coached at Le Havre and was assistant to Artur Jorge at Paris Saint-Germain, was unemployed. Amiens took him on, and have been rewarded with a trip to the Stade de France in May to play Strasbourg. Red Star took on Jacky Lemée and now look forwards to playing in the CFA next season...

THE SQUAD FOR TONIGHTS' GAME AT THOUARS. Bayiha, Natchimie, Saxemard, Perron, NGoma, Richard, Serreau, Pizzo, Traoré, Saragaglia, Van Kets, Saci, Jolibois & Randget. Busuttil will be along to encourage his teammates.
LEMEE SPEAKS OUT. In an interview given to Le Parisien yesterday, former Red Star coach Jacky Lemée stated "If I had stayed at the club, we would have been safe since a long time. To go for promotion was impossible, but we could have at least avoided the drop."
He went on to give his views on the Cascarino episode, which he said had nothing to do with him, it was simply Tony realising that the the squad just didn't have the ability to go for promotion. "I fell into a trap ! They asked me to put their house in order, but finally it was me who was blamed and got booted out !"
Hmmm. In our opinion, as well as bad recruitment, the ex-coach of Red Star was also to blame for the predicament of the club. An awful start to the season, indeed after the last friendly at Rouen, Gιrard noted that the atmosphere around the club was execrable, and he predicted that that Red Star would struggle to stay up. How right he was - your Red Star site, always on the ball ! In short a season to forget, now the club must concentrate on the job og hauling itself back up, starting out again from scratch.
FRANCK BUSUTTIL. A facial injury prevents Franck Busuttil from taking part in tonights' game. Emmanuel Hutteau will also be out, still under suspension (last game). Charles Itandje, following a sending off at Pacy-sur-Eure will have his case examined by the committee this evening. Normally Charles will have a two match ban, for this reason Gilbert Bayiha will be once again between the sticks at Thouars. Arthur Gomis will miss the reserve team game at Senlis on Saturday. Hakim Saci will miss the Clermont game through suspension.
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS. The FFF confimred its decision to have the game Red Star 93 v Clermont played behind closed doors. No supportoers in the stands and only a skeleton staff allowed onto the bench. The suspension stemas from a spectator spitting on the match official after the La Roche game. Disappointment for Clermonts supporters - they had hoped to bring three coach loads to Marville for thie game, important in their push for promotion. We find the judgement a bit harsh, in view of some of the things that go off at the big clubs such as Marseille or PSG.
RED STAR AT SENLIS, CFA 2. Red Star (photo : Walid Aïchour & Mourad El Othmani) have a trip to Senlis, Saturday 21st April, k-o 8-30pm CET, Stade Municipal.
COUPE DE PARIS. On Sunday Trappes coached by former Cane and Racing player Dangbeto are at home to Red Star in the Coupe de Paris. The "President" of Trappes is the well-know comedian Jamel Debbouze, and Nicolas Anelka started his career at Trappes as a youngster.
CHAMPIONNAT FRANCE . Under 15s - Red Star – Strasbourg, k-o 3-30pm, Sunday 22nd April at the Stade de Montfermeil; Under 17s - Red Star - Nancy at Neuilly-Plaisance, kick off 3pm CET.
TALENT HUNT. THe Easter weekend saw trials at La Motte for budding Red Star hopefuls. A few dozen have been retained for next season.
RENE FENOUILLERE. Red Stars' first ever international player was winger René Fenouillère who played in the Olympics of 1908 against Denmark. On the 22nd October, France lost by the remarkable score of 17-1 in the semi-finals. Earlier the same sides had met and the Danes struggled somewhat, only winning 9-0 !

CHAMPIONNAT DE FRANCE. Under 17s - Red Star beat Jarville (2-0).
NATIONAL. The two games played earlier this week resulted in Grenoble extending their lead at the top by beating GFCO Ajaccio 2-1 and Brest won 2-0 at Pacy-sur-Eure.
THOUARS GONE DOWN. Thouars lost 2-0 at Marville earlier in the season, and revenge will be in the air all around this weekend - firstly Thouars coach Jacky Lemée (photo), will be looking to put one over the club that sacked him and on the other side Red Stars' Mickaël Serreau will be hoping to prove to Lemée that he didn't deserve to be cast aside as he was. Verdict Saturday evening at the Stade du Grand Bournais.
Thouars, in going down 2-0 last weekend at Pacy are already condemned mathematically to the CFA. Their home record is marginally worse than Red Stars', with only four wins on the counter. Away from home, the Audoniens, like Thouars, Pacy-sur-Eure and Pau are still awaiting their first away win. Top scorer for Thouars, Guillaume Sabourin has scored four goals so far.
MONSIEUR AUVINET. Monsieur Brice Auvinet, from Nantes will be the match official. A referee since 1983, he is yet another banker.
THE RUN-IN. With only six games remaining, here is the fixture list. Normally 42 points should be enough to avoid the drop. Bold characters indicate home games.

	Pts	33	34	35	36	37	38
ALES	40	Grenoble	Istres	Besançon	La Roche	VA	Dijon
BESANÇON	38	Louhans	Noisy	Alès	Grenoble	Reims	Istres
DIJON	38	Brest	Amiens	Racing	Louhans	Noisy	Alès
PAU	38	Clermont	Thouars	Valence	Ajaccio	Amiens	Racing
VA	38	Amiens	Racing	Louhans	Noisy	Alès	Grenoble
LOUHANS	36	Besançon	Reims	VA	Dijon	Pacy	Red Star
NOISY	32	Reims	Besançon	La Roche	VA	Dijon	Pacy
PACY	29	Valence	Ajaccio	Amiens	Racing	Louhans	Noisy
RED STAR	24	Thouars	Clermont	Ajaccio	Amiens	Racing	Louhans
THOUARS	18	Red Star	Pau	Brest	Valence	La Roche	Clermont

Note that Noisy-le-Sec have a game in hand at home to Racing as do Red Star, away at Brest (1st May).

UNDER 17S. This afternoon, 3pm CET, Red Stars' Under 17s are back in leage action following their cup elimination against Rennes. Jarville are the visitors to the Ile des Vannes.
CFA 2, RED STAR AWAY AT SENLIS. Next week round 26 of the CFA 2 takes place, and Red Stars reserves have a trip to the Oise to take on Senlis. Christophe Fiattes' men are in action at the Stade Municipal, 56, route de Creil, Senlis against the eighth-placed team, coached by Noël Gillion since 1989, a former player at that club. Sébastien Barniaud now at Senlis is a former Red Star player. Other encounters : Toul (14th)– Saint-Dizier (15th), Ivry (12th) –Evry (11th), Chaumont (3rd) – Chantilly 6th), Auxerre (7th) – Moissy-Cramayel (2nd), Paris SG (9th)– Poissy (5th), Tinqueux (10th)– Blénod 16th)et Créteil (1st)– Châlons (13th).
TOURNOI DE CRETEIL. Red Stars' under 15s finished eigth in the competition out of sixteen, following two defeats against Parma 3-0 and Seville 3-1. Toulouse were the eventual winners.
BRAS ON THE RADIO. Red Star president Jean-Claude Bras was on Radio Europe 1, during the programme "Le match du lundi". In concluding, Jean-Claude Bras (pictured along with ex-Red Star coach Jacky Lemée) stated that the club would still continue to educate youngsters, even without being a professional club, and reminded us that the club has already gained promotion to D2 when still an amateur club.
RED STAR HERE, RED STAR THERE.... As well as our beloved club, there are several other Red Stars' in the world... in France Red Star de Mulhouse, a Red Star in Guadeloupe, a Red Star in Switzerland in the 3rd division and cup semi-finalist in 1999, Seaham Red Star, FC Red Star of Ipswich and the intriguingly named Red Star Hobbit in Southampton, Red Star in Dutch amateur football as well as probably the most famous, Crvena Zvezda in Yugoslavia. If you know of any more, please let us know as we are currently trying to build a Red Star world directory.

GILBERT BAYHIA. Jean-Marc Branger should have taken the place of the suspended Charles Itandje, but a back injury meanta late withdrawal, and a call up for the young reserve team goalkeeper Gilbert Bayiha, pictured alongside Mickaël Natchimie). His third league outing in two seasons was rewarded with a first win. After Besançon, Thouars, Dijon and Pau, Fridays' win over Valence is the fifth of this season.
CHANGES. Thierry Saxemard and Fabrice Richard paid the price for the failure at Pacy (the latter perhaps justifiably so). They were both dropped to the subs' bench against Valence.
SUPER SARA. A moment of inspiration from Olivier Saragaglia, spotting that the goalkeeper had strayed from his line. A superb lob from twenty five yards aout gave him his third goal of the season, in two games. If only he had showed what he is capable of earlier in the season !
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS. On Tuesday 24th October, for the home game against Clermont, the FFF has decided that the match shall be played behind closed doors. This follows incidents at the end of the game Red Star – La Roche-sur-Yon, when some dirty bastard is alleged to have spat on the referee. Thanks, tosser, you've just deprived real fans from seeing the game. Why don't you just grow up - spitting is for the playground, not a football ground ! Whatever, as Stade Marville is in the middle of a public park, perhaps there may be some ways to watch the game from outside the fences ?
SIGNED, ANONYMOUS. On Friday evening, some supporters handed out a paper with a list of grievances against the management of the club. No signature... not brave enough ?
PIERRE REPELLINI. Still in cloud cuckoo land, our misguided coach still believes that Red Star can avoid the drop. He said "I'm happy with the work of my players. With spirit like that, we can still lead our survival operation". Photo - Pierre Repellini alongside Guy Roux, during the game Red Star – Pau.
SUPER SARAS' FAN CLUB. Jimmy Algérino, PSG player was in the stands on Friday to watch his old mate "Sara". No doubt he like us awas pleased with what he saw. The two played alongisde each other at Châteauroux.
LE HAVRE.. Jean-François Domergue, coach at D2 club Le Havre was also in the stands, checking out the talent on view.
RESERVES BEAT TOUL. On a chilly day, Red Stars' second XI won their first match for a couple of weeks. Three second half goals saw them through to a win against Toul. Faye (48), A. Gomis (80) and Milton (88) scored Red Stars goals. The win takes Christophe Fiattes' boys back to fourth place.
RED STAR : Benhamou, El Othmani, Mahdjoub (Pendola 83), R. Gomis, Faye, Rangdet, Tacalfred, Aïchour, Malfleury (Milton 46), A. Gomis. Sub: Abda.
Bookings : Tacalfred (24), El Othmani (87).
Other scores : Tinqueux – Saint-Dizier 4-1, Senlis – Châlons 2-0, Evry – Poissy 0-0.
TOURNOI INTERNATIONAL DE CRETEIL. Watched by fervent Red Star supporter Guy, Red Stars' under-15s took part in this tournament, and despite beating Monaco 1-0, went out to losing 1-0 to Belgian club Anderlecht.

TONIGHT. Red Star have the following line for this evenings' game at Marville (Kick-off 8pm CET): Bayiha, Saxemard, Natchimie, Richard, Saragaglia, Busuttil, Perron, Serreau, Pizzo, Saci, Jolibois, Van Kets, Traoré, Tacalfred, N'Goma. Their opponents Valence line up with : Bruneau, M'Petschi, Monnier, Gauthier, Sanon, Berville, Bedani, Stéphan, Fayard, Zouaoui, Guei. Subs : Assadourian, Roques, Jarjat.

Back : Busuttil, Perron, Saragaglia, Hutteau, Saxemard, Branger
Front : Randget, Jolibois, Natchimie, Tacalfred, Saci
Photo © P. Le Brech

ALSO TAKING PLACE. This evening : Pau – Brest and Dijon – Clermont. Tomorrow : Pacy-sur-Eure v Thouars, Istres v Noisy-le-Sec; Valenciennes v GFCO Ajaccio, Besançon v Racing; Reims – Alès, Grenoble – Louhans-Cuiseaux and La Roche-sur-Yon – Amiens.
UP NEXT FOR RED STAR. Friday 20th April sees a trip to Thouars, coached by former Red Star man Jacky Lemιe, for some the man who dropped Red Star into the mess they are currently in. Meanwhile the postponed game Brest – Red Star has been arrangeed for Tuesday 1st May.
RED STAR – TOUL. Tomorrow 5pm CET, Stade Fréville at Pierrefitte.
CRETEIL TOURNAMENT. Red Stars' under 15s take part in an international tournament at Créteil over the weekend.

PRESENT AT PACY. Camille Oponga on the road ro recovery was a spectator at Pacy-sur-Eure where as well as encouraging his team mates, he bumped into some of his Congo national team colleagues, namely Maurice N'Tounou and Lionel Kouakoua.

CHARLES ITANDJE. Poor Charles was completely gutted after being dismissed on Tuesday evening. From our vantage point, a few metres away, we would say that the ball never touched his arm or his hand. The pitch was atrocious, with sand everywhere, and the ball did bounce unevenly. But the fault lies with the referee - he should really have taken the view that there was an element of doubt, that the pitch was in poor condition and that did contribute to the incident. A good referee would have at worse shown a yellow... no doubt the pathetic appeals by the Pacy players to get a fellow pro sent off contributed to the dismissal. If this is the case, then shame on the bastards. There was absolutely no chance of a goal being scored, so all in all the incident was utterly disgraceful.
My colleague Gérard is much more of a magnanimous supporter than I, and he questions whether the incident had any bearing on the game - in my opinion it buried the game and any chance of a spectacle. I feel as if I have been cheated, by the referees' decision, the derisory attitude of the Pacy players and supporters. Red Star were very poor in the first half - not one clear cut chance created in forty five miutes. Still, it's hats off to stand-in keeper Dambou Traoré who pulled off several extraordinary saves, one at full stretch. Despite being beaten twice - in both cases it was his defence that let him down, and could do very little to prevent the goals - only he, Price Jolibois and Mickaël Pizzo came out of the game with any credit to their names.
Eight games reamining, fourteen points from safety - all is not yet lost, but it is going to be very difficult indeed.
VALENCE. Tomorrow Valence arrive at Marville, having virtually booked their place in the National for next season. With it being Easter weekend, Marville is going to be rather empty Friday evening.
CHANGES. Either Jean-Marc Branger will be back in goals, or Gilbert Bayiha will get a call up to the first team. Franck Busuttil and Olivier Saragaglia will also be back in contention for Friday 13th. Photo - Franck Busuttil and Olivier Saragaglia, either side of Rudy Perron
MONSIEUR SERGEANT. Red Star – Valence will have Monsieur Franck Sergeant, 36, as referee. He is an insurance agent from the Nord-Pas de Calais region and has been a referee since 1985.
RESERVES NEWS. Normally there would be no championship games this Easter weekend - but there are several games reamining which were postponed earlier in the season; Red Star – Toul, as well as Tinqueux – Saint-Dizier, Evry –Poissy, Senlis – Châlons (Saturday) and Créteil – Auxerre (Sunday).
LEAGUE CUP. Former Red Star player Ludovic Mary went through the agony of a second lost League Cup semi-final in two years. Following last seasons' penalty shoot-out defeat with Red Star against Gueugnon, this year his new club Niort lost out 0-2 to Monaco.

IN THE COUNTRY. As far removed from the urban sprawl that is La Courneuve, the fresh countryside air came as a welcome change yesterday evening. The result and the match as a whole didn't, however, and Red Star must now surely be condemned to life in the CFA next season (barring a miracle...)
DUEL OF THE STRIKERS. Two veteran strikers came up face to face yesterday evening. On one side Cherif Oudjani, 36, pictured playing for RC Lens in 1986, and on the other side Patrick Van Kets, 34. Neither scored, but Cherif would be pleased with the result. The Pacy captain left the field to a warm reception with about twenty minutes reamining.
BACK. Red Star should have the services of the two suspended players for the game at Marville on Firday evening against Valence. Franck Busuttil and Olivier Saragaglia could take place in the game which kicks off at 8pm CET.
BRAHIM THIAM. Brahim has served a four match ban, and was back in the CFA 2 last weekend. He came on as a second half substitue in last nights' appalling display.
RED STAR – TOUL. The reserve team game between Red Star and Toul takes place on Saturday 14th April at 5pm CET, at the Stade Fréville, Pierrefitte. In the table 1st Créteil 69 pts (24 matches), 2nd Moissy-Cramayel 68 pts (24), 3rd Chaumont 67 pts (24), 4th Poissy 63 pts (22), 5th Red Star 63 pts (23) ... 13th Toul (49 pts). Last season Toul were playing in the DH championship in the Lorraine. Coach since 1995 is Jean-Pierre Berta.
DSR. Following a 1-1 draw against Saint-Ouen l'Aumône last Sunday, Red Stars' third XI are eighth in Group B with 38 points. Leaders Bobigny have 49 pts and Sarcelles have 47 pts. These two clubs are playing for a place in the DH.

AN EVENING IN NORMANDY. At the time of writing, this evenings' game is still on, although the situation could change. We have been in contact with Pacy, and they inform us that the pitch is playable. A game which both sides will be looking to win, as the one which fails to do so will surely be condemned to relegation.
Earlier in the season, Red Star twice came back from behind to scrape a three-three draw, Faye scoring the equaliser deep into injury time. Red Stars' other goalscorers were Sacia nd Van Kets.
Tonight, Red Star will have the following squad : Itandje - Natchimie, Perron, Saxemard, Richard, Tacalfred, Pizzo, Serreau, A. Gomis, Van Kets, N'Goma, Traoré, Jolibois, Saci.
PACY-SUR EURE. On their last outing, Pacy lost on Saturday evening 2-0 at Clermont. Coach Laurent Hatton is also a technical advisor to the national team of the Congo, indeed several players from this country are currently plying their trade with Pacy, including Maurice N'Tounou who featured with Red Stars' reserves a couple of seasons ago. Pacy aren't blessed with a huge squad of players to chose from, so the possible line-up could be similar to the one that lost at Clermont - Bisson, N'Tounou, Kouakoua, Desnoyers, Martin, Larcier, Jenni, Dufour, Montanier, Maier, El Hajri, Ecker, Plé and Oudjani.
Note the presence in this line up of Chérif Oudjani, a much-travlled player with experience of D1 and D2 football, and a prolific goalscorer. At home, Pacy have the following record - P13 W5 D1 L7 F14 A17. Top scorer is Olivier Hameau.
REFEREE. Tonights' official is Monsieur Philippe Chat, of the Centre-Ouest region.
ALSO TONIGHT. The backlog of games in hand is attacked tonight with several games : Noisy-le-Sec at home to GFCO Ajaccio, match played at Massy as Noisys' ground has been suspended for one game; Reims are looking for revenge over Amiens, who knocked them out of the cup recently, whilst leaders Grenoble welcome Racing; finally, Valenciennes play bottom club Thouars.
RED STAR – VALENCE. Note that this fixture has been brought forwards twenty-four hours to Friday 13th April, 8pm CET at Stade Marville. As for Brest – Red Star, planned for the 1st May, this is not to the pleasure of coach Pierre Repellini because the weekend prio to that, Red Star have a long trip to Ajaccio, then play Amiens on Friday 4th May.
COLEMANBALLS. Our apologies to Christian, webmaster of the unoffical Brest site - we incorrectly gave his site address out yesterday... in fact, the correct address is : www.stade-brestois.org. Easy mistake to make, if you have a similar address to the official site !

BREST – RED STAR. Red Star now have two games in hand, with the cancellation of the match at Brest on Saturday. Thursday evening, we were informed of the cancellation by the webmaster of the site www.stade-brestois.org, Christian told us that the weather was appalling in Brittany. The rain hadn't stopped Friday morning, so the match was called off. At least the players didn't have to make a long journey for nothing. Tomorrow evening they have a somewhat shorter away trip, to Pacy-sur-Eure (8pm CET, we'll be there !) Should the game be called off, it could mean that Red Star will have played (assuming that the game at Marville against Valence is still on) four home games in a row. For the trip to Normandy, Red Star will be without the services of Olivier Saragaglia, Emmanuel Hutteau and Franck Busuttil, all three suspended. Hutteau received a three match ban for his sending off in the infamous boot up the Pau players' arse last weekend.
On the subject of the hoem game against Valence, the game has been brought forwards by 24 hours, and will kick off at 8pm CET on Firday 13th April at Stade Marville.
RENNES KO RED STARS KIDS. Rennes will be in the semi-finals of the Coupe Gambardella, winning 5-2 despite a brave performance by Red Stars' youngters. Opening the score, Jimmy Hamme cofirmed his promising talent, but almost straight away Rennes equalised through N'Guema. Nono Piedjou scored to turn the game back in Red Stars' favour, but in the end the visitors were just too strong, and further goals from Benchenas, N'Guema gave Rennes a 3-2 advantage. N'Guema completed his hat trick and it was only heroics from home goalkeeper Guillaume Foulon which stopped the score from being worse. Substitue Viera scored the fifth in the last minutes of the game.
RED STAR : Foulon, Pinto, Ouattara, Diomandé, Ekani, Diawara, Hamme, Agoh, Nono Piedjou, MBoungou. Subs. Mirza, Lakrout, Diallo, Sarrea, Sorreau.
RENNES : Chaigneau, Edubaly, Gardan, Bourillon, Faty, Le Bars, Tanagro, Benchenar, Do Marconino, Didot, N'Guema. Subs. Arrebros, Viera, Cellier, Durand, Amalgro.
Whatever the result, the Under 17s have enjoyed a fantastic cup run, and have been a boost for the club in a difficult season. Coach Alain Bornand (photo), was also featured on the font page of the official French FA site.
The other semi-finalist will be Metz, Paris SG and Caen.
THAT MAKES A CHANGE. Le Parisien featured one of the photographs which appeared recently on this site to illustrate one of theie articles. All above board, of course, as the paper asked our permission first. Unlike some other footballing sites which just take our best photos without asking first. Why bother with the others - we're still the best Red Star site on the web !
RED STAR – CRETEIL. Bad day at the office for the reserves, going down 3-0 at home to Créteil, watched by first team boss Pierre Repellini. Note that Mickaël Tacalfred will be available again following a one-match ban.
A bad day also for pretenders to the throne of the CFA 2, Moissy-Cramayel, who were thumped 4-1 on their own patch by Poissy. Chantilly beat neighbours Senlis 3-0 in the derby of the Oise, and elsewhere: Evry – Chaumont 0-0, Châlons – Paris SG 2-1, Blénod – Toul 0-2, Saint-Dizier – Auxerre 3-2 and Tinqueux – Ivry 1-1. Note that Red Stars' game in hand against Ivry will take place on Tuesday 1st May at 5pm CET.
DHR. Red Star – Saint-Ouen l'Aumône : 1-1

THIS SITE. Please note that the site will be "on holiday" until Monday morning. If you wish, you can get the result by subscribing to redstar189@aol.com, but this will be in French only.
BREST V RED STAR. Red Star will go to Brest looking for a win. They will take mroe or less teh same suad that did so well against Pau, with the notable exceptions of Emmanuel Hutteau and Olivier Saragaglia, both suspended. Photo, back : Pizzo, Serreau, Perron, Busuttil, Richard, Itandje. Front : Abda, Jolibois, Hutteau, Natchimie, Saragaglia. Photo © P. Le Brech. The match referee will be Monsieur Frédy Fautrel (Fédéral 2), a salesman aged 29, a referee since 1986. He is from the Basse-Normandie region.
OTHER GAMES IN THE NATIONAL. Other than Brest - Red Star 93, Noisy-le-Sec are at home to promotion favourites Grenoble. Amiens take on Besançon, whilst Istres are in Paris to play Racing. At the bottom of the table, Thouars welcome Reims, Louhans-Cuiseaux v Alès, Pau v La Roche-sur-Yon, Pacy-sur-Eure have an awkward trip in the Auvergne to play Clermont and Valenciennes are at Valence. Elsewhere GFCO Ajaccio take on Dijon.
GOALSCORERS. Meslin (GFCO Ajaccio) and H. Lachaab (Valenciennes) both have 17 goals followed by Droesch (Brest), 16. For Red Star, Van Kets (9), Saci (7), Randget (4).
TUESDAYS' RESULTS. Noisy-le-Sec 0 Pau 0 and La Roche-sur-Yon 1 Valence 0. Pau have 32 points, Noisy-le-Sec 27 and Red Star 21. Tonight Grenoble v Thouars; Louhans-Cuiseaux v Amiens and a match which evokes memories of games played in the 1950s', Reims v Racing at the Stade Auguste Delaune.
FIVE UP. The last time Brest played Red Star they lost 5-1 during season 1977-78, on the 19th November. At Saint-Ouen, the game ended goalless. In the cup in 1959, Red Star beat Brest 5-1, then in 1962 Brest got their revenge, winning 2-1, a game played at Saint-Brieuc.
The last 5-0 win was a certain Red Star v Tours, 16th January 1993 at Bauer in the D2. The goals were scored by Michel (34), Crosnier (34 o.g.), Rodionov (45), Girard (47) and Marlet (56).
Red Star lined up with : Bourges, Fanzel, Gunia, Dostanic, Fiatte, Guimard, Marlet, Girard, Thimothée, Rodionov, Michel. Coach at that time was Pierre Repellini. The photo shows Sergeï Rodionov, right, along with former Red Star physio Alain Guéguen, now at the Stade Français rugby club.
COUPE GAMBARDELLA. A reminded that at Stade Marville on Sunday 8th April, 3pm CET, Red Stars' youngster take on Rennes in the cup quarter final. Unfortunately this clashes with the reserve teams' CFA 2 fixture at Pierrefitte against Créteil. Red Star got this far by beating Calais away 2-1, Paris FC away 2-0 and Saint-Quentin away 3-0. The squad should be unchanged for this game, perhaps with the addition of play maker and future Zinedine Zidane, Jimmy Hammes. Other quarter final games are :

• Metz – Lyon
• Bordeaux – Paris SG
• Auxerre – Caen

GUY ROUX. Monsieur Guy Roux was an interested spectator at the match at Marville on Friday. Alongside Pierre Repellini, the former Auxerre boss and ex-President of the coaches' union, the UNECATEF, was there ostensibly to meet the new vice-president of the organisation. But, in reality, was he there to spy on Red Stars' youngsters, and in particular goalkeeper Charles Itandje ?
KICK OFF. The ceremonial kick-off of the game was given by Léon Foenkinos, 85, and Red Stars' captain during 1943 for the French Cup semi-final.
PACY V RED STAR. If all goes well ,the rearranged date for the postponed game at Pacy will be Tuesday April 10th, at 8pm CET.
PATRICK VAN KETS Has now scpred nine goals following his double on Friday. Also note the two goals scored by SupaSara, Olivier Saragaglia (photo, with Hutteau).
ABSENT. Olivier Saragaglia will miss the trip to Brest, he will be suspended for one game, having received three yellow cards. Another will be captain Emmanuel Hutteau who was red carded after booting an opponent up the arse.
THIAM IN MALI. After a spell in Bamako and a 0-2 defeat against Gabon, Brahim Thiam, who watched the game from the stands, will be again in the capital of Mali for a friendly game against Liberia.
RESERVES NEWS The postponed game against Toul will now take place at 5pm ET on Saturday 14th April at Pierrefitte, the same day as Red Star v Valence at Marville (7pm CET). Meanwhile Red Star slip back to fourth place following leaders Moissy-Cramayel 1-0 against PSG. Poissy went down 1-0 at home to Chantilly, as did Créteil against Tinqueux . Other results : Chaumont – Saint-Dizier 2-1, Senlis – Blénod 2-1, Auxerre – Evry 3-0 & Toul – Châlons 1-2.
DHR. Red Star 3rd team beat Levallois 2-1.