The pink city decked out in purple, red and black. This weekend, a sporting rainbow unfolded over Toulouse, made up of the colors of the supporters of the Toulouse Football Club, during the final of the Coupe de France, and those of the Toulouse Stadium for a semi-final. Rugby Champions Cup. With, as a result, varying fortunes.
If the Occitan capital is used to vibrating with the exploits of its favorite “XV”, the accession to the Stade de France of the “Téfécé”, as we say here, proved to be unprecedented. All day, the streets, bars or Place du Capitole, filled with nearly 18,000 people, waved between ovality and football, the two meetings taking place in Ireland and Paris.
From 1985Stade Toulouse raised the shield of Brennus thirteen times, including four consecutive times of 1994 To 1997. Founded in 1907, it was the first French club to win the European Cupin 1996. With five continental titles, the “Stade” is the most successful club in this competition. Suffice to say that from April to June, each year, it has almost become a ritual for Toulouse residents to meet in these streets and bars to celebrate victories. Alas, around 6 p.m., the atmosphere was gloomy on the Place du Capitole after the defeat of Stade Toulouse against Leinster on Irish lands (22 to 42). For Julien, 25 years old, “We are in a land of rugby and we are inevitably disappointed. But we’ll be back tonight “, he promised.
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Because, a few hours after the Irish broth, it was the turn of the soccer players to enter the scene. On the Place du Cap, after an improbable interlude of retransmission of the astrayplayed live from the Théâtre du Capitole, it was therefore up to Téfécé, sixty-six years later, to play a Cup final.
The Toulouse club, owned since 2017 by the American investment fund RedBird Capital Partners, has finally emerged from the shadows. A year after its accession to Ligue 1, the Violets won (5-1), Saturday at the Stade de France against Nantes, a resounding victory, restoring a certain luster to the round ball against the oval ball. You have to go back to 1986, and a victory in the European Cup against Naples Maradona, or 2007, and a third place in the league, to see the “Téfécé” at the top of the bill.
The impetus was given by Damien Comolli, appointed president of the club on July 20, 2020. A year of purgatory in Ligue 2, a comeback, and above all new methods put in place have made it possible to restore the purple coat of arms. For Hugo, Axel and Julien, 24 years old, “We were vegetating in Ligue 2 and the change was incredible as soon as we came back”.
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