Just walk around in the south of the XIIIe arrondissement of Paris, sometimes in Ivry-sur-Seine, to see green and black jogging suits or jackets. These young people wear the colors of FC Gobelins, a club whose headquarters are at Porte d’Ivry. Its teams play and train right next door, at the Carpentier stadium, or at the Boutroux stadium, Porte de Vitry. The club and its colors are part of the decor like the towers over 30 stories, Asian signs and the tram.
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Stupor Monday evening: FC Gobelins Paris 13 is renamed “Paris 13 Atletico”, and changes logo at the same time – an Eiffel Tower, like the PSG and Paris FC, surely because the capital singularly lacks monuments identified in the whole world. We then hesitate between disdain, anger and sadness. Surely a bit of it all at once. Then comes question time: why Atletico? Juventus Paris, it would have mouths right? In addition the Carpentier stadium is near the avenue d’Italie … In addition, why Atletico without accent, if it is to remind Atlético Madrid and its “grinta”? Why also want to change this name which marks the origin of the club, avenue des Gobelins, higher in the arrondissement? As the team gained in success, this entity, anchored in the popular districts of Masséna and the Olympiads, could by its name have made the connection with the opulent places of the north of the district. A name known to all Parisians since it is also that of an avenue, a renowned school, a five-century-old factory and a metro station.
“A pejorative side”
The reasons given by the club president, Frédéric Pereira, given in the Parisian, worth the trip: “This season, we faced provincial teams for the first time and the leaders asked us why this name, if it was a street or a neighborhood… There was a negative side. We were targeted as a small club when we have 1,500 members. With this change, people will locate us immediately. And the name Atletico sounds great and it’s interesting in terms of marketing. We want to make it bigger and attract new supporters. ” Michel Denisot might have had to rename PSG as SGP when the Guignols of the info and opposing fans spoke of “Paris Without Winning” in the late 90s …
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However, we can only congratulate the management of the club, and all its actors, starting with the players and the educators, coaches, for their meteoric progress in recent years, passing from the honor division in 2014 to the National 2 since l last year. Showing that FC Gobelins is well structured, does not sail on sight, knows what the ball is. But establishing the primacy of marketing over the sportsman never bodes well. FC Gobelins makes you want to identify with this beautiful team, the jibes of others can only strengthen this attachment; Atletico puts you at a distance because it is impersonal.
The Marseille precedent
The affair appears local-local, but it is not that much. Two years ago, Marseille Consolat also became … Athlético Marseille. Let us pass on the misspelling since this Athletic is a mix between the names of the Basque club Athletic Bilbao and the Castilian club Atlético Madrid, this baptism is above all a pure and simple erasure of the historical anchoring of the team, founded in the 1960s at the foot of the Cité Consolat, in the northern districts of Marseille. At the gates of Ligue 2 two years in a row before the new baptismal name, the club is now in National 3 and wants to move to Aix-en-Provence, thus becoming the Athletic Football Club Aixois. From the North Quarters to Aix, the gentrifying loop would be complete.
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Those who abhor football will find this indignation futile or even inappropriate. Only, as a supporter, we are able to swallow, to endure a bunch of things: “outside” jerseys in eccentric colors, loud music in the pre-match or even at goal, admired players ridiculed in pubs for cars or skin creams. The fact remains that there are certain limits to our fatalism. The logos, the colors of the club, its name. The stadium too: ask all the Red Star supporters what they think of a move from the legendary Bauer stadium to the Docks of Saint-Ouen, as the club management wishes. A long but fascinating discussion will then begin on what a club is, its roots, its symbols. In short, what makes us passionate about football, not just for the ball and goals, but more than that. Which makes us a supporter and not a fan.
Damien Dole
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