” Here ! Here ! It’s O-YON-NAX! » The slogan is chanted twice at the start of the match, so that the Toulouse visitors understand well where they are putting their crampons on this Sunday, September 3. In Oyonnax therefore, the Little Thumb of the Top 14, newly promoted this season but ready to shake up the Occitan ogre during the third day of the championship, the last before the break due to the World Cup.
The ace. Eighty minutes later, the score is acquired and in favor of Toulouse. But the “Oyomen” charge again, pushed by the molten stands, which resume: ” Here ! Here ! It’s Oyonnax! » as one man. And the valiant, with their pride, end up scoring a final try four minutes after the siren. The Charles-Mathon stadium capsizes. The beauty of the gesture consoles the defeat (21-27), and above all signals the local state of mind.
An industrial territory in unison
“This team never gives up, that’s its DNAcomments Jean-François Paquelet, president of the club’s supporters’ association. We are hardworking people, and that’s what I often repeat: in Oyonnax, only the work matters! » A paraphrase of the motto of the Jura city of 22,000 souls – Unbelievable engineers work hard –, which happened “high thanks to the stubborn work of its inhabitants”.
Born in 1942 from the merger of three teams, the rugby club grew with the same mobilization. “It only exists through its industrial and artisanal territory, perfectly in unisonconfirms Michel Bellod, head of the memory commission within the association of former players which was formed in 2022. Virtually all of the club’s presidents over time have come from local businesses, and the club has always brought together a multitude of small SMEs, which is quite unique in rugby. »
Supporters of the Oyonnax team, September 2, 2023. / Antoine Mermet/Antoine Mermet
Oyonnax began to rub shoulders with the high level in 1967, at the start of the plastic era, which would disrupt local production and make the small town surrounded by mountains covered with fir trees – the emblem of the club – the heart of the “Plastics Valley “. Through stubbornness, the Oyonnax XV reached the holy grail of a rise to the Top 14 in 2013, since then yo-yoing between Pro D2 and the elite, but always supported by this sacred union. “The club has 180 shareholders, almost 100% local industrialists, which fuels the pride of the people here: it truly belongs to the valleyunderlines Grégory Di Marco, the general director of Oyonnax Rugby. Managers have always been very careful not to lose this authenticity. »
The relay of president business leaders
Identification is working fully. In the city center, most businesses also display a small flag “Here is Oyonnax”. The operation was launched in May 2023 during the Pro D2 semi-final against Vannes. “But the merchants saw fit to keep this pavilion above their windows,” welcomes the general director. This enthusiasm also rhymes with loyalty, as evidenced by the long-term investment of most local business leaders. “There is a hard core always presentapplauds Hervé David, chairman of the board of directors of the club from 2003 to 2014 and of the EDA group, which manufactures plastic items for home and garden equipment. These leaders are not philanthropists, they love the valley. Oyonnax appears on the map of France thanks to rugby, with values that suit us well. Everyone benefits from this visibility. »
The club’s first private partner, EDA, appears on the back of the “Oyomen” jersey. Another local heavyweight, the Gergonne company, specializing in technical adhesive tapes, appears on the players’ chests, and its boss, Michel Gergonne, long vice-president, still serves as an administrator in the governance of the club. “When I started supporting this club twenty-five years ago, we received our visitors under a marqueehe says. Today, it is in a superb stadium with 11,500 seats. The story continues, and there has never been any rivalry between us, who all remain volunteers in the service of this club. »
The president of the Oyonnax club Dougal Bendjaballah (center, white shirt), September 2, 2023. / Antoine Mermet/Antoine Mermet
As proof, the appointment as president in December 2022 of Dougal Bendjaballah, co-founder of KeriMedical, a company specializing in prostheses for extremity surgery. A smooth transition, his predecessor Thierry Emin, in place since 2014, sliding to the position of vice-president. The change is intended to be in continuity, but the rise to the Top 14 this season requires moving up a gear.
Growing without losing your soul
Having entered the capital of the club in 2013 and main financier of the Factory training center inaugurated in 2017, Dougal Bendjaballah took charge with a new three-year project to try to perpetuate the club in the Top 14. “In elite rugby which increasingly concerns large cities, we are the exceptionnotes the manager. Here, no stars, no beach, no discotheques. Players know that they are going to experience a different adventure, and we ask them to integrate the strength of this city, which is based on its active economic base. However, we cannot fall asleep to this image of a Gallic village. Other clubs, even in Pro D2 like Aix-en-Provence, Vannes or Nevers, are evolving. We have to move, come out of our shell a little which also ends up limiting us. Our future cannot be limited to our valley. »
Growing without getting lost: that’s the challenge for Oyonnax in the coming years. “We are starting to attract regional partners, and we aspire to become the flagship club of the Grand Est, like La Rochelle is that of the Great Westdefines Grégory Di Marco. If we cannot stay in the Top 14, we must at least put in place all the means to get back up as quickly as possible. » The objective is therefore to convince, beyond the image of “small against big”. For Julien Plazanet, the Ringmaster of the Mathon stadium but who also takes care of the club’s communication, “Oyonnax can attract other working towns, with a similar sociology, but which do not have a flagship club like us”.
The public at the Charles-Mathon stadium on September 2, 2023, during the Oyonnax-Toulouse match. / Antoine Mermet/Antoine Mermet
Oyonnax the industrious, we come back to that. To keep its production units running, the city has brought in a workforce which over the decades has changed its face, which is now very multicultural. Opposite the Mathon stadium, the buildings in working-class neighborhoods are not the most affected by the oval passion. It prevents. “Our audience is much more diverse than before, and through our endowment fund we do a lot of actions in the neighborhoods, with our players in particular,” indicates Dougal Bendjaballah. “Rugby is not a magic wand, but it is a good tool for working on integration,” also defends Michel Gergonne.
Hardworking club, unifying club, integrating club, don’t throw any more away! For its promoters, Oyonnax rugby can however assume another role: “carry messages about the valley, and particularly help fight against le plastic-bashing », says Dougal Bendjaballah. The local industry is indeed delighted by an ambient political discourse on reindustrialization. But “Plastics Vallée” does not produce the most trendy products. Re-enchant plastic? For Oyonnax, this match will not be the easiest.
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The smallest budget in the Top 14
Oyonnax Rugby reached the Top 14 for the first time in 2013 and lasted for three years. The club had another season in the top flight in 2017-2018, before immediately dropping back down, only to move up again this year.
It is the coach Christophe Urios, in charge from 2007 to 2015, which allowed the club to reach the elite in 2013, under the captaincy of the Englishman Joe El Abd. The latter has been the manager of the club since 2019, the main architect of the return to the Top 14 this season.
The club has the smallest budget in the championship this year with 17 million euros, far from the 46 million euros of Stade Toulouse.
