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wb strasburg Bankrupt and demoted to the amateur fifth tier of French football in 2011, they were a club in crisis. Strasbourg is now competing for the Champions League. Again, they are a club in crisis.
In the heart of Alsace, the fiercely proud region on the French-German border, there is a feeling that an identity is being lost – one extracted from a football club that has for so long inspired the masses in a way that few in France manage. A series of alleged “deceptions and lies” have turned Strasbourg into an entity that is no longer recognized by a vocal contingent of its own people.
The leadership of former France international and Alsace’s own Mark Keller was integral to the club’s rebuilding in the 2010s. But rather than being revered, Keller is ridiculed – considered an instigator of Strasbourg’s toxicity. His Sale to Chelsea owners Bluco in June 2023 Any previous goodwill has been destroyed. For the fans, he signed the soul of the club.
This decline was not immediate. Keller actually contacted fans when he decided to sell. “We said there are only two things we don’t want,” explained Alexandre, a spokesman for Strasbourg’s four main supporter groups, who asked that his surname not be used. Independent“First of all, we don’t want an LBO (leveraged buyout) like the Glazers did at Manchester United. The second thing is multi-club ownership. We don’t want to be part of a network of clubs. They said ‘OK’, took our opinion and then obviously did what they did, which was sell Bluco.”
The false promises made to the militants after the takeover were the ones they wanted to believe in, to their club. Keller, who remained in charge of the club in a presidential role, clearly assured that “Chelsea and Strasbourg will be separate entities, with the only common point being a single major stakeholder”. It was also claimed that Bluco, namely Clearlake founder Behdad Eghbahli, was “very keen” to meet the main supporting unions.
But as the months passed, the reality of Strasbourg’s new objective became clear. “We are being used as a pawn in the bigger game of Clearlake and Chelsea,” Alexander claimed, adding that two and a half years later he is still looking forward to that meeting with Eghbahli.
Since Blucho took the reins, 11 players have bounced between Chelsea – the crown jewel of his portfolio – and Strasbourg. Next summer it will increase to 12 (at least). This formula brings mostly high-ceiling youth to Minau for development Before being sent to Stamford BridgeAlexandre draws parallels between this and how NBA teams work with their G League counterparts.
This injection of excellent teenage talent has affected both the average age of the starting XI – now the youngest in Europe’s five big leagues, at just 20.86 – and performances. Strasbourg have transformed from perpetual relegation candidates to European contenders, plying their trade in the Conference League this season under former Brighton, Hull and Fulham defender turned manager Liam Rosenior, who himself is on an upward trajectory. So what is the problem?
First, no success can justify a perceived erosion of identity, at least not in Strasbourg. “We have a culture where the region is very closely linked to the club’s identity, and that’s not common in France,” explains Alexandre, noting that his mother, “not much of a football fan”, considered Strasbourg part of her existence. So for Chelsea to see the club become “a B team, a feeder team, a farm team”, as Alexander puts it, is unacceptable.
The multi-club dynamic has also seen Bleu flirt with Strasbourg on the transfer front. Cobham product Ishe Samuels-Smith joins Racing He was sent on a permanent deal to Chelsea this summer and then on loan to Swansea City before returning to Stamford Bridge – all in the space of 34 days. ben chilwellMeanwhile, the frozen left-back was sent to Minau after having no other suitors. He hardly fit into Strasbourg’s mold, but it didn’t matter – he needed a new club and this was the easiest solution. “It shows that in reality it is Chelsea who are making all the decisions in Strasbourg,” laments Alexandre.
Their outgoings also suffer, with Strasbourg’s direct channel to Chelsea often limiting their ability to increase competitiveness in the market. Under Premier League rules, any transfers between clubs in the same ownership group must first be assessed by the league to ensure that they represent ‘fair market value’. And while Chelsea have adhered to this regulation every time they dip into Strasbourg’s talent pool, there is such a thing as raising the price – something Strasbourg cannot do if Chelsea have a first-time blowout.
“The whole system is detrimental to Strasbourg’s interests,” says Alexandre, who cites the £12million sale of Mamadou Sarr in June, where the French club’s supporters felt shortchanged by Chelsea. “They had a very good season and a number of clubs from England, Germany and Italy showed interest. In the ancient world, we would have had a choice of which club we were going to sell to, and there would have been some kind of competition. But we are in a closed circuit, so we don’t have a choice – we have to sell (to Chelsea).”
Yet it was after the summer transfer deadline when the greatest sin was committed. The 12th transaction between the two clubs refers to Strasbourg captain Emmanuel Emegha, a 22-year-old striker who has scored 22 Ligue 1 goals in the last two campaigns. Exactly 11 days after the window closed, It was announced that Chelsea would sign Emegha from next summer.The Dutchman was “turned around Cobham” in a Chelsea shirt at the same time, a decision which the Strasbourg faithful took as an almighty insult. “I’m guessing every English fan would react the same way as us if you saw your captain wearing another club’s jersey in three games a season,” says Alexander. “It just doesn’t go away. It was unbearable for us.”
As a result of this defeat, the anger of the fans reached its peak. Supporters’ protests have long been a Minnow matchday event, with fans in the main stand remaining silent for the first 15 minutes of every home game in protest at the Bluco – this has been the case since their takeover and will continue indefinitely. However, the Emegha incident fueled the fire. On 14 September against Le Havre, banners were unfurled demanding the Dutchman to take off his armband and Keller to resign.
The upper authorities of Strasbourg showed resistance in response. Rosenior lashed out in defense of his captain against fans who were “devastated” by being branded “Bluco’s pawn”. Keller then imposed restrictions on fan organisations, requiring the content of all future banners and tifos to be approved by the club ahead of time. But despite these additional measures, anti-establishment banners have been forcefully torn down by Strasbourg security, as was the case during their recent win against Angers. “It’s no longer an issue of multi-club ownership; it’s no longer an issue of being used as a B team,” says Alexander. “This is an issue of freedom of speech.”
While Bluco is the main enemy For a significant section of supporters, Strasbourg’s extremists are now trying to foment a rebellion inside their own club. Their justification is the belief that under their current ownership, Strasbourg is in “real danger of disappearing in the next 10–15 years”, defended by the board. This is despite the fact that they managed to spend €110m in a league that was struggling financially last summer.
“Is it our money that we’re spending, money that we get from club revenues, or is it someone else’s money? The answer is very clear: we’re spending someone else’s money,” says Alexandre, underscoring Strasbourg’s warnings about new monetary power. “We remain under financial support, and if they confiscate this financial support, the club will go bankrupt in two months.”
For militants, there may be a respite, if only for a moment. Theoretically their pursuit of the Champions League means Strasbourg could get a season-long exemption from the Blues, assuming Chelsea also qualify for Europe’s premier competition next season. This is because, in accordance with UEFA’s multi-club ownership rulesStrasbourg will be expected to move towards a ‘blind trust’ while removing any conflicts such as board members serving at both clubs. It would also prevent Chelsea and Strasbourg from making any transfers between them. “At least we will get back the idea that in 2023 there will be some kind of world between the two identities,” Alexandre imagines.
However, at the moment, a civil war is raging in Meinau, with the Alsace-natives wanting their football club to be based on the German side of the Rhine. There, 50+1 ownership ruleWhich prevents outside investors from becoming majority stakeholders is paramount.
Instead, Strasbourg’s fan associations have been left in an impasse as they try to find common ground with the Bleuco. The final question to Alexandre was whether he and the supporter organization were close to meeting with Agbali. Answer? “No.”
Independent Strasbourg has been contacted for comment.