Located on its rock, AS Monaco (ASM) rarely experiences, when playing at home, the fervor that can animate the fans of the great French football clubs in the stands. The Luis II stadium, accustomed to sounding hollow, will however experience a second celebration within a month, after the great victory of the ASM, on September 19, against FC Barcelona in the Champions League (2-1 ). In fact, the semi-semitic club celebrates its centenary during the match against Montpellier, on Saturday, September 28 at 9 p.m.
“It is a special moment when we can look back and celebrate the people who made AS Monaco what it is today”explains Thiago Scuro, general director of ASM. Around fifty former big names of the club, coaches (Arsène Wenger, Claude Puel, Gérard Banide) and players (Emmanuel Petit, Delio Onnis, Jean-Luc Ettori), will take part in the numerous festivities planned for this gala evening.
Monaco is not an isolated case. This type of celebration has become common for three weeks in Ligue 1. Two other southern clubs tried it during the last two days of the championship: Olympique de Marseille (OM) celebrated its 125th anniversary at the Stade-Vélodrome, on September 14, when OGC Nice celebrated its 120th anniversary at the Allianz Riviera, on September 20. In November, Lille and Montpellier will also inaugurate the festivities of their 80th and 50th years of existence, respectively.
A breath of fresh air in a difficult time
In addition to the symbolism of such an event, these anniversaries are an opportunity for clubs to try to increase their turnover a little. Especially since French football is going through a period of scarcity, affected by low income from television rights, following the agreement signed at the end of July with DAZN and BeIN.
The latter is expected to raise 500 million euros per year, a drop of 11% compared to the 2021-2024 period – and very far from the expected one billion euros – the deficit that the clubs face. “It pushes us to be innovative, to look for important external sources of income, to have a very ambitious plan at a commercial level”, acknowledged Pablo Longoria, the president of OM, in an interview with WorldSeptember 13.
The Marseille club is the first to celebrate its anniversary at the beginning of the season. For the occasion, a limited edition collectible t-shirt was put on sale, with the first logo in the club’s history and worn by the players during the 125th anniversary match against Nice (2-0). Of the 30,000 units available, 10,000 left on the first day and “Now there are very few left”we slide towards OM.
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