"Not to the Stade de France." This slogan appeared on Christmas Eve at the gate of the Stade Brestois training center in Kerlaurent. The same slogan was hung in several other locations around the city of Brest.

Unexpected success causing organizational issues

These banners emerged amid tensions surrounding the wishes of brothers Denis and Gérard Le Saint, co-presidents of the club, who want to play a potential playoff match, or even a Champions League round-of-16 game, at the Stade de France instead of in Guingamp. Since the beginning of the Champions League season, the Stade de Roudourou has hosted Brest’s Champions League matches.

However, the club faces a problem: they won’t be able to use their current temporary stadium for these games unless there are expansion and modernization works done in the area designated for the TV crew. Therefore, alternative stadiums are being considered, and one of the options is Roazhon Park in Rennes. According to L'Equipe, the Stade de France is another stadium that could host Brest, but the club's decision to move there will depend on their opponent's position in the Champions League.

© Grzegorz Kaliciak | Stade de France

Fans say "no"

During a recent Ligue 1 match against Nantes, Brest ultras displayed a banner reading We don’t want Stade de France in the stands, and then started singing chants in the same spirit. After the match, team captain Brendan Chardonnet admitted that if we had the choice, we would prefer to stay in Guingamp.

© Presko (cc: by-sa) | Stade de Roudourou