Bernard Caïazzo back at Geoffroy-Guichard after six and a half years, delighted by the atmosphere | OneFootball

Bernard Caïazzo returned to Stade Geoffroy-Guichard on Saturday night, his first visit since 5 March 2020. He watched Saint-Étienne host Montpellier and made no secret of his enjoyment.

It came on matchday five in Ligue 2, which Saint-Étienne won 3-1 in front of 39,315, Le Chaudron’s first sell-out of the season. According to L'Équipe, both kops returned and the former majority co-owner, alongside Roland Romeyer from 2004 to 2024, was among the crowd.

The 72-year-old had been heavily heckled towards the end of his tenure and had not attended since the Coupe de France semi-final win over Rennes, 2-1. His 19-year-old son Yanis, an ultra, persuaded him to come for his birthday. Now split between Brazil and France, he had also taken in Paris-SG-Monaco at the Parc des Princes on Friday, 1-2.

Seated in the presidential stand to the left of Bafétimbi Gomis and a row ahead of Régis Juanico, the new mayor and president of Saint-Étienne Métropole, he said he watched without apprehension, simply as a lover of the game. For sustained noise and colour, he reckoned only Boca Juniors’ Bombonera can rival Geoffroy-Guichard.

Escorted by two security guards, his low-key return passed without incident and without crossing Romeyer, who was also present in another stand. He felt Kilmer Sports Ventures had taken two years to get to grips, both a lot and not a lot, and that Casino’s return to its orbit was positive for the image. In his view ASSE are now on the right track, well structured, well organised, and people are happy.

Source: L'Équipe

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