Rolling Stones, whisky and tragedy, seven tales from Saint-Étienne’s 1976 odyssey | OneFootball

Fifty years on, seven vignettes trace Saint-Étienne’s 1976 European odyssey, from brushes with authority to rock star cameos and tragedy. According to Le Progres, they helped define the Verts.

As a trainee, Christian Lopez was nearly released for behaviour deemed below ASSE standards, before a reprimand reset his course and a long career followed. Osvaldo Piazza initially floundered until Robert Herbin’s February 1974 reshuffle put him at centre-back, Lopez libero and Dominique Bathenay holding.

In August 1975, relations cooled between captain Jean-Michel Larqué and president Roger Rocher as Larqué’s contract neared June 1976. That year the FFF courted Robert Herbin to replace Stefan Kovacs, but Rocher saw a dual role as incompatible. In October, Michel Hidalgo took over and later won Euro 1984.

After Copenhagen, the last 16 brought Rangers, who arrived with whisky. Saint-Étienne won 2-0 through Patrick Revelli and a late Dominique Bathenay, then won in Glasgow with goals from Dominique Rocheteau and Hervé Revelli. The Scotsman judged them superior to the scoreline.

After the Eindhoven semi-final, at Bouthéon shortly after two thirty in the morning, Joseph Bernard, 32, was fatally struck by a still-turning propeller as fans surged onto the tarmac. He left a wife and three children.

On 12 May 1976, Glasgow turned green as locals backed the Verts at Hampden. Bayern had unlikely allies in the Rolling Stones, who shared their hotel. Mick Jagger briefly entered Dettmar Cramer’s team talk, their Bentleys honked past the bus, and his tip came true.

Source: Le Progres