AS Saint-Étienne

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Lore & Background

The rivalry between Olympique Lyonnais and AS Saint-Étienne is considered a symbolic challenge between the two cities locally, as the city of Lyon is considered white collar while its counterpart Saint-Étienne is viewed by the locals as more blue collar. The two clubs first met in 1951 and, due to the clubs' close proximity, being separated by only 50 kilometres (31 mi), a hotly contested rivalry developed. The derby is cited as one of the high-points of the Ligue 1 season and, like other major rivalries, extends outside of the pitch. During the 20th century, Saint-Étienne was the most successful club in French football, winning ten league titles between 1957 and 1981. However, the club's performance declined in the 1980s and it even suffered relegations to the second division in both 1984 and 2022, causing its stranglehold on the national and regional consciousness to weaken. Lyon began a similar ascension into French football at the beginning of the new millennium when the club won their first-ever Ligue 1 championship in 2002, starting a national record-setting streak of seven successive titles.

In Their Own Story

The air inside Stade Geoffroy-Guichard is thick with tension as the floodlights hum to life on a cold evening. The sea of green jerseys sways in unison, chanting for the Derby rhônalpin. On the pitch, the grass is worn but pristine, waiting for the clash of boots. As the referee blows the whistle, the roar is deafening—a sound unique to this valley. It is not just a game against Lyon; it is a defense of history, a moment where the ghosts of the ten league titles won between 1957 and 1981 seem to stand alongside the players, urging them forward in the eternal struggle for the pride of Saint-Étienne. The rivalry extends outside of the pitch, a clash between the white-collar identity of Lyon and the blue-collar identity of Saint-Étienne. The first meeting between the clubs was in 1951, and since then, only 27 players have played for both clubs, with only 13 transferring directly between them.

Reader's Guide

The Golden Era of the 1960s and 70s defined AS Saint-Étienne's identity as a French football powerhouse. During this period, the club won ten league titles between 1957 and 1981, a record that stood until Paris Saint-Germain overtook them in 2023. During that span, the club also won six Coupe de France titles and performed well at the European level. This era matters because it created the template for French success before the professionalization of the modern game. It produced a generation of players who became national team stalwarts, embedding Saint-Étienne into the fabric of French sporting culture. For Lyon fans, this history is crucial context; understanding Saint-Étienne's past dominance highlights the magnitude of Lyon's own rise in the 2000s, when the club won their first-ever Ligue 1 championship in 2002, starting a national record-setting streak of seven successive titles. The rivalry is built on the foundation of one club defending its historic crown while the other sought to usurp it.

Did You Know?

• Saint-Étienne won ten league titles between 1957 and 1981, a record that stood until Paris Saint-Germain overtook them in 2023.
• The two clubs first met in 1951 and are separated by only 50 kilometres (31 mi).
• Only 27 players have played for both Lyon and Saint-Étienne since 1951, and only 13 have transferred directly between the clubs.
• The term Derby du Rhône is sometimes mistakenly used by French media, despite the city of Saint-Étienne not being located along the Rhône River nor in the Rhône département.
• Saint-Étienne suffered relegations to the second division in both 1984 and 2022.