To manage a good journey through the competition and finally win the Coupe de France, you have to beat the smaller teams. And it wasn’t always that simple, even on the road to Colombes, during the much-famed 1971 campaign.
«The least we could say about this game between one of the standard bearers of professional French football and an amateur team from the lower divisions, is that the result doesn’t cast much honour on the winners, neither on the form nor on the content ».
This sentence, following a Coupe de France match, could have been written very recently, after a struggling victory by a Ligue 1 club against a spirited amateur team. In Fact, these lines were published forty years ago, by a France Football journalist.
It was the end of March, 1971. After knocking US Quevilly (4-1) and Entente Bagneux-Fontainebleau-Nemours (2-0) out of the competition, the Stade Rennais reached the last 16 and faced, for the third consecutive time, an amateur club: CA Mantes-la-Ville, from the Ile de France region.
From that round, and until the semi-finals, the games were played in a two-legged tie. A competition format which would suit Rennes very well, in the quest to win their second Coupe de France.
The first leg was played at the Route de Lorient, in front of a bit more than 6.000 spectators. The Stade Rennais, coached by Jean Prouff, was an obvious favourite but without three key players (the captain Louis Cardiet, centre back Zygmunt Chlosta and international striker André Betta), they stumbled for most of the game over Mantes’ defence. Robert Rico, the winger, even shot twice on the post in the second half. It would not happen.
The turning point came in a very odd way. With fifteen minutes left to play, Mantes’ goalkeeper Jacky Allione managed to catch the ball in the airs, before falling to the ground with cramps. His teammates came to his rescue, with the Rennais waiting for the incident to be sorted. While a Mantes player was stretching his goalkeeper’s leg, defender Umberto Melloni grabbed the ball.
«It lasted twenty to thirty seconds, and suddenly we saw a little man dressed in black, pointing at the penalty spot, France Football reported. Incredible but true”. The “little man” was indeed the game’s referee, M. Peauger. Considering that Melloni had taken the ball in his hands in the middle of the penalty area while the game had not been interrupted, the referee “offered” an unexpected penalty to the “rouge et Noir”. Serge Lenoir showed no sympathy and scored the game’s only goal.
This strange affair was naturally much discussed, triggering the anger of the amateur team and its supporters. An anger even increased by the fact that Rennes goalkeeper Marcel Aubour broke Mantes’ striker Michel Saoumah’s leg, involuntarily, in a challenge between the two players.
The situation could have remained there… has there not been the return leg. During the two weeks interval between the games, the press built up on the unfair treatment given to the amateur team, singing the praise of the Mantes la Ville players and exciting the chauvinism of their supporters.
As a result, the second act was played in a hate-filled atmosphere. For his gesture on Saoumah during the first leg, Marcel Aubour came on to the pitch under the howls of the attendance, yelling “Aubour assassin!” (“Aubour, murderer!”) at him. Probably disturbed by the treatment received, the goalkeeper conceded a goal at the first minute, beaten by Mantes centre-forward Michel Appert.
Nearly of all the match remained to be played, and the CA Mantes had already filled the gap. An ideal scenario to bring doubt in the Rennes minds, but it was their opponents who seemed to be losing their football, unable to up their game. Without playing an exceptional game, the “Rouge et Noir”midfield then took control of the game. Stade Rennes went on to create numerous chances, but showed a rare amount of clumsiness.
The relief came just before half-time. After a good work by Betta, Yugoslavian striker Ilija Lukić placed a powerful header in the net (38’). But the goal wasn’t as important as he would be in the modern days: in those times, a goal scored at home or away would make no difference, with the aggregate score the only judge. In other words, another goal for Mantes would mean extra-time.
Luckily for Rennes, this goal would never arrive. Continuing their domination during the second half, Jean Prouff’s men were never worried by their opponents, but also remained imprecise and inefficient in front of the goal. No matter, the draw was enough to guarantee the qualification. After the game, Prouff wasn’t fooled , and recognized that his team had been “bad”, going through in a very inglorious way.
The appalling atmosphere in the stands did not help this game to become unforgettable either. Remained on the pitch to exchange a few words with his “admirers”, Marcel Aubour was assaulted on his way to the dressing room by a group of men who threatened him. Truly unacceptable.
Just over two months later, the episode was definitely blotted out by the joy of a second Coupe de France victory. After beating Monaco and Marseille, the Stade Rennais took the edge on Olympique Lyonnais in the final (1-0).
As for Marcel Aubour, he became the hero of this epic journey, showing decisive during the penalty shoot-out closing the semi-final against Marseilles. The insults in Mantes were probably far away in Aubour’s memory, when he was carried in triumph by the supporters at the Route de Lorient.
- Source and Pictures: camantes.iougs.com
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