• For the L1 clash between Lens and OM, Saturday night, the Bollaert stadium will still be full. And the Marek stand, where the Lensois kop is located, will set the tone.
  • Located on the side, unlike the majority of other clubs where groups of supporters are installed in corners, the kop lensois has a "privileged situation".
  • This can cause some funny scenes with opponents and referees.

The good thing about RC Lens is that there is a certain consistency: a festival on the ground bought, a festival in the stands offered. Last episode of this symbiosis between players and spectators, the demonstration against Monaco. While Loïs Openda and others broke the Rock into a thousand pieces (3-0), a real fireworks exploded in the thirtieth minute of the match, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the KSO, the Kop Blood and Gold.

The disciplinary commission of the LFP, which had to make a syncope by seeing this animation, having not yet decided on sanctions against the RCL, the Marek stand, lung of the Bollaert stadium, will be an asset more to try to knock Marseille out of its place as runner-up of PSG, Saturday night. Like Brice Samba, Seko Fofana or Florian Sotoca, she plays an important role in the good season of Blood and Gold.

"Lens' heart beats through its kop"

While in the vast majority of clubs, the kops are in corners, behind the goals, the ultras groups Lensois are grouped along the touchline, in this standing side stand, from where the Lensoise, before the start of the match, and the famous Chicotés song, dear to Presnel Kimpembe, after each victory.

When I arrived [in 1988], there were not many people at the stadium," explains Gervais Martel, the former president of Lens. We had to do a lot of work to get people back, first with affordable prices, for families, supporters' sections, works councils. From the moment we went up to the first division, in 91-92, it was gone, with a development of the Marek stand, as it is still today. Several presidents asked me at the time why I put my kop there and told me: "Put it behind the goals you will sell more expensive places in the side." That was not the point. The subject is that Lens' heart beats through its kop and that the kop must have a privileged location. »

To beat, Lens' heart was packed. And, for several years, it takes courage to try to get a place in this famous forum. "A season ticket in Marek, it's been fifteen years that it's complicated to find one, says Norman Noisette, president of the federation of supporters Lens United. It is a forum with 100% subscribers, and with 99% renewals. It is acquired from father to son, it is preempted. Each association has waiting lists. When we went up to L1, we had listed 900 people on the waiting list and we had explained to them that it would take maybe twenty years for them to overcome it. »

Two meters from the players

The main asset of the Marek remains the proximity of the field and the players. There is no barrier of goal, billboards, space, as there can be in other stadiums. The supporters find themselves two meters from the field, almost in contact with the players. What really influence a match? "Clubs that have a kop behind the goal often attack towards it in the second half to put pressure on the goalkeeper, the defense, make noise, if necessary to win or return to the score," says former Lensois Franck Queudrue. We in Lens have constant pressure throughout the game. Having a kop on the side, it puts you directly in the intensity of the moment over the entire length of the field. »

I keep a magnificent memory, and the fact that the Marek is a side stand still gives something different, especially me who follows a corridor player, says Jonathan Clauss, who will return to Lens, Saturday, with the OM jersey on his back. I loved having them a few meters away from me for whole periods of time. It is a sensation that is not often found and this is what makes this kop special. »



Does this change anything for the opponent? Not really according to Nicolas Plestan, former player of Losc, the eternal rival, who was even rather fond of playing Bollaert. "Having a full-back kop has never been part of the match preparation discussions. When there is noise, whether for or against, we like it. Even though I played in Lille, Bollaert is still a spectacular atmosphere. When it was hostile, I loved it. After, yes, the full-backs must have eaten a few sweet words. »

The former central defender of the Dogues says that Matthieu Chalmé or Grégory Tafforeau took a few balls of paper and insults when making a touchdown. "The full-backs who find themselves on the Marek side, they hear breath," confirms Norman Noisette. In terms of pressure and feeling, it's quite unique. Eagerly awaited on Saturday, Matteo Guendouzi, who had chambered the Marek with welcome gestures, and vice versa, should hear about the country.

A packet of fries on his head

"When he was playing at Quevilly Rouen, Jonathan Clauss told me that it was impressive to play on the Marek side, that they did not hear their coach and their teammates on the field, says Charlotte", supporter of the Blood and Gold subscribed in Marek. For us, it's easier to room the opponent during a touch or a corner. We are a rather funny and teasing audience. And not just with the adversary. In 2010, during a derby lost dryly by the Lensois, the touch referee close to the Marek had also taken the tide.



"He had a packet of fries on his head," recalls Norman Noisette. It collapsed, took three days of ITT. I'm not convinced that the fries were so disgusting that they collapsed. Well, for us, it was still a very funny anecdote, not at the League, because we never hurt someone with a packet of fries. Sometimes there is a bit of abuse in passion. Like when dozens of spectators entered the pitch to protest poor results in 2017.

Today, we are far from this dark period in L2. And, like the Louvre Lens or the slag heaps, the Marek has even become the place to be when you go to Artois. "You have tourists, people who play their game on the phone, with a need to show off with TikTok fashion, it's a real scourge," says Charlotte. "It's become the place to be la Marek," adds Norman Noisette. I'm not a fan. We have people who have told us that they were bothered by the flags. "We advise everyone to avoid Marek next season, with the return of the Champions League. It should be even more spectacular.

  • Sport
  • RC Lens
  • Olympique de Marseille (OM)
  • Gervais martel
  • Football
  • Ligue 1
  • Endure