Maybe not the first French rugby club that springs to mind, this is, paradoxically, a very new club with many years of history. Racing Club was formed in 1882 with a rugby section added, the first one in France, in 1890 when sporting clubs had many sporting divisions and were the preserve of the elite. Paris was the centre of French rugby for many years until the game’s heartland moved to the south via Bordeaux. The south is, of course, where 80% of France’s rugby clubs are. Racing Club enjoyed a resurgence in the late 1980s and early 1990s when fantastic players such as Franck Mesnel and Jean-Baptiste Lafond ran the backs with an extreme amount of fun and exuberance. The aristocratic reputation showed itself in such pranks as champagne at half-time of the French cup final, wearing berets in a match and wearing long white trousers to look like French rugby players of old in a Championship semi-final which they won! This was the era of le show bizz. These players wanted to bring the fun back into the sport and bring rugby out of its Parisian anonymity. Their most famous prank was the wearing of pink bow-ties in the 1987 final. Just before kick-off, Lafond presented the French President François Mitterrand with a pink bow tie. They lost that match but wore them again in the 1990 Final when they drank the champagne at half-time.
This group of players were also famous for their love of nightlife which attracted criticism from some quarters. This all led to Racing’s modern image which isn’t too far from its historical one: an aristocratic, eccentric institution. 5 of these players capitalised on this and founded the famous sportswear company Eden Park, with its logo the pink bow tie!
However, professionalism took its toll on Racing Club as it did so many great clubs. They fell into decline, finding themselves many leagues lower than they should have been. So in 2001 they merged with US Metro, the club for the Paris transport workers. Racing Metro 92 was born, the 92 coming from the Departément of Paris which gives financial backing to the club. Jacky Lorenzetti then bought the club with the aim of returning it to its former glories.
Racing were promoted to the top flight of French rugby in 2008-09 and in 2009-10 finished 6th, guaranteeing them Heineken Cup rugby in 2010-11. This follows an ambitious recruitment policy which has brought in South African Francois Steyn, cult figure Sebastien Chabal, French captain Lionel Nallet amongst other ‘stars’ and up and coming French players. However, a lot of money has also been invested in the ‘Centre de Formation’, the club's Academy. Their aim is to produce not only great rugby players, but Racingmen. We’ll see if I become a Racingman...
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