The new season’s Red Star jersey tells the history of the club through a series of on-screen sketches that chart its story over more than a century. The club wants this History Jersey to reconnect young people with history through the sport they’re passionate about: football. The new top has been designed to be simultaneously educational and fun.
The History Jersey features Rino Della Negra, a striker from the 1930s who was shot by the Gestapo for his role in the French resistance movement of the Second World War. Others include René Fenouillère, a top scorer for the French national team, who was called up in 1914 and died at the front, and coming up to date, Lauryn Coulibaly, the club’s big hope for its women’s side, who symbolises the growing importance of the women’s game.
Since the start of the new school year, the jersey has been at the centre of an educational project whose content has been developed with historian Pascal Blanchard, and delivered in conjunction with Saint-Ouen local authority and the schools of Seine-Saint-Denis. Education is a major issue here, where 30% of this population is under 20.
Red Star Chairman Patrice Haddad and Mayor of Saint-Ouen Karim Bouamrane officially launched the scheme on 10 September at the Marcel Cachin secondary school at a ceremony attended by French star player, now retired, Lilian Thuram. For more than an hour, the 1998 World Cup winner and Pascal Blanchard chatted with students about 20th century history, using the jersey as a teaching aid.
A few days later, it was the turn of L’Équipe sports writer Vincent Duluc and former French international Steve Marlet to lead a session with a class of 15 and 16 year olds from the Paul Eluard secondary school in Saint-Denis.
There will be more sessions throughout the academic year, with input from a range of high-profile sports professionals. The initiative is also being rolled out for the club’s youth teams in parallel. In addition to the educational programme, each jersey sold will come with a series of cards showcasing the players and historical events featured in all the online videos, which include the Belle Époque years between 1880 and 1914, World War I and the 30-year post-war period between 1945 and 1975.
Lilian Thuram: “Using a football club and a football jersey is an incredibly powerful way of teaching children about the history of France.”
Red Star Chairman Patrice Haddad: “We draw our strength and competitive spirit from our history, our DNA and our land. This jersey reflects the club’s strategy of embracing its local roots and continuing its commitment to educational and social projects, especially through our Red Star Lab. But what we’ve been doing since the start of the school year is something quite unique."