Lens fans worry promotion will leave empty feeling

Fans of Lens have responded with both "great joy" and also "great dread" after the early end to the French season brought their club's promotion to Ligue 1.

The old mining town of Lens has a population of just over 31,000, but fans regularly pack the 38,000-capacity stadium despite their last top-flight league title winning campaign coming back in 1998.

Since promotion last week the club's passionate supporters worry however that they will not be allowed into their cauldron like Stade Bollaert to witness their top flight return.

"I was at work when we heard the news, so on the same day we took out the flags," fan Gaetan Guenard told AFP, pointing to the banners displayed above the window of the signage company where he works.

Recent years have been tough for the town, where the last mine closed in the 1990s, and the club, which has spent most of the last 12 seasons in the second division.

"Here in Lens, with the fervour, there is a strong social need. Its a region that has suffered a lot and goes to the stadium to find happiness. It's certain that the happiness of the fans is much greater in Ligue 1," Arnaud Pouille, the club's general manager, told AFP.

French coronavirus containment rules mean most of the shops in Lens are closed and the streets in the small city centre are almost deserted.

"We're going to have a fine cast of visitors at the Bollaert," said David Decoster, treasurer of the Lens United Federation, which has 29 associations and over 2,000 members.

"There have been 30,000 of us at Ligue 2 games, but without wishing to be rude, that's not the top of the bill. Now we'll have the derby against Lille and historic clubs such as Marseille, Saint-Etienne and Nantes."
- Behind closed doors -
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"He's saying 'financially, I'm going to keep the club on its feet' and that's very reassuring," said Pouille, before warning: "The road ahead is not going to be easy. We've got work to do."