Racing back to the top
Decades before the arrival of the mega-rich Qataris at Paris Saint-Germain, the French capital was home to another football club that had their sights set on European domination.
Under businessman Jean-Luc Lagardere, Racing Club de France recruited stellar names such as Enzo Francescoli, Pierre Littbarski and Luis Fernandez, and adopted a new name: Matra Racing, after Lagardere’s Matra conglomerate.
It was a short-lived experiment. The club, which is the seventh-most decorated in the country, collapsed in 1989 and reverted to their previous incarnation. But now they are gradually rising back up the country’s football pyramid.
Racing, who were Ligue1 champions in1936 and who have won the French Cup on five occasions, are set to benefit from a shake up by the French Football Federation that will see the country’s two professional leagues, Ligue1 and Ligue 2, become
