Nothing quite captures the imagination of a police force more than the Saturday lunchtime kick-off of a local football derby. For those authoritative figures, heavily clad in riot gear, it is the adrenaline apex; a dependable stirrer of the senses.

I could hardly imagine what they had anticipated for the day ahead when, stepping out of Porte de Clignancourt metro station a healthy four-hours before the kick-off between Red Star FC and Paris FC, a dozen police vans lined Boulevard Ornano and another half-dozen sat stealthily around the corner on Boulevards des Maréchaux. 

Perhaps they had good reason to expect trouble. This was the first competitive meeting between the two Parisian sides since 2019; an eagerly reckoned meeting for those who celebrated Red Star’s promotion into Ligue 2 at the end of last season.

The bustling madness of those busy crossroads had no respect for the hour of the morning.

In the beating heart of one of Paris’ grittier inner suburbs is the Saint-Ouen flea market.

On first visit, there’s no way to tell whether you’re in it or not – you’re simply engulfed by it. Vast warehouses form the central structure, home to the more bespoke offerings: antique furniture of every shape and material; priceless art guarded by watchful collectors who know instinctively whether you’re up to the task of conversing about what hangs on their walls; haberdashery of exotic origins; and other miscellaneous prizes like lamps, mirrors, silks, record players, cameras, pet accessories and more or less every vintage DIY tool you could think of. Alleys, like rabbit warrens, surround the warehouses and connect different streets, forming a mini-metropolis of people and their goods for trade. 

The market sits on the doorstep of Red Star, and has become part of the clubs’ lasting identity. “They are a club representative of Saint-Ouen, and more widely the politics and cultural tendencies of the North of Paris and the Northern Suburbs”, says George Boxall – journalist, French football expert and Red Star fan. 

Politics and cultural tendencies – two of modern football’s most antagonistic features – are cornerstones that the fourth-oldest football club in France has managed to carry forward today. “There is a strong attachment”, continues George, “to the values and symbols of figures like Jean-Claude Bauer and Rino Della Negra”. 

Bauer and Della Negra (himself a former Red Star player) were communists who fought for the French Resistance during the Second World War. Their names, which adorn the stadium and the main stand respectively, are part of the area’s folklore, and form a large part of the ultras’ left-leaning heritage.

But over half a century on from their day, and over 125 years on from the founding of the club by future FIFA President Jules Rimet and others, how does a modern Red Star FC, with all the trappings of a new landscape for football, continue to express itself authentically? The urge to regale with stories of fallen heroes and visionary founders wears thin in the age of football-as-consumption. For supporters, authentic expression of identity is never more visceral than a derby. 

Despite the city bulging at the seams with talented youngsters, so often the attraction of Europe’s biggest academies, the club landscape of Paris has lacked the basic dichotomy of a derby for some years. A combination of bureaucracy, local politics, bankruptcy and poor management plagued countless teams across Paris for decades – Red Star included. 

But things are different now. Paris Saint-Germain are a global brand and have delivered (at least domestically) consistent success, while Paris FC, a club with similarly lofty ambitions, recently announced their surprising acquisition by LMVH and Red Bull. 

Add in 777 Partners’ ownership of Red Star and it’s a particularly murky soup of state ownership, luxury goods and energy drinks behemoths, and in the case of 777, an American investment firm accused by a number of lenders of fraud and seemingly on the brink of collapse. That a city like Paris should have its three biggest clubs owned by such a trio should come as a great shame. But it's a far-cry from the incessant administration, ground-sharing, name-changing, reformation and rebuilding that characterised the later part of the 20th century.

Stability on the pitch, and Red Star’s promotion into Ligue 2 at the end of last season, has at least reignited the prospect of a sustained series of derbies for the first time in a long while. Paris FC’s strong start to this season (they currently sit in first place, one point clear of Lorient) makes a 2025 Parisian Ligue 1 derby all the more realistic. So where does that leave Red Star? “In the minds of supporters, they don’t really care if they’re the third team in Paris… their identity has been built a lot differently to Paris FC and Paris Saint-Germain”, explains George. 

A supremacy of identity, authenticity and heritage – that’s how Red Star fans plant their collective footballing flag. 

L’Olympic, on Rue du Docteur Bauer, is one of the institutions keeping that attitude alive. It is an archetypal pre-match fan pub: the walls decorated with photos and clippings and notes from friendly supporter groups; the beer is encouragingly cheaper than elsewhere in the city; the patrons spill out in all directions, commandeering the street corner for a few hours a week. 

Directly opposite, the new iteration of Stade Bauer’s future North Stand, intended to double-up as high-end apartments with a small retail complex, towers above. The ongoing construction, which began in 2021, is a symbol of the club’s ambition to belong in top tiers of French football. The South stand, which sits beneath the iconic red and white stairway of apartments, as well the East Stand, is already complete, and looks as modern as you could expect to find anywhere in France. In previous years, Red Star’s promotions to Ligue 2 have been rewarded with exile to league-appropriate venues, to the detriment of the team and supporters. The new 10,000 seater Stade Bauer removes that obstacle completely. Its renovation is a marvel of local government diplomacy. 

Standing on the road between L’Olympic and Stade Bauer, two fingerprints of Red Star’s cultural impact, it’s tempting to see the divide as the end of one era and the start of another. In many ways, it is. The landscape of Parisian football has shifted. It is more difficult than ever to define a club by its attitude. 

But in a sea of homogenous football identities, Red Star still stands out. Its core supporters still wear the iconography of Jules Rimet, Rino Della Negra and Jean-Claude Bauer on their sleeves. They still identify with the leftist tradition of the historically working-class neighbourhood of Saint-Ouen. As they did on that Saturday lunchtime, they still revel in the opportunity to demonstrate their difference from ‘those lot’ from Rive Droite. As long as that tradition continues, Red Star FC’s identity will always be something to celebrate.

Check out our photo essay on the Paris derby, with photos by Vittorio Moro.