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French Soccer Hooligans Storm Pitch And Throw Lit Flares At Players After Relegation Loss

Soccer Hooligans

(Photo by Cathrin Mueller/Getty Images)

After 2 seasons of Ted Lasso, I learned what soccer hooligans  are, and I feel I'm quite well versed in the importance of a relegation match. That's what happened in yesterday's  Ligue 1 match between AS Saint-Étienne and AJ Auxerre. The winner stayed in the current league and the loser was relegated. For those of you already lost and just want to get to the point where fans rush the pitch (we call it a field) and shoot flares at the players, hold up.  Let's get you some Ted Lasso.  According Wikipedia"

"In a system of promotion and relegation, the best-ranked team(s) in the lower division are promoted to the higher division for the next season, and the worst-ranked team(s) in the higher division are relegated to the lower division for the next season."

So this match was pretty important. If their team loses, they basically, in American terms, fall back to minor league play. So, what happened, according to Brobile, "Saint-Étienne lost the match 5-4 on penalty kicks in their home stadium. As a result, the club was relegated from the top French league to Ligue 2 for the first time in 21 years."

So here's what happened after the match. The soccer hooligans (fans) stormed the pitch, throwing garbage and firing lit flares at their own players. Hooooooooow did this many people get flares into a stadium? Is there no security?

Here's the final whistle

More mayhem

Here's one of the players trying to get away

You can see the line of police trying to protect the tunnel

Outside, they went after the player's cars

The club issued this statement, if you speak French

Joe Winner spends his days combing through memes and off beat stories to bring you the side of Florida not always seen.