Forum des supporters du LOSC

Since the Lille Olympic Sporting Club (LOSC) was founded in 1944, following the fusion of two local clubs it has gone through many phases from the famous glorious fifties down to second division (or league) in 1997. Its players as well as supporters are so called the “Dogues”, namely bulldogs in French as the stadium was located near a breeding center. The first fan group, called the “NORTHSIDE” was founded in 1984 and therefore located in the northern part of the stadium; it was mainly influenced by the british supporting fashion. Part of its members were also slightly hooligans, having frequent encounters with enemy club fans such as Lens (located nearby Lille), Saint Etienne, Bordeaux or Marseille; whereas Nice and to some extent Paris were considered “friends”. They stopped existing in the late eighties, soon replaced by the “Dogues Virage Est” fan group that was founded in 1989. This group had its peak years between 1990 and 1994 counting up to 600 active members. Their history was also marked by some hooligan facts and they remain well known for that matter. Nevertheless they still constitute the main group in Lille where they contribute to most animations in the stadium. They, actually, have about 200 active members and several hundred followers. Their web site is http://dvelille89.free.fr they are located in the "Tribune Nord" within the "Stadium Nord" the temporary stadium in Villeneuve d'Ascq near Lille. Their main symbols are the bulldog face and the flemich lion flag.. There is no big “away” tradition amongst Lille fans, although there were more than a thousand followers in Dortmund (UEFA cup 2001) there are usually between 100 and 800 fans following the team depending on the location (Marseille or Paris for exemple). The second most active group is called RijselSpirit (RS); where Rijsel stands for Lille in flemish. Lille is located in the french part of Flanders, although flemish is mainly spoken in the countryside. RS was recently founded in 2003 from another group called Dogs united (gone now), they have about 50 members. Their influence is Ultra. Their web site is : http://www.rijselspirit.com and they are located in "Tribune Sud". A third group is called “YESTDDINs” which means IT´S IN in Lille local Picard dialect (Northern France has two dialects: Flemish and Picard). This group has around 30 fidel members, their driving spirit is regional songs andcCulture, having fun following the match in a pub. They are in tribune Sud. Finally a small group is named KSG (no one really remember why it was called that way): a mixture of ex North Siders and crazy guys. Their fierce reputation is preceding them in european stadiums . Nowdays their beer belly prevent them to run *wink*, therefore they constitute the old arrière garde in "corteges". Some of them are located in Tribune sud near the YESTDDINs. You can recognize them as they are red faced (God knows why, ) and they respond to the famous "aux Aaaaaaaarmes" launched by the DVE.
In conclusion most Lille fans come from the modest working class and are mainly influenced by british football culture and flemish/picard regional culture (in opposition to french latin culture). Thus enjoying sharing lots of beers, singing and having fun before and after the matches. They are easy to get along with as long as noone is being provocative.