“You see Sersou, what we are experiencing tonight, you will perhaps experience it again one day, but not me”: Philippe Sers, THE voice of the MHSC for 40 years

Philippe Sers, 64 ans, travaille désormais pour le service communication du MHSC. Midi Libre – Max BERULLIER

An inimitable style, expressions that belong only to him, a passion tinged with humor and chauvinism: this is how radio journalist Philippe Sers, THE historic voice of the MHSC for 40 years, remains in our memories. A life in three anecdotes.

“Magnificent outcome”

June 2, 1990, final of the MHSC-Racing Paris French Cup

“It wasn't exactly a great final, especially between two clubs ranked in the lower leagues. Racing was relegated and MHSC finished 13th. That's what's great about this adventure: in the space of four months, the club went from last place in D1, on a night of defeat in Lyon that signed the death warrant of coach Aimé Jacquet (replaced by Michel Mézy), to the apotheosis of the Cup (2-1 victory).

It was completely unexpected, because the absolute priority was to stay up. But this run in the Cup was an accelerator of progress for an already very strong squad. When you arrive at the Parc des Princes with a team that has suffered so much, when you face the hiccup of the year (Lagardère's Racing) despite players like Ben Mabrouk, Ginola or Olmeta, the stress is evident.

I remember the press box, I found myself almost on the roof in a closed booth, with a strong public feedback and the sound system at full blast, it was far from ideal. But the outcome was magnificent with two goals from Blanc and Ferhaoui in extra time. Loulou Nicollin was so attached to the Coupe de France that for him the victory was phenomenal. Personally (*), I commentated on my first MHSC match on November 23, 1984, exactly 40 years ago. And the Coupe de France was “my” first trophy.”

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“Serou, tu t'enflaammes pas ?!”

November 7, 1990, 8th final of the Cup Winners' Cup Steaua Bucharest-MHSC

“If there is one memory that is close to my heart, it is the second leg of the round of 16 of the Cup Winners' Cup in Bucharest (0-3 victory), because I commentated on it in its entirety with Loulou! In the previous round, Montpellier had qualified at PSV Eindhoven (1-0, 0-0), with a copy-paste of the European scenarios between Saint-Étienne and Eindhoven, two sworn enemies in the European Cup. On the evening of the qualification, Loulou came off the bench and crossed the pitch with his shirt off, outside UEFA protocol, raising his arms to the sky to greet the 100 supporters who had come on the Air Littoral plane, which was the club's sponsor.

This behavior displeased UEFA, which sanctioned him for two matches. Loulou then told me: “Sersou, I don’t want to be in the stands with the military in Bucharest, I’ll come and commentate the match with you”. I didn't really believe it, but ten minutes after kick-off, that bastard Loulou showed up! He had absolutely no idea about red lights, open/closed microphones, he intervened whenever he wanted… The stakes of the match were relative, we had won 5-0 in the first leg, so I was moderately enthusiastic about the first goal. Well, he yelled at me on air! “Oh Sersou, don't get carried away?!”. It was epic.”

“Overwhelmed by my emotions”

May 20, 2012, Auxerre-MHSC, 38th day of the championship

“There were many events during this historic year… But for me, the most important was Utaka's double in Auxerre for the title (1-2 victory). A few months before, I had sent a text message to Loulou asking him that, whatever happened, he would allow me to enter the locker room at the end of this last match. Once again, Loulou kept his promise.

And that was the only time I was overcome by my emotions. My voice was shaking, I cried on air… Plus, the match was interrupted twice, and Auxerre opened the score. We weren’t safe from anything. When Utaka equalized, there was such an explosion of collective joy that the players headed towards the supporters’ stand and he almost fainted. It was extremely upsetting, I was short of breath, and then two years before, I was in the middle of chemo, everything came back…

It was the culmination of an absolutely irrational season, one of the greatest feats in French football. There, this amalgamation between the kids who won the 2009 Gambardella and players who were on the rise like Giroud, who came from Ligue 2, we had incredible luck. After the match, Loulou told me: “You see Sersou, what we are experiencing tonight, you will perhaps experience again one day, but not me, and now the trouble begins.” That was a good idea. We kissed and I left into the night.”

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