Le Havre supporters demand Blue Crow exit amid leadership upheaval
Le Havre’s leadership overhaul has prompted three supporter groups to demand owner Blue Crow Sports Group’s departure, little more than a year after the American investor acquired control of the French club.
Three Le Havre supporter groups have called for Blue Crow Sports Group to sell the club as changes across its executive and football departments deepen tensions with the American ownership.Kop Ciel et Marine, Barbarians Havrais and HAC Fans issued a joint statement titled “Blue Crow Out” on Monday, with supporters also gathering outside Stade Océane to protest.The groups declared: “You will not send us away. And above all, you will not silence us! You will leave the club before we do!”The statement accuses Blue Crow of dismantling Le Havre and failing to understand its history and identity, marking an open rupture between the ownership and organised supporters.The protest follows president Jean-Michel Roussier’s offer to resign, the suspension of head coach Didier Digard and the reported impending departure of sporting director Demba Ba after barely four months in the role.Roussier’s resignation is expected to receive formal approval on Thursday, while director general Yacine Alaoui has assumed responsibility for sporting and administrative operations, reporting directly to the board.Academy director Jaïr Karam will lead the first team on an interim basis, with Ba’s assistant Quentin Rauzier expected to succeed him in the sporting department.The changes leave Blue Crow overseeing a substantial management reset soon after acquiring Vincent Volpe’s 96% stake in summer 2025.The supporter groups nevertheless urged players to remain committed ahead of Sunday’s match against Lorient, distinguishing their backing for the team from their opposition to its owner.Their message called for that effort to be “for the club, not for the crow”.The dispute comes during a period of change within Blue Crow itself, following the sale of its controlling interest in Spanish club Leganés and a reported split with founder Jeff Luhnow.The Houston-based group sold its 84.21% Leganés holding to 885 Capital in June 2026, ending an investment that had included promotion to LaLiga as second-division champions in 2024.Spanish reporting indicated that Luhnow had been removed from Blue Crow’s management following disagreements with investors before the sale.The company now lists Ben Guill as chairman and chief executive. Guill, a founder of energy investment firm White Deer, has previously held interests in the Houston Astros and Houston Dynamo.Luhnow established Blue Crow in 2021 after a career in baseball, with the group subsequently acquiring Cancún FC and Leganés before entering French football through Le Havre.Its remaining football interests include Le Havre, Cancún and an academy in Botswana.At Le Havre, the immediate challenge is to establish a new leadership structure while addressing a supporter campaign explicitly seeking an ownership change, rather than simply a reversal of individual appointments.