ST ETIENNE fans launched flares down the tunnel towards their own players after the French side were relegated to Ligue 2 after 18 years in the top flight.
AJ Auxerre came out on top, winning 5-4 on penalties after the two teams drew 2-2 on aggregate over both legs.
The win sees Auxerre swap places with St Etienne in the French top tier.
And at full-time, angry fans ran onto the pitch, chasing their own players down the tunnel.
Flares were launched at the fleeing footballers.
St Etienne will be joined by Metz and Bordeaux in Ligue 2, while AC Ajaccio and Toulouse have a crack at the top flight.
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According to Get French Football News, St Etienne is expected to be sold to David Blitzer’s multi-club group.
In a statement, St Etienne said: “For the Association Sportive de Saint-Etienne, the 2021-2022 season ends with the painful sanction of relegation to Ligue 2, after eighteen consecutive seasons in Ligue 1.
“We share the immense pain and sadness of all those who love the Greens, whether they are supporters or partners.
“This failure must be accepted.
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“As major shareholders, we take full responsibility for this.
“Beyond this terrible disappointment, we would like to thank the management of the club as well as all the employees and volunteers, who worked with skill, tenacity and dedication, in a particularly difficult context.
“It is with them that the future of the club will be written.
“If we have been able to make mistakes in recent seasons, we have never stopped working to ensure the sustainability of ASSE, whose financial situation will allow it to assume the next year in Ligue 2.
“In a while, we will announce important news regarding the future of the club and ours.
“An essential page in our life will be turned, but we place above all the ASSE institution which, we are convinced, will very quickly find its way back to the elite.”
