Michelin connection links Ballymena to Heineken Cup Final

THE FORTHCOMING visit of French rugby teams Toulon and ASM Clermont Auvergne to the new Aviva stadium at Lansdowne Road later this month where they will compete in the final of the Heineken Cup could give the 1,000 employees at the Michelin plant in Ballymena reason to believe that their own MAC (Michelin Athletic Club) will rise to international prominence.

Michelin man will be throwing his support behind ASM Clermont Auvergne in the Heineken Cup final.

Like MAC in Ballymena, the French side ASM Clermont Auvergne has its roots in Michelin tyre manufacturing. Based in the French city of Clermont-Ferrand, where Michelin established its first factory, the team was founded in 1911 by Marcel Michelin, the son of André Michelin, founder of the Michelin tyre company.

Though it is little known amongst rugby supporters generally, the club was first named ASM – the initials standing for Association Sportive Michelin, whose early purpose was to be a recreational sports amenity for Michelin’s own employees.

Based at the 18,000 capacity Parc des Sports Marcel Michelin, the club has developed considerably in the intervening years and is now ranked as one of the world’s leading rugby clubs whose fame and reputation could be said to mirror the products of its founding patron and current sponsor.