The impressive world record held by Julien Bouron, a huge AS Monaco fan
Julien Bouron owns 1,146 AS Monaco shirts ยฉ AS Monaco
31-year-old Julien Bouron, a lifelong fan of the Principalityโs club from a small village in Burgundy between Dijon and Auxerre, shares his passion for collecting AS Monaco shirts with Monaco Tribune.
Usually, the Performance Centre in La Turbie has AS Monaco players training on its pitches. But a month ago, it was the clubโs shirts that took over the field โ unique collectorโs items retracing the clubโs entire history from the 1950s to the present day. In total, no fewer than 1,146 shirts were laid out in the teamโs diagonal pattern, from the oldest to the newest, and officially certified by a judicial officer representing SCP Fontaine-Pedroni. They all belong to Julien Bouron, who remains as obsessed as ever with finding new pieces to expand his collection.
โRetracing the clubโs history through its shirtsโ
His love for ASM dates back to the age of six, after a club victory in Auxerre in March 2000, the year of Monacoโs seventh French league title. Since then, he has received a home shirt every birthday and an away shirt every Christmas. He got his first shirt at the age of 12 โ one worn in the League Cup by former Argentine midfielder Lucas Bernardi. โIt was the happiest day of my life,โ he recalls, remembering being on holiday in the region with his parents.
Julien Bouron pays no attention to Monacoโs sporting results. For him, the motivation lies elsewhere. โI believe that a clubโs history isnโt only about the good times. Itโs like a love story โ there are ups and downs. The dark years are part of the history too. I collect shirts from when the club was stuck in Ligue 2 just as much as from when it reached the Champions League final. The goal is to retrace the clubโs history through its shirts,โ he explains.
Thanks to a wide network of contacts, Julien is always on the lookout online for rare finds. His choices are based on a specific model or distinctive lettering. Living in the countryside, he stores his collection in a 30 mยฒ room. Around 95% of his shirts are part of his permanent catalogue, while the remaining 5% serve as exchange pieces to acquire those heโs still missing.
โThe diagonal, ASMโs trademarkโ
Among his favourite shirts, Julien admits a soft spot for those designed by the American brand with the swoosh in the late 1980s, โwith shiny stripes.โ But what truly captured his heart is the iconic diagonal, created by Princess Grace in the early 1960s. โItโs very symbolic โ itโs ASMโs trademark. Every year when the new shirt is released, people say it looks the same as last seasonโs. But thatโs what makes it our identity, and I think itโs a very strong marker,โ he says.
To obtain his precious items, Julien rarely travels to stadiums. Instead, he relies on his social media presence, where he regularly receives offers. Last year, he managed to acquire โ at a high price โ the striped shirt worn by ASM in the 1950s. With so many items in his possession, the collector has also taken a keen interest in the clubโs history, citing Henri Biancheri and Jean Petit among his idols โ great players he never saw play but identifies with. Defender Gaรซl Givet, a key figure of the 2000s, is the most frequently named on his shirts โ purely by coincidence, he says.
Julien shows no sign of slowing down his collection, knowing exactly which match and year each shirt corresponds to. However, he insists he will never part with โthe striped one and the Champions League final shirt.โ Now the holder of the world record, Julien Bouron dethrones Florian Thรผrler, a Liverpool fan who displayed his 1,048 shirts in Switzerland last August. โIโll have to send him a message!โ he jokes.
The club responded through its Deputy General Director, Olga Dementeva: โWe are delighted to have supported Julienโs initiative, whose goal is to share his passion through his collection. Beyond the record he set himself, the presentation offers the opportunity to travel through time and relive AS Monacoโs rich history.โ