french professional football club

football club
Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace ( normally known as RC Strasbourg, Racing Straßburg, RCSA, RCS, or simply Strasbourg ; german shepherd : Füeßbàllmànnschàft Vu Stroßburri ) is a french association football golf club founded in 1906, based in the city of Strasbourg, Alsace. It has possessed professional condition since 1933 and is presently playing in Ligue 1, the top tier of french football, ever since winning the 2016–17 Ligue 2 backing. This comes after the club was demoted to the fifth tier of french football at the conclusion of the 2010–11 Championnat National season after going into fiscal liquidation. Renamed RC Strasbourg Alsace, they won the CFA championship in 2012–13, and finally became Championnat National champions in 2015–16. The golf club ‘s home stadium, since 1914, is the Stade de la Meinau.

The club is one of six clubs to have won all three major french trophies : the Championship in 1979, the Coupe de France in 1951, 1966 and 2001 and the Coupe de la Ligue in 1964, 1997, 2005 and 2019. Strasbourg is besides among the six teams to have played more than 2,000 games in France ‘s top flight ( spanning 56 seasons ) [ 1 ] and has taken separate in 52 european games since 1961. [ 2 ] Despite these accomplishments, the club has never very managed to establish itself as one of France ‘s head clubs, experiencing relegation at least once a decade since the early 1950s. racing has changed its coach 52 times in 75 years of professional play, frequently under blackmail from the fans. The destiny of the baseball club has constantly been wedded to the history of Alsace. Like the region, Racing has changed nationality three times and has a disruptive history. Founded in what was then a part of the german Empire, the club from the begin insisted on its alsatian and popular roots, in enemy to the first Strasbourg-based clubs which came from the German-born middle class. When Alsace was returned to France in 1919, the club changed its mention from “ 1. FC Neudorf ” to the current “ Racing Club de Strasbourg ” in imitation of Pierre de Coubertin ‘s Racing Club de France, a acquit gesticulate of francophilia. Racing players lived through World War II as most Alsatians did : evacuated in 1939, annexed in 1940 and striving to avoid nazification and incorporation in the Wehrmacht between 1942 and 1944. When Alsace was definitively returned to France, Racing ‘s identity switched towards Jacobinism with, for exercise, emotional wins in the cup in 1951 and 1966 amidst Franco-Alsatian controversies. More recently, the club has been eager to promote its european career along with its impregnable local ties. In April 2021, the clubhouse partnered up with french Esport arrangement Team Vitality for the FIFA eLigui 1, marking their first step into competitive Esports. [ 3 ]

history [edit ]

foundation and early years ( 1906–1945 ) [edit ]

academy award Heisserer The club was founded in 1906 by a group of youngsters in the Neudorf neighborhood of what was then Straßburg, Elsaß-Lothringen, in the german Empire, but is today Strasbourg, Alsace, in France. With the avail of their primary-school teacher, they formed a team called “ Erster Fußball Club Neudorf ”, normally named “ FC Neudorf ”. At that time, the raw 1. FCN was a minor club in a then-remote southern part of the Strasbourg area. Local football had been dominated since the 1890s by the more cardinal and elitist Straßburger Fußball Verein. According to club historian Pierre Perny, the official establishment of the FC Neudorf in 1907 may well have been accelerated by the planned move of FC Frankonia to the Haemmerle Garten, a big park in southern Strasbourg conclusion to the Neudorf. As its identify told, FC Frankonia was chiefly composed of German-born immigrants from the Franconia region of southwest Germany – some of them soldiers – living in central and northern Strasbourg, while FC Neudorf had intelligibly alsatian, popular roots. [ 4 ] FC Neudorf joined the southern German league in 1909, starting at its lowest level, Division C. They captured the Division C championship three years late, earning promotion to Division B. In 1914, FC Neudorf was able to evict rivals Frankonia from the Haemmerle Garten for a lease of 300 marks a year. This location would later become the web site of the Stade de la Meinau, where the club still plays today. In the aftermath of World War I, the district of Alsace-Lorraine came back to France and, on 11 January 1919, the cabaret adopted the name “ Racing-Club Strasbourg-Neudorf ” until becoming simply “ Racing Club de Strasbourg ” later in the year. The use of the bible “ Racing ” does not denote any association with horse- or car-racing ; rather, it is an anglicism that was common in France at the time, as exemplified by the font of the then-famous Racing Club de France, which was a emblematic inspiration for Strasbourg ‘s Racing as Alsace was reintegrated within France. The word is normally pronounced in French ( “ Le Racing ” ) or in Alsatian ( “ D’Racing ” ) without any english accentuation. Racing promptly joined french competitions and won the Alsace championship in 1923, 1924 and 1927. They besides took partially in the Coupe de France, the alone national competition at that clock. In 1925, they reached the concluding sixteen, where they fell to Lille after eliminating the then-dominant Red Star Paris. On 10 June 1933, at the “ Restaurant de la Bourse ”, the cabaret made the leap to the master ranks and, thus, joined the national backing established barely a class earlier. RCS started rival in Ligue 2 but immediately earned promotion to the top flight at the end of the 1933–34 season, going through a pair of two-legged playoff matches, first against Mulhouse ( 0–0 and 3–1 ), and then against AS Saint-Étienne ( 2–0 and 4–4 ). In the mid-1930s, Racing managed a second-place polish in 1934–35 and a third-place finish the adjacent season. In 1937, the club reached for the first time the final of the Coupe de France, losing to rivals Sochaux ( 1–2 ). This successful RCS team of the 1930s included two french internationals – Fritz Keller and Oscar Heisserer – ampere well as german hitter Oskar Rohr who still holds the golf club ‘s goalscoring record. With the outbreak of World War II, professional sport was suspended and Alsatians were evacuated to southwest France, particularly in the Dordogne. During the Phoney War, a group of youngsters kept the club existing in Périgueux, where they won the Dordogne backing in 1940. [ 5 ] After the french get the better of, Alsace was de facto annexed by the Third Reich and, in August 1940, the team took up play as Rasensportclub Straßburg, ‘lawn sports club Strasbourg ‘ in the Gauliga Elsaß, a top-flight amateur division in german football. RCS captured their group in 1941 and participated in the regional finals, where they were put out by FC Mülhausen. The team earned second-place results in each of the follow two seasons and made an appearance in the opening round of the DFB-Pokal in 1942. Starting in 1942, Alsatians were forcibly conscripted in the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS and several club players – including Oscar Heisserer – fled or had their teammates measuredly wound them to avoid internalization. Oskar Rohr besides had been imprisoned since 1940 after serving in the french Foreign Legion at the outbreak of the war. [ 6 ] During a game against SS side “ SG SS Straßburg “, Rasensportclub players wore a uniform consist of a blue jersey, white shorts and red socks as a clearly display of french patriotism. [ 7 ] [ 8 ]

First national successes and failures ( 1945–1976 ) [edit ]

Allied armies retook Alsace in 1944 and the club promptly resumed play as “ Racing Club de Strasbourg ” in France ‘s circus tent flight. The team was then built around Oscar Heisserer —who became in April 1945 the first alsatian to captain the home team—and spanish defender Paco Mateo. In 1947, the Strasbourgeois reached for the second time the concluding of the cup at Colombes, this time losing to Lille OSC 0–2. They remained in first-division contest until, at the end of the 1948–49 temper, it appeared the side would be relegated. however, neighbouring club SR Colmar liquidated their professional team, leaving room for Strasbourg to stay up. In 1951, the Bleus won their first major trophy, defeating Valenciennes 3–0 to ultimately bring the Coupe de France home. The significance of this victory went far beyond the sporting region as Alsace was then shaken by the Oradour-sur-Glane slaughter probe. Fourteen Alsatians, most of them forcibly incorporated in the Das Reich division, had been charged with war crimes, a motion that aroused considerable resentment in the region. immediately after their return in Strasbourg, the players held a emblematic and aroused ceremony at the city ‘s repository to the deaths. [ 9 ] only one year late, Strasbourg was relegated following the worst ever season in the club ‘s history. They were however bet on in the top flight after only one season in Division 2. In 1954–55, thanks to the arrival of austrian star topology Ernst Stojaspal, Strasbourg had one of its best championship seasons in the post-war earned run average, finally ending with the fourth place. The club, however, was unable to build on this success and was relegated to Division 2 in 1957 and 1960, each time gaining immediate forwarding rear to the top flight . 1966 Cup winners at the Strasbourg town mansion. From left to right : Gress, Piat, Stiebel, Kaelbel During the 1960s, the club was able to participate in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup thanks to the city ‘s Foire européenne. In 1964–65 under Paul Frantz ‘s guidance, Racing ousted giants Milan and Barcelona before falling in the quarter-finals against Manchester United. A year later, they repeated as cup winners beating champions Nantes in final by the grade of 1–0. On this occasion, captain René Hauss accomplished the remarkable feat of winning two cups with the lapp clubhouse with a 15 years-interval. other key team members during this era included Raymond Kaelbel and young talents Gilbert Gress and Gérard Hausser. Again, Racing ‘s prevail in the cup was not without controversy, reporter Thierry Roland said on know television receiver that “ the cup [ was ] leaving France ”, a remark that was deemed offensive by many in Alsace. [ 10 ] In 1968, Racing started a march that would finally lead to a fusion with two other clubs, the “ Association Sportive Culturelle de la Meinau ” and, most importantly, the CS des Pierrots 1922 Strasbourg. The fusion was effective in 1970 and the new entity was named “ Le Racing Pierrots Strasbourg Meinau ”, or RPSM. The Pierrots were then a very successful amateur team – they won the national amateurish championship in 1969 and 1970—but lacked sufficient structures to jump to professional play while Racing was more affluent but in research for endowment. The amalgamation thus appeared as an excellent opportunity to build a knock-down football club in Strasbourg and was favoured by clientele and political circles. however, the marry was a difficult one with many internal struggles that were evidenced when some of the former Pierrots left the new entity american samoa soon as 1971 to re-found their erstwhile club. [ 11 ] That lapp year, the RPSM was relegated despite the arrival at the end of the temper of yugoslav star Ivica Osim. As common, Strasbourg then won immediate promotion with Osim and two french internationals in its ranks : Jean-Noël Huck and Marc Molitor. Back in division 1 in 1972, the club made one of the biggest transfer blunders in its history : Osim was sent to Sedan to leave a foreign musician spot for Reinhard Libuda. The yugoslav left Strasbourg in tears but helped Sedan to decent results while Libuda was quickly suspended due to a match fixing scandal in Germany and finally released in March 1973. [ 12 ] In 1976, the club was again relegated and went back to its old identity as Racing Club de Strasbourg, reflecting the final failure of the RPSM fusion .

glorious years ( 1976–1980 ) [edit ]

In 1976, the future seemed reasonably night for Racing : the club had been relegated for the second time in merely four years, was torn apart by internal struggles following the failure of the amalgamation and was urgently seeking municipal subventions to reach a poise budget. [ 13 ] Financial difficulties meant that Racing was ineffective to retain or replace its best players ( Huck, Molitor, Gress, Hausser, Spiegel ) who left for other clubs or retired. This impossibility to buy on the transfer market meant that, for the first time, Strasbourg had to rely basically on players out of its youth academy and local amateurish clubs. fortunately for the baseball club, the mid-1970s saw the emergence of a identical talented generation of youngsters consisting chiefly of Léonard Specht, Jean-Jacques Marx, René Deutschmann, Yves Ehrlacher, Albert Gemmrich, Roland Wagner and Joël Tanter. Along with goalkeeper Dominique Dropsy and captain Jacky Duguépéroux, these players formed the spine of the team for the brilliant 1976–1980 period. During these four years, Racing won two championships ( D2 in 1977 and D1 in 1979 ), reached very ethical league rankings the two early years ( third base in 1978, fifth in 1980 ) and had its best results ever in european play ( UEFA Cup round of sixteen in 1979, european Cup quarter finals in 1980 ). The startle of the 1976–77 season was however unmanageable. In November, after a get the better of at Amiens, Racing called Elek Schwartz out of retirement to help and supervise the work of player-manager Heinz Schilcher. Schwartz was an important player of the 1930s team and had a celebrated international coach career behind him, specially with spells at the Netherlands national team and Benfica. Under his guidance, the team quickly improved, earning promotion to Division 1 and defeating Monaco for the Division 2 championship style, the first one in the club ‘s history. After accomplishing his deputation, Schwartz decidedly retired and was replaced by Gilbert Gress. As a player, Gress had achieved iconic status with Racing supporters. A child of the Neudorf, he was a kind musician with a potent personality, the first Frenchman to shine in the neighbor Bundesliga with VfB Stuttgart. His second return to Strasbourg, after a first gear rejoinder as a player, was greeted with exuberance and his charisma aroused a impregnable populace pastime for the team ‘s performances, with attendance rates at an all-time high. The 1977–78 season saw the particular authority of the two promoted sides with Monaco going on to win the championship and Strasbourg reaching an unexpected third invest, the best rank since 1936. Gress printed his mark on the team right away, insisting on the recruitment of experience, hard-working players ( Jacky Novi, Raymond Domenech, Francis Piasecki ) rather of extraneous stars and putting into practice innovative tactical ideas. A self-proclaimed admirer of Ajax ‘s total Football, Gress wanted all his players to both maintain and attack and asked for bang-up versatility. This was quite unusual in french football at that time. In most french clubs, defenders were told not to cross the midfield course and strikers had about no defensive duties. To the contrary, Gress instructed his forwards to exert immediate blackmail on the other ‘s side defenders and encouraged nauseating initiatives by his own backs. A sign of versatility was the fact the english ‘s top-scorer during that era, Albert Gemmrich, played on the left wing despite being right-footed. Gemmrich developed an ability to score with both feet after an injury that forced him to train using only his leave foot [ 14 ] and Gress used his particular profile to puzzle defences, with great success .
For the 1978–79 season, Racing kept basically the lapp team that had won promotion in 1977 and a third place in 1978. The lone exceptions were the addition of midfielder Roger Jouve and the substitution between hitter Jacques Vergnes and Chadian musician Nabatingue Toko. A french external, Vergnes clashed with Gress due to his unwillingness to assume defensive duties and his outspoken frustration after being regularly sidelined. He was quickly sent to Bordeaux six games after the startle the season. [ 15 ] His replacement, Tonko, was the only extraneous actor on the squad that class, a fact that again was unusual since french clubhouse football was at that time still identical dependent on the qualities of players from abroad. Strasbourg took the run early in the season and did not give it binding until the end in cattiness of widespread agnosticism from national followers. The absence of big names in the team was considered by many to be a cripple handicap against established teams like Saint-Étienne or Nantes which had internationally renowned players. For his separate, Gress used the critical review of the imperativeness to boost his actor ‘s motivation and insisted that “ the star is the team ”. Racing finished atop the championship on 56 points with an undefeated dwelling record. The render from Lyon, where the title plot was played, was triumphant with huge push greeting the team at every railway post in Alsace before the arrival of the train at Strasbourg. The club saw lapp movement during the 1979 inter-season. Chairman Alain Léopold was replaced by the influential André Bord, Duguépéroux ended his professional career and Gemmrich left for Bordeaux. To replace him, Bord imposed the recruitment of Carlos Bianchi to Gress. Bianchi was a fecund goalscorer but he was besides a identical traditional hitter with no intention to commit to defence and teamplay, to Gress ‘ despair. The season was marked by the render of home struggles, specially with the increasingly confrontational relationship between Gress and Bord, but the team however achieved a fifth-place finish and advanced to the quarter-finals of the european Cup, where it was eliminated by Ajax ( 0–0 ; 0–4 ) .

chronic instability ( since 1980 ) [edit ]

The Bleus did not enjoy their success for retentive. In September 1980, Gress was controversially sacked and, after respective seasons of middling results, Racing was returned to second-tier play in 1986. For the beginning time, Strasbourg failed to win contiguous forwarding back to the first tier, finally ending 9th stead in its group, the worst ranking always for the club. Success however came back with the 1987–88 season as new director Henryk Kasperczak led Racing to its second Division 2 entitle with players like Juan Simón, Peter Reichert and the returning Léonard Specht. Strasbourg, however, was unable to preserve its spot in the top-flight and was spinal column in Division 2 in 1989. With Specht now a director, Racing failed to secure forwarding for the adjacent two seasons, each time falling in the playoffs, first against Nice and then again Lens. In 1991–92, Gress came back to his hometown as coach and, after defeating Rennes ( 0–0 ; 4–1 ) in the final examination promotion playoff peer, Strasbourg made a last return to the top flight. The 1992–93 season saw the club ending in eighth put, a ranking that has not been equalled since, allowing the likes of José Cobos, Frank Leboeuf and Marc Keller to shine in the clear flight. At the end of the 1993–94 season, Gress left Racing due to personal disagreements with the golf club ‘s direction. He was replaced by Daniel Jeandupeux who was himself fired after eight months. Jacky Duguépéroux then took over the baseball club and led it to its most brilliant menstruation since the 1979 title. During the 1990s, there was a mount pastime for football in France with the raise of the national team and, like early clubs, Racing benefited from this context. The club was then able to attract french major players like Franck Sauzée and foreign stars like Aleksandr Mostovoi. With this mix of established players and rising prospects, the team reached the final examination of the cup in 1995, losing to Paris Saint-Germain ( 0–1 ). In April that same year, Strasbourg became the only team to defeat champions Nantes, 2–0 at lanthanum Meinau. [ 16 ] After successfully going through the 1995 Intertoto Cup during the summer, Racing was able to participate in the UEFA Cup where they reached the second cycle, losing to italian giants AC Milan. In 1996, the Bosman rule entered into coerce and made it unmanageable for french clubs to retain their best players. Strasbourg was no exception. During the summer, the team lost Mostovoi and its two french internationals, Marc Keller and Frank Leboeuf. Despite these departures, Racing fared well in the league, staying most of the season in the peak 5 before ultimately settling for a 9th-place finish. That like year, the IMG – McCormack Group was chosen by the municipality to take control condition of the club. The players, however trained by Jacky Duguépéroux, went on to capture the Coupe de la Ligue – the first national trophy in 18 years – by defeating Bordeaux in a penalty gunfight. A good UEFA Cup run followed that victory, allowing young players formed at the golf club like Olivier Dacourt or Valérien Ismaël to shine in continental dally. After a successful qualification round against Rangers and Liverpool, Strasbourg defeated Inter Milan 2–0 at la Meinau, but fell 0–3 in the away leg. In the meanwhile, IMG had taken over the club in the summer of 1997 and Patrick Proisy, erstwhile tennis player and head of the french branch, became president. He was joined a year later by his supporter Claude Le Roy as coach. The Proisy–Le Roy menstruation at Racing was a trouble oneself one with poor results, respective scandals and a general disenchantment of the fans towards the cabaret ‘s management. respective leery transfers during that menstruation have led Strasbourg ‘s prosecutor to indict Proisy and Le Roy of misuse of company assets and forgery in 2006. [ 17 ] During their reign, the golf club sold all of its best prospects and basically replaced them with disappointing, expensive alien players such as Diego Hector Garay, Gonzalo Belloso and Mario Haas. In 2000–01, the golf club accomplished the paradoxical feat of being relegated after spending the whole temper in the penetrate three while winning the french cup with a victory on penalties against Amiens. On that occasion, Paraguayan star topology José Luis Chilavert scored the winning penalty for Strasbourg at the Stade de France .
A plot at the Stade de la Meinau In 2001–02, the golf club, led by director Ivan Hašek, immediately re-took its target among the area ‘s football elite by finishing runner-up in Ligue 2. The year 2003 saw the deviation of IMG and Proisy. [ 18 ] The club was taken over by a pool of local investors with early player Marc Keller staying as director-general. The new ownership focused on cleaning up the cabaret ‘s finances. In 2005, Racing won their second domestic trophy in four years when they beat Caen 2–1 in the final examination of the League Cup, a feat which provided them with a passport to the 2005–06 UEFA Cup, in which they reached the last sixteen. In 2006, Strasbourg was again relegated. The baseball club was taken over by very estate investor Philippe Ginestet and celebrated its centennial in the fall of 2006 with respective events, including an exhibition and a friendly match against Marseille. [ 19 ] Ginestet hired french legend Jean-Pierre Papin as the new coach [ 20 ] and the club again won immediate promotion to the top trajectory in 2007, finishing at third gear put. In malice of this, Papin resigned as director, citing internal relationship problems, [ 21 ] and was succeeded by Jean-Marc Furlan. Under Furlan, the RCS was ineffective to preserve its spot in Ligue 1, chiefly due to eleven back-to-back defeats at the end of the 2007–08 season, a record for post-World War II football in France. [ 22 ] Furlan was however confirmed as coach for the comply Ligue 2 season but failed in his deputation to bring the club back in the top-tier as Racing ended 4th with a huge defeat at Montpellier. Furlan ‘s condense was subsequently terminated and Phillipe Ginestet stepped down from his side as chair while remaining the major stockholder. He was succeeded by Léonard Specht, who picked Gilbert Gress as director. however, Gress cursorily entered in conflict with many members of the cabaret, including Ginestet, whom he violently attacked precisely after his slope ‘s kill to Châteauroux in the inaugural address league bet on. Ginestet then convened an extraordinary confluence of the board to sack Gress, prompting Léonard Specht ‘s resignation. Gress was replaced by assistant director Pascal Janin, first as a caretaker and then as permanent director, when Ginestet re-took the club ‘s presidency at the end of August 2009. In the 2009–10 temper, a final-day away frustration relegated Strasbourg to the National as they suffered their irregular relegation in three seasons. The 2010–11 temper saw them narrowly miss out on forwarding back to Ligue 2 as they finished fourth behind Guingamp. [ 23 ] On 17 July 2011, Racing Club de Strasbourg entered sum liquidation and were removed from the National in favor of AS Cherbourg. [ 24 ] On 25 August 2011, after drawn-out negotiations with the FFF, Strasbourg were finally reinstated into the one-fifth tier of the french footballing, the CFA 2, Group C. [ 25 ] Strasbourg won forwarding to the CFA, the fourth tier of french Football, at the first try in the 2011–12 season finishing on 100 points. In 2012, the club was renamed RC Strasbourg Alsace with a comparable new badge. Strasbourg finished as champions of the CFA at the end of the 2012–13 season and returned to the National. In 2014, Jacky Duguépéroux was given the character of director for the third gear time. He replaced François Keller, who, with three years of service, was their longest-serving director since Gilbert Gress in the early-to-mid-1990s .

return to the master leagues [edit ]

On 27 May 2016, Strasbourg drew 0–0 at Belfort to become champions of the National and clinch promotion to Ligue 2, marking their reappearance to the professional floor after a six-year absence. [ 26 ]
On 19 May 2017, Strasbourg sealed its return to Ligue 1 after a nine-year absence from the french top tier following a 2–1 home victory over Bourg-Péronnas to claim the 2016-17 Ligue 2 championship. On 2 December 2017, Strasbourg claimed a noteworthy victory over Paris Saint-Germain winning 2–1. This was the first get the better of for PSG of the season as they had gone unbeaten in Ligue 1 and in the Champions League. [ 27 ] [ 28 ] At the end of the 2017/2018 Ligue 1 season, Strasbourg finished 15th on the table securing their survival in the top flight for the next campaign. [ 29 ] On 30 March 2019, Strasbourg won their fourth Coupe de la Ligue claim by beating Guingamp 4 – 1 on penalties following a 0 – 0 draw after extra time. Strasbourg reached their fourthly ever final examination by beating Lille in third gear round followed by beating Marseille, Lyon and Bordeaux in the round of 16, quarter final examination and semitrailer concluding respectively. The final was played at Lille ’ s Home Stade Pierre-Mauroy. Strasbourg ’ s Goalkeeper Bingourou Kamara was named the Man Of The Match.

In the 2020-21 Ligue 1 season, Strasbourg struggled for most of the campaign but managed to finish 15th on the board. [ 30 ]

Colours and crest [edit ]

While the colours of the town are red and white, Racing has constantly played in a combination of blue and white. The exact origin of this choice of color is obscure. Over the years, the most common consistent has been composed of a average aristocratic jersey, white shorts and medium blue socks. During the last ten years, however, the team has regularly switched between medium blue, dark blue, sky blasphemous and white as the main color of its base jersey. [ 31 ] Since 2007, the Flag of Alsace is featured on the back of the cabaret ‘s shirt. Hummel is the current kit designer. Previously ( 1973–2000 ; 2004–2007 ), Racing was equipped by Adidas, which has its french seat in Landersheim, between Strasbourg and Saverne. ASICS besides supplied the club ( 2000–03 ). The current team crest has been in practice – with interruptions – since 1976 and is generally considered as the most legalize one. [ 32 ] It includes a stylize stork ( symbol of Alsace ), a crimson diagonal stripe from the city ‘s coat of arms and a depiction of the Cathedral along with the club ‘s initials : RCS. Between 1997 and 2006, the baseball club used another logo, introduced by Patrick Proisy. This cap was then considered to be more “ modern ” and was supposed to depict at the same time the Cathedral and a stork. The resemblance, however, was far from being obvious to everyone and the design was cursorily derogatively nicknamed “ Pac-Man “ due to some coarse traits with the celebrated video recording game. In 2006, the modern management of the baseball club, acceding to a patron demand, re-installed the 1976 cap. [ 33 ]

stadium [edit ]

Racing have been playing at the Stade de la Meinau in southern Strasbourg ever since 1914. The stadium hosted the 1938 World Cup and Euro 1984. Its maximal capacity was downsized from 45,000 to 29,000 during the 1990s to respect new safety standards .

Supporters and rivalries [edit ]

historically, Racing has its roots in southern Strasbourg in the propertyless Neudorf, Meinau and Polygone neighbourhoods. In the 1930s, the team was the merely one in the area to jump to professional act and, with the help of beneficial results during that decade, it built patronize all around the town. In Strasbourg like in the pillow of France, there is only one pro football club in every city and hence no in-town competition, a fact that heavily contrasts with the situation in Great Britain, Italy or Spain. Nowadays, as the only master football club in Alsace, Racing attracts a bombastic sports fan base that covers both the Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin départements equally well as the eastern part of the Moselle. The fan-base outside of this area is basically express to people that, for a reason or another, have a personal connect with Alsace. The cabaret besides has ties to the other side of the Rhine, specially through a supporter friendship with Karlsruher SC [ 34 ] and regular friendly matches during the summer. On average, the attendance in Ligue 1 has been around 20,000 for a stadium capacity of 29,000. [ 35 ] Supporters groups include the “ Ultra Boys 90 ”, the “ Kop Ciel et Blanc ” and the “ Club central des supporters ”. [ 36 ] Most of the garter groups and the most outspoken fans in general have elected placement in the Kop at the “ Quart de Virage Nord-Ouest ” ( northwest quarter corner ). Strasbourg supporters have the repute to be faithful yet critical. Former captain Corentin Martins has once asserted that the Strasbourg populace is “ demanding, but honest ”. [ 37 ] Racing is always an aroused topic in Alsace. It is frequently said that some may love it or hate it, or evening both at the same clock time, but that it leaves no one deaf. [ 38 ] Racing Strasbourg ‘s chief equal is Metz. The club compete is what is generally referred as the “ Derby de l’Est ” ( “ the Eastern derby “ ) in France, a rather inappropriate term since the two cities are 150 kilometres apart. There is however a significant degree of inter-regional competition between Alsace and Lorraine, leading to some bitterness between the fans on both sides. The two clubs met each other in the quarter-finals of the 1995 UEFA Intertoto Cup in what was the first ever match between two french teams in a european rival. [ 39 ] Strasbourg won the game 2–0. When Mulhouse was master, the two sides besides nourished a competition that persists ampere far as youth teams are concerned .

ownership and chairmanship [edit ]

overview [edit ]

Racing ‘s history has always been closely intertwined with local business and politics. In the 1930s, the club ‘s jumpstart to professionalism was sustained by car manufacturer Emile Mathis who had his factory precisely in front of the stade de la Meinau. [ 40 ] [ 41 ] RCS quickly entered a competition with Sochaux, a team that was backed by Mathis ‘ rival Peugeot. After WW2, Mathis ceased activity and the clubhouse had to find early sponsors including the Crédit Mutuel – a large bank institution that has its roots in Alsace and appeared on the club ‘s shirt throughout most of the 1960s and 1970s – a well as the town ‘s municipality. In 1980, André Bord, a outstanding local Gaullist politician and former minister during the Charles de Gaulle and Georges Pompidou presidencies, became president. Bord could boast his connections in business, political and artistic elites and vowed to make Racing a boastfully name in french football. however, he cursorily entered a confrontation with charismatic director Gilbert Gress that culminated in September 1980 when the announcement of Gress ‘ departure provoked crowd anger and riots scenes during a game against Nantes. [ 42 ] The inability for the influential president of the united states and the talented director to get along with each early and the 1980 trauma may explain why Racing was unable to perform lastingly at the top level after the 1979 style. In 1986, Bord left the professional section and insert fashion architect Daniel Hechter as his successor. Hechter had previously been banned from pro football following his affair in the Paris Saint-Germain secret funds scandal but was however able to re-take a president of the united states job at Strasbourg thanks to a prison term reduction. It was the first undertake to bring an foreigner to the local context at the club ‘s head, but the experiment ended in failure in 1990 as the club neared bankruptcy. [ 43 ] Racing was at that time salvaged by the Strasbourg municipality which took a 49 % partake of the club but had to relinquish it a few years late as the Pasqua legislation restricted populace support to professional sport. [ 44 ] In 1997, two projects were competing to buy the municipal share and effectively take control of the club. The inaugural was led by then-president Roland Weller, a local anesthetic businessman. The second base offer was made by american IMG – McCormack Group through its french branch headed by Patrick Proisy. At that time, IMG was trying to develop its activities in european football and had failed the former class in its effort to buy Olympique de Marseille. [ 45 ] The American group presented an ambitious plan with an wholly new youth academy american samoa well as plans for a animate stadium, finally winning the contest for Racing ‘s ownership for a price of 1.5 million euro. [ 46 ] [ 47 ] The club became a “ Société Anonyme à Objet Sportif ” and then a “ Société Anonyme Sportive Professionnelle ”, a condition very like to the general corporate condition, albeit with restrictions like the impossibility to enter the stock market and the duty to keep ties with the original association. [ 48 ] Proisy became the chair of the board with fully operate over the professional section but not the omni-sport structure that even possessed the club ‘s list and its affiliation to the french Football Federation ( FFF ). This was evidenced in 2002 when Proisy and Bord, still a chair of the omni-sport, entered a quarrel that led to the inability for the professional players to wear the name “ Racing club de Strasbourg ” on their jersey for some time. [ 49 ] Proisy ‘s reign at Strasbourg was fraught with misunderstandings, frustration and hapless results on the pitch. The alsatian public particularly resented the fact that Proisy was unwilling to settle in Strasbourg, alternatively controlling the cabaret ‘s destiny from IMG ‘s offices in Paris. [ 43 ] [ 50 ] Racing ‘s troubles adenine well as the township ‘s refusal to finance an extension of the stade de la Meinau to host the 1998 FIFA World Cup provoked heated argument during the 2001 municipal election and finally became part of the elements that drove to the defeat of Catherine Trautmann. In 2003, the club was bought back by a pool of local investors including Egon Gindorf who became chair, Patrick Adler, Pierre Schmidt and Philippe Ginestet who all had been clubhouse sponsors during the IMG earned run average. The modern ownership bought the baseball club for a symbolic euro [ 51 ] to an IMG group tidal bore to cut its losses after the death of Mark McCormack [ 52 ] but had to cover a 3 million euro deficit to close the 2002–03 budget. [ 51 ] It is estimated that Racing lost 15 million euro during the IMG era, chiefly due to a dubious recruitment policy. Thanks to a prudent transmit policy initiated by film director Marc Keller and good attendance rates, the modern management was able to redress finances but the club ‘s economic situation has remained delicate up to now. In 2004, Gindorf experienced personal and fiscal difficulties and was uncoerced to scale down his affair at Racing. It was silent that Philippe Ginestet would become the new president at the end of the 2004–05 temper. however, this act was opposed by Keller who, in June 2005, intelligibly announced that he would not work with Ginestet. Keller had in fact been acting as the clubhouse ‘s head since 2002 but was alone a minor stockholder. He however was able to mobilise his iconic status with supporters to, at first, block Ginestet ‘s accession to chairmanship, provoking a deadlock that lasted throughout 2005 as the club was looking for an investor. In the fall of 2005, it was announced that Alain Afflelou, owner of the biggest optician in France and a former president of Bordeaux, would be the new owner, but he was finally out-bid by Ginestet who took operate of the club halfway through the 2005–06 season, forcing Keller ‘s passing a few months late. Ginestet held a majority share during four years, which he sold in the end of 2009 for a price of €1.6 million. [ 53 ] After some speculation, the new owner was identified as Alain Fontenla, a french investing agent based in London. In 2010, Fontenla owned 85 %, along with Carousel Finance ( 15 % ) a holding named “ Racing investissements ”, which itself owned a majority share ( 70 % ) of EuroRacing, the main stockholder ( 78 % ) of the golf club. The other major stockholder of the club was Lohr SA, an industrial group centred on transportation activities. [ 54 ]

presidential history [edit ]

Below is a list of RC Strasbourg ‘s 15 presidents since the beginning of the professional earned run average in 1933. [ 55 ] The president has not constantly been the very owner of the golf club. For exemplar, between 1990 and 1997 the municipality was the major stockholder, but it chose to delegate the chairmanships to freelancer local entrepreneurs. The 2009–10 temper saw a phonograph record of five consecutive presidents. early into the season, Léonard Specht stepped down from his stead, after the net of Glibert Gress, whom he had appointed as director. [ 56 ] Philippe Ginestet then re-took the presidency, but left the baseball club when the coup d’etat by the new owners was completed in December. The new owners chose to name Julien Fournier as the new Chief executive [ 57 ] but, after some convulsion, Fournier quickly entered a challenge with the new major stockholder, Alain Fontenla. Fournier ‘s condense was terminated in February and he was replaced by Luc Dayan on an interim basis. [ 58 ] entirely a month late, early Sochaux president Jean-Claude Plessis came to replace Dayan. [ 59 ]

Players [edit ]

current team [edit ]

As of 31 August 2021.[60]

note : Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality .

Out on loanword [edit ]

bill : Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality .

former players [edit ]

RCS does not have an official manor hall of fame or an all-time eleven. diverse selections have been made by iron and supporters but none has achieved universal obedience. 21 players have been capped for France while playing for Strasbourg. The most celebrated one is Oscar Heisserer who played a commemorate 18 times with the home team while at Strasbourg and was the first Alsatian and beginning and only RCS musician to wear the armband for France. [ 61 ] Dominique Dropsy, Léonard Specht and Gérard Hausser besides earned more than 10 caps while Marc Molitor is one of the rare examples of a player being capped for the national team while playing in the Division 2. [ 62 ] Unsurprisingly, it is during the 1978–1979 title season that Racing had the most players included in the national squad. On 7 October 1978 were a record four RCS players ( Dominique Dropsy, Roger Jouve, Francis Piasecki, Albert Gemmrich ) on the field for a Euro 1980 qualifying game against Luxembourg. [ 63 ] This figure was repeated a calendar month late for a friendly against Spain ( Dropsy, Piasecki, Gemmrich and Léonard Specht ). [ 64 ] Frank Leboeuf and Marc Keller were the final RCS players to earn a cap during the 1995–1996 season. Leboeuf is one of the two former RCS in the french team that won World Cup, the other one being Youri Djorkaeff .
Morgan Schneiderlin played for France in the 2014 World Cup and has appeared for Southampton more than 250 times since leaving Strasbourg. Players to have once played for Strasbourg to have recently played for France include Olivier Dacourt and Richard Dutruel, ( both in 2004 ). furthermore, stream France international midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin is a product of RC Strasbourg ‘s Youth set-up, spending 13 years with the baseball club before moving to Southampton after equitable five first-team appearances for Strasbourg. Schneiderlin then moved to Manchester United on 14 July 2015 before a go to Everton in January 2017. [ 65 ] [ 66 ] With regional feelings hush firm in Alsace, the performances of local players logically attract particular attention. Seven out of the ten-spot players with the most apparitions for Racing are from Alsace : René Hauss ( who holds the read ), Léonard Specht, René Deutschmann, Edmond Haan, Gérard Hausser, Jean Schuth and Raymond Kaelbel. Since 1979, there is besides a peculiar tradition that every Racing team to win a trophy or reach a final featured a Breton as captain, coach or both. Jacky Duguépéroux captained the 1979 team and won the Coupe de la Ligue in 1997 and 2005 as a coach. The 2001 Coupe de France winning team for itself included Yvon Pouliquen as director and Corentin Martins as master. Pouliquen besides was the captain for the 1995 concluding .
[67] He had some judiciary issues with the club after his departure, which were settled.Paraguayan legend José Luis Chilavert was the goalkeeper of the squad when RC Strasbourg won the 2001 Coupe de France, scoring the winning penalty for the team.He had some judiciary issues with the club after his departure, which were settled. apart from french internationals and Alsatians, there is a impregnable custom to have alien players from Central and Eastern Europe at Strasbourg. The successful Racing team of the 1930s regularly included Austrians both as players and coaches, a tradition that was continued when Ernst Stojaspal played at louisiana Meinau in the 1950s. other Mitteleuropa players fondly remembered include Elek Schwartz, Ivica Osim, Ivan Hašek, Alexander Vencel or Danijel Ljuboja while russian Aleksandr Mostovoi is the last first ace to play for Racing to this date. besides, one of the greatest goalkeepers of all times, the Paraguayan José Luis Chilavert who, known for being three times selected IFFHS World ‘s Best Goalkeeper and his free-kick abilities, won the 2001 Coupe de France with the cabaret .

Managers [edit ]

Strasbourg has had 47 managers in the professional era, with the holder of the office changing 57 times. This is a criminal record in French football entirely surpassed by Marseille. Gilbert Gress holds the record for the longest-serving coach at the club, both for a one spell ( 39 months between. 1977–80, 152 matches ) and overall ( 75 months in three spells, 275 matches ). Paul Frantz holds the record for the most spells at Racing with four ( 73 months overall, 227 matches ). Jacky Duguépéroux is the only director to win two trophies with the club .

stream coach staff [edit ]

Position Name
Manager Vacant
Assistant manager Tom Carlino
Goalkeeping coach Alexander Vencel
Fitness coach Dany Eberhardt
Reserve team coach and Head of youth development Jean-François Kuentz

Honours [edit ]

league [edit ]

Cups [edit ]

Europe [edit ]

Records [edit ]

References [edit ]

bibliography [edit ]

  • Pierre Perny, Racing 100 ans, 2006, 350 p.
  • Ronald Hirlé, Il était une fois le Racing, Toute l’histoire du club omnisport Strasbourgeois, 1991, 176 p.