RC Strasbourg

RC Strasbourg

Full name	Racing Club de Strasbourg
Nickname(s)	Racing
Founded	1906
Ground	Stade de la Meinau Strasbourg, France (Capacity: 29,230)
Chairman	Philippe Ginestet
Manager	Jean-Marc Furlan
League	Ligue 2
2007–08	Ligue 1, 19th (relegated)
Home colours Away colours

Racing Club de Strasbourg (commonly known as RC Strasbourg, RCS or simply Strasbourg) is a French football team founded in 1906, playing in the city of Strasbourg in Alsace. They currently play in Ligue 2, the second tier of French football, having been relegated from Ligue 1 at the conclusion of the 2007-08 season. The club is one of the six to win all three major French trophies: the Championship in 1979, the Coupe de France in 1951, 1966, 2001 and the Coupe de la Ligue in 1997 and 2005. Strasbourg is among the six teams that have played more than 2000 games in France's top flight (56 seasons)^[1] and has taken part in 52 European games since 1961.^[2] The club has been playing at the Stade de la Meinau since 1914 and plans to move to a new ground, provisionally called EuroStadium, in 2013.

History

See also: List of RC Strasbourg Seasons

From the Neudorf to the European Champions Cup

The club was founded in 1906 by a group of youngsters in the Neudorf neighborhood of what was then Straßburg, Elsaß, in Germany, but is today Strasbourg, Alsace, in France. With the help of their primary-school teacher, they formed a team called "Fußball Club Neudorf". On 12 December, 1908 the club was renamed "1. FC Neudorf". In 1914, FC Neudorf rented the Haemmerle Garten for 300 marks a year, a location that would later become the site of the Stade de la Meinau. In the aftermath of World War I the territory of Alsace-Lorraine came back to France and, on 11 January 1919, the club adopted the name "Racing-Club Strasbourg-Neudorf" until becoming simply "Racing Club de Strasbourg" later in the year reflecting regulations that restricted the use of the German language and placenames in the region. The use of the word "Racing" does not denote any association with horse or car racing, it is an anglicism that was common in France at the time, as exemplified by the case of the then famous Racing Club de France - a symbolical inspiration for Strasbourg's Racing as Alsace was reintegrated within France - as well as Racing club de Lens. The word is usually pronounced in French ("Le Racing") or in Alsatian ("D'Racing") without any English accentuation. Racing quickly joined French competition and, by 1926, had captured its first title as champions of Alsace.

On June 10, 1933, at the "Restaurant de la Bourse", the club made the jump to the professional ranks. In 1934, they reached Division 1 for the first time, after a pair of two-leg matches, first against FC Mulhouse (0-0 and 3-1), and then against AS Saint-Étienne (2-0 and 4-4). Racing earned decent results in the mid-1930s with a second place finish in 1934-35 and a third place finish the next season. In 1937, the club reached for the first time the final of the Coupe de France, losing to FC Sochaux (1-2).

With the outbreak of World War II, professional sport was suspended and Alsatians were evacuated in south-west France, especially in the Dordogne. During the Phoney War, a group of young players kept the club existing in Périgueux where they won the Dordogne championship in 1940.^[3] After the French defeat, Alsace was de facto annexed by the Third Reich and, in August 1940, the team took up play as "Rasensportclub Straßburg" in the Gauliga Elsaß, a top flight amateur division in German football. RCS captured their division in 1941 and participated in the national finals, where they were put out in the first round by FC Mülhausen. The team earned second place results in each of the following two seasons and made an appearance in the opening round of the DFB Pokal (German Cup) in 1942. Starting in 1942, Alsatians were forcibly conscripted in the Wehrmacht and the Waffen SS and several club players - including Alsatian star Oscar Heisserer - fled or had their teammates deliberately wound them to avoid incorporation. German-born star Oskar Rohr also had been imprisoned since 1940 after serving in the Légion Etrangère at the outbreak of the war.^[4] During a game against SS side SG SS Straßburg, Rasensportclub players wore a uniform consisting of a blue jersey, white shorts and red socks as a clear display of French patriotism.^[5][6]

Allied armies retook Alsace in 1944 and the club quickly resumed play as "Racing Club de Strasbourg" in France's top flight. In 1947, the Strasbourgeois reached for the second time the final of the club at Colombes, this time losing to Lille OSC, 0-2. They remained in first division competition until, at the end of the 1948-49 season, 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 US Valenciennes 3:0 to finally bring the Coupe de France home.

Only one year later, Strasbourg was relegated following the worst ever season in the club's history. They were however back in the top flight after only one season in Division 2. In 1954-55, thanks to the arrival of Austrian star Ernst Stojaspal, Strasbourg had one of its best championship seasons in the post-war era, eventually ending with the 4th place. During the 1960s, the club was also able to participate in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup thanks to the city's Foire européenne.

1966 Cup winners at the Strasbourg town hall. From left to right: Gress, Piat, Stiebel, Kaelbel

In 1964-65 under Paul Frantz's guidance, Racing ousted giants AC Milan and FC Barcelona before falling in the quarter-finals against Manchester United. A year later, they repeated as cup winners beating champions FC Nantes in final by the score of 1-0. On this occasion, captain René Hauss accomplished the remarkable feat of winning two cups with the same club with a 15 years-interval. Other key team members during this era included Raymond Kaelbel and young talents Gilbert Gress and Gérard Hausser. Racing then went on to several unremarked years of play. On April 4, 1970 they merged with the "AS Sportive Culturelle de la Meinau" to briefly become "Racing Club Strasbourg Meinau". On 3 June they entered into a second union, this time with "CS des Pierrots 1922 Strasbourg", to form "Le Racing Pierrots Strasbourg Meinau". The club spent the early 1970s moving up and down between first and second division play. On 15 October 1976 they assumed their old identity as Racing Club de Strasbourg.

Dropsy Domenech Duguépéroux Novi Marx Deutschmann Ehrlacher Piasecki Gemmrich Tanter Wagner

Line-up for the 1979 title game at Lyon

The end of the 1976-77 season saw Racing promoted to Division 1 once again under Alexander Schwartz's management. Then, under the guidance of Gilbert Gress and with a team composed inter alia of Raymond Domenech, Dominique Dropsy, Léonard Specht and Albert Gemmrich, they earned a third place finish and, in 1978/1979, finished atop the championship on 56 points with an undefeated home record. The Strasbourg team that year had the particularity to have only French players on its roster at the start of the season. Chadian player Nabatingue Toko joined Strasbourg later in the season but was mainly used as a substitute. This was the first and for now the only championship title in Racing's history. The following year, the Strasbourgeois advanced to the quarter-finals of the European Champions Cup, where they were eliminated by Ajax Amsterdam (0:0;0:4).

Racing since 1980

The Bleus' success was short-lived. In September 1980, Gress was controversially sacked and, after several seasons of middling results, Racing was returned to second tier play in 1986 where they remained through the balance of the decade with the exception of the 1988/89 season. In 1991-92, Gress returned to his hometown as manager and, after defeating Rennes(0-0 ; 4-1) in a playoff match, Strasbourg made a lasting return to the top flight. In 1995, they made a losing appearance in the final of the French Cup against Paris Saint-Germain (0-1), but still merited a place in 1995/96 European Cup play through the Intertoto Cup. The team reached the last sixteen, where they were put out by Italian giants AC Milan.

In 1997, Strasbourg showed some promise of earning a good result early in the season, but ultimately settled for a 9th place finish. That same year, the IMG-McCormack Group was chosen by the municipality to take control of the club. The players, trained by the captain of the 1979 French champions, Jacky Duguépéroux, went on to capture the Coupe de la Ligue by defeating Bordeaux in a penalty shootout. A good UEFA Cup run followed that victory, allowing young players formed at the club like Olivier Dacourt or Valérien Ismaël to shine in continental play. After a successful qualification round against Glasgow Rangers and Liverpool F.C., Racing defeated Inter Milan 2-0 at home in Meinau, but fell 0-3 in the away leg.

In the meantime, IMG had taken over the club in the summer 1997 and Patrick Proisy, former tennis player and head of the French branch, became president. He was joined a year later by his friend Claude Le Roy as manager. The Proisy/Leroy period at Racing was a troubled one with poor results, several scandals and a general disillusionment of the fans towards the club's management. Several suspicious transfers during that period have led Strasbourg's prosecutor to indict Proisy and Le Roy of misuse of company assets and forgery in 2006.^[7] In 2000-01, the club accomplished the paradoxical feat of being relegated after spending the whole season in the bottom three while winning the French cup with a victory on penalties against Amiens SC. On that occasion, Paraguayan star José Luis Chilavert scored the winning penalty for Strasbourg at the Stade de France.

A game at the Stade de la Meinau

In 2001-02 The club, led by manager Ivan Hasek, immediately re-took its place among the football elite in the Hexagon by finishing runners-up in Division 2. The year 2003 saw the departure of IMG and Proisy, to the fans' pleasure.^[8] The club was taken over by a pool of local investors with former player Marc Keller staying as director general. The new ownership focused on cleaning up the club's finances as well as re-gaining the hearts and minds of the Alsatian public. In 2005, Racing won their second domestic trophy in four years when they beat SM Caen 2-1 in the final of the League Cup, a feat which provided them with a passport to the 2005-06 UEFACup.

In 2006, Strasbourg was again relegated after a poor season. The club was taken over by real estate investor Philippe Ginestet and celebrated its centennial in the fall of 2006 with various events including an exhibition and a friendly match against Marseille.^[9] Ginestet hired French legend Jean-Pierre Papin as the new manager^[10] and the club again won immediate promotion to the top flight in 2007. In spite of this, Papin resigned as manager, citing internal relationship problems.^[11] and was succeeded by Jean-Marc Furlan. Under Furlan, the RCS was unable to preserve its spot in Ligue 1, mainly due to eleven consecutive defeats at the end of the 2007-08 season, a record for post-World War II football in France^[12]. Furlan was nevertheless confirmed as manager for the current Ligue 2 season

Colours and crest

Strasbourg has always played in a combination of blue and white. Over the years, the most common uniform has been composed of a medium blue jersey, white shorts and medium blue socks. However, during the last ten years the team has regularly switched between blue, sky blue, and white as the main color of its home jersey.^[13] Since 2007, the Flag of Alsace is featured on the back of the club'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 also supplied the club (2000-03).

The current team crest has been in use - with interruptions - since 1976 and is generally considered as the most legitimate one.^[14] It includes a stylized stork (symbol of Alsace), a red 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 club used another logo, introduced by Patrick Proisy. This crest 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 quickly derogatively nicknamed "Pac Man" due to some common traits with the famous video game. In 2006, the new management of the club, acceding to a supporter demand, re-installed the 1976 crest.^[15]

The current team crest (left) and the one used in 1997-2006 (right), both featured on club scarves

Stadium

See also: Stade de la Meinau and EuroStadium

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 maximum capacity was downsized from 45,000 to 29,000 during the 1990s to respect new safety standards.

In the spring of 2008, chairman Philippe Ginestet launched a new stadium project known as EuroStadium to replace the Meinau. The 45,000-seater arena in peripheral Strasbourg is supposed to be delivered in 2013 and will be financed and owned by British group Hammerson.^[16] It is associated with, but independent of, France's potential bid for Euro 2016.

Supporters

Racing supporters rush onto the field to celebrate promotion to Division 1 in 1992.

Historically, Racing has its roots in southern Strasbourg in the popular Neudorf, Meinau and Polygone neighborhoods. In the 1930s, the team was the only one in the area to jump to professional play and, with the help of good results during that decade, it built support all around the town. In Strasbourg like in the rest of France, there is only one pro football club in every city and hence no in-town rivalry, a fact that heavily contrasts with the situation in Great Britain, Italy or Spain. Nowadays, as the only professional football club in Alsace, Racing attracts a large fan base that covers both the Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin départements as well as the eastern part of the Moselle. The club also has ties to the other side of the Rhine, especially through a supporter friendship with Karlsruher SC^[17] 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.^[18] Supporters groups include the "Ultra Boys 90", the "Kop Ciel et Blanc" and the "Club central des supporters". Most of the supporter groups and the most vocal fans in general have elected location in the Kop at the "Quart de Virage Nord-Ouest" (North-West quarter corner). Strasbourg supporters have the reputation to be faithful yet critical. Former captain Corentin Martins has once asserted that the Strasbourg public is "demanding, but fair".^[19] The club is often dubbed "L'OM de l'Est" ("the Olympique Marseille from the East") in the French media due to passion, regular crises and instability.^[20] Racing is always an emotional topic in Alsace. It is often said that some may love it or hate it, or even both at the same time, but that it leaves no one indifferent^[21].

Strasbourg's main rivals are FC Metz. The clubs 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 km. distant. The two clubs met each other in the quarter-finals of the 1995 Intertoto Cup in what was the first ever match between two French teams in a European competition^[22]. Strasbourg won the game 2-0. When FC Mulhouse was professional, the two sides also nourished a rivalry thats persists as far as youth teams are concerned.

Ownership

Overview

Racing's history has always been closely intertwined with local business and politics. In the 1930s, the club's jump to professionalism was sustained by car manufacturer Emile Mathis who had his factory just in front of the Stade de la Meinau.^[23][24] RCS quickly entered a rivalry with FC Sochaux, a team that was backed by Mathis' competitor Peugeot. After WW2, Mathis ceased activity and the club had to find other sponsors including the Crédit Mutuel - a large banking institution that has its roots in Alsace and appeared on the club's shirt throughout most of the 1960s and 1970s - as well as the town's municipality. In 1980, André Bord, a prominent local Gaullist politician and former minister during the De Gaulle and Pompidou presidencies became chairman. Bord could boast his connections in business, political and artistic elites and vowed to make Racing a big name in French football. However, he quickly entered a confrontation with charismatic manager Gilbert Gress that culminated in September 1980 when the announcement of Gress' departure provoked crowd anger and riots scenes during a game against FC Nantes.^[25] The inability for the influential president and the talented manager to get along with each other and the 1980 trauma may explain why Racing was unable to perform lastingly at the top level after the 1979 title.

In 1986, Bord left the professional section and introduced fashion designer Daniel Hechter as his successor. Hechter had previously been banned from pro football following his involvement in the Paris Saint Germain secret funds scandal but was nevertheless able to re-take a president job at Strasbourg thanks to a sentence reduction. It was the first attempt to bring an outsider to the local context at the club's head, but the experiment ended in failure in 1990 as the club neared bankrupcy.^[26] Racing was at that time salvaged by the Strasbourg municipality which took a 49 % share of the club but had to relinquish it a few years later as the Pasqua legislation restricted public support to professional sport.^[27] In 1997, two projects were competing to buy the municipal share and effectively take control of the club. The first was led by then-president Roland Weller, a local businessman. The second bid 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 previous year in its effort to buy Olympique de Marseille.^[28] The American group presented an ambitious project with an entirely new youth academy as well as plans for a renovated stadium, eventually winning the competition for Racing's ownership for a price of 1.5 millions Euros.^[29][30] The club became a "Société Anonyme à Objet Sportif" and then a "Société Anonyme Sportive Professionnelle", a status very similar to the general corporate status, albeit with restrictions like the impossibility to enter the stock market and the obligation to keep ties with the original association.^[31] Proisy became the chairman of the board with full control over the professional section but not the omni-sport structure that still possessed the club's name and its affiliation to the Fédération Française de Football. This was evidenced in 2002 when Proisy and Bord, still a chairman of the omni-sport, entered a dispute that led to the inability for the pro players to wear the name "Racing club de Strasbourg" on their jerseys for some time.^[32]

Proisy's reign at Strasbourg was fraught with misunderstandings, frustration and poor results on the pitch. The Alsatian public especially resented the fact that Proisy was unwilling to settle in Strasbourg, instead controlling the club's destiny from IMG's offices in Paris.^[33][34] Racing's troubles as well as the town's refusal to finance an extension of the stade de la Meinau to host World Cup 1998 provoked heated debate during the 2001 municipal election and eventually 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 chairman -, Patrick Adler, Pierre Schmidt and Philippe Ginestet who all had been club sponsors during the IMG era. The new ownership bought the club for a symbolical Euro^[35] to an IMG group eager to cut its losses after the death of Mark McCormack^[36] but had to cover a 3 millions Euros deficit to close the 2002-03 budget.^[37] It is estimated that Racing lost 15 millions Euros during the IMG era, mainly due to a dubious recruitment policy^[38].

Since 2007, the flag of Alsace is featured on he back of the club's shirt to reflect strong regional attachment.

Thanks to a prudent transfer policy initiated by director Marc Keller and good attendance rates, the new management was able to redress finances but the club's economical situation has remained fragile up to now. In 2004, Gindorf experienced personal and financial difficulties and was willing to scale down his involvement at Racing. It was understood that Philippe Ginestet would become the new chairman at the end of the 2004-05 season.^[39] However, this move was opposed by Keller who, in June 2005, clearly announced that he would not work with Ginestet. Keller had in fact been acting as the club's head since 2002 but was only a minor shareholder. He nevertheless was able to mobilize 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, the biggest optician in France and a former president of the Girondins de Bordeaux, would be this new owner^[40] but he was eventually out-bid by Ginestet who took control of the club midway through the 2005-06 season^[41], forcing Keller's departure a few months later. As of 2008, Ginestet controls a majority share (78 %) of the club through his real-estate company Eurinvest and a holding named "EuroRacing". Lohr S. A., an industrial group centered on transportation activities, owns a minority share (20%).^[42]

Presidential History

Below is a list of RC Strasbourg's 15 presidents since the start of the professional era in 1933.^[43] The president has not always been the real owner of the club. For example, between 1990 and 1997 the municipality was the major shareholder, but it chose to delegate the chairmanships to independent local entrepreneurs.

Players

Current squad

As of October 28, 2008.

No. Position Player 1 GK Regis Gurtner 2 DF Harlington Shereni (on loan from FC Nantes) 3 DF Jean-Alain Fanchone 4 FW Magaye Gueye 5 MF Ali Sami Yachir 6 DF Yann Schneider 7 FW Victor Correia 8 MF Renaud Cohade 9 DF Steven Pelé 11 FW Marcos (on loan from Young Boys Bern) 12 MF Mamadou Bah 13 MF Manfred Ekwe-Ebele 14 FW Kandia Traoré (on loan from FC Sochaux) 15 DF Zoltán Szélesi 16 GK Stéphane Cassard 17 MF James Fanchone 18 FW Ali Mathlouthi

No. Position Player 19 MF Guillaume Lacour (vice-captain) 20 DF Ahmed Abou Moslem 21 FW Simon Zenke 22 DF Grégory Paisley (captain) 23 DF Pierre Ducrocq 24 DF Anthony Weber 25 FW David Ledy 26 MF Loïc Damour 27 MF Quentin Othon 28 MF Emil Gargorov 29 FW Rudy Carlier 30 GK Kevin Sommer 40 GK David Klein MF Mickaël Bergueira MF Armand N'Djama DF Julio Barrabes

Out on loan

No. Position Player MF Romain Gasmi (to Southampton)

No. Position Player DF Eugène Ekobo (to Vannes OC)

Notable former players

The players mentioned below have achieved notability either by playing at least 100 matches with the team or by being capped by their respective national selection. Bi-national players are listed with the country they elected to play for. For a complete list of RC Strasbourg players, see Category:RC Strasbourg players.

French internationals

	Name	Position	Caps with Strasbourg	Total Caps
1	Oscar Heisserer	Forward	19	25
2	Dominique Dropsy	Goalkeeper	17	17
3	Léonard Specht	Defender	16	18
4	Gérard Hausser	Forward	14	14
5	Frank Lebœuf	Defender	8	50
6	Fritz Keller	Forward	8	8
7	Jean-Noël Huck	Midfielder	6	17
8	Marc Molitor	Forward	6	10
9	Albert Gemmrich	Forward	5	5
10	Didier Six	Forward	4	52
11	Raymond Kaelbel	Defender	4	35
12	Edmond Haan	Forward	4	4
13	Roger Jouve	Midfielder	3	7
14	Francis Piasecki	Midfielder	3	3
15	Raymond Domenech	Defender	2	8
16	Charles Heiné	Forward	1	6
17	Marc Keller	Forward	1	6
18	Jean-Pierre Kress	Goalkeeper	1	1
19	Casimir Koza	Forward	1	1
20	Denis Devaux	Defender	1	1
21	Roland Wagner	Forward	1	1
22	Youri Djorkaeff	Forward	0	82
23	Robert Jonquet	Defender	0	58
24	Franck Sauzée	Midfielder	0	39
25	François Remetter	Goalkeeper	0	26
26	Jean Wendling	Defender	0	26
27	Olivier Dacourt*	Midfielder	0	21

^[44]

Key:

* : Still playing.
: World Champion.

Other French players

Gérald Baticle Teddy Bertin José Cobos René Deutschmann Jacky Duguépéroux Olivier Echouafni Jacques Glassmann René Hauss

Arsène Wenger played for RCS in 1978-81 and was a youth coach in 1981-83 Valérien Ismaël Didier Monczuk Pascal Nouma Mickaël Pagis Yvon Pouliquen Arsène Wenger David Zitelli

Other nationalities

Hosni Abd Rabo Habib Beye Carlos Bianchi José Luis Chilavert Frank Farina Mario Haas Karim Haggui Ivan Hasek Brahim Hemdani Michael Hughes Cédric Kanté Stephen Keshi Danijel Ljuboja Paco Mateo Aleksandr Mostovoi Mamadou Niang Godwin Okpara

Habib Beye played for RCS in 1998-2003. Ivica Osim Vicky Peretz David Régis Peter Reichert Oskar Rohr Wolfgang Rolff Jung-Won Seo Alexander Schwartz Juan Simón Giora Spiegel Ernst Stojaspal Nestor Subiat Jan Suchoparek Aleksandrs Vanags Alexander Vencel

Managers

See also: List of RC Strasbourg managers

Strasbourg has had 44 managers in the professional era, with the holder of the office changing 52 times. This is a record in French football only surpassed by Olympique de Marseille. Gilbert Gress holds the record for the longest serving manager at the club, both for a single spell (39 months btw. 1977-80, 152 matches) and overall (75 months in two spells, 273 matches). Paul Frantz holds the record for the most spells at Racing with four (73 months overall, 227 matches). Jacky Duguépéroux is the only manager to win two trophies with Strasbourg. Ivan Hasek was the last one to complete two back-to-back entire seasons (2001-03).

Jean-Marc Furlan, former manager with Troyes AC, has been the holder of the post since June 2007 and has been confirmed for 2008-09 despite relegation from Ligue 1.

Current coaching staff

Position	Name
Manager	Jean-Marc Furlan
Assistant Manager	Noureddine Bouachera
Coordinator	Ferhat Khirat
Goalkeeping Coach	Alexander Vencel
Coach	Jean-Claude Thiry
Statistician	Emmanuel Pascal
Reserve Team Coach	François Keller
Head of Youth Development	Jean-François Kuentz

Honours

League

• Ligue 1 champions (1): 1979
• Ligue 2 champions (2): 1977, 1988
• Ligue 2 promotion: 1934, 1953, 1958, 1961, 1972, 1992, 2002, 2007

Cups

• Coupe de France winners (3): 1951, 1966, 2001
• Coupe de la Ligue winners (2): 1997, 2005
• UEFA Intertoto Cup winners (1): 1995

Records

• Largest victory: 10-0 (v. Valenciennes FC 1937–38)
• Largest defeat: 0-8 (v. Limoges FC, 1959–60)^[45]
• Largest victory in European play: 5-0 (v. Grazer AK, 2005–06)
• Largest defeat in European play: 2-10 (v. MTK Budapest, 1961–62)^[46]
• Record appearances: René Hauss (580; 421 in Ligue 1; between 1949 and 1969)
• Record appearances for a player still active at the club: Guillaume Lacour (212; 134 in Ligue 1; since 2002)
• Most appearances in a row for the club: Dominique Dropsy (336; between 1973 and 1982)^[47]
• Most goals for the club: Oskar Rohr (118; between 1934 and 1939)
• Most goals for a single championship season at the club: Oskar Rohr (30; 1936/37)^[48]
• Most goals for the club by a player still active: Danijel Ljuboja (34; between 2000 and 2003)^[49]
• Most goals for the club by a player still active at the club: James Fanchone (12; since 2007)^[50]
• Oldest player: René Hauss (39 years, 351 days; v. FC Nantes; 11 December 1966)^[51]
• Youngest player: Jacques Glassmann (16 years, 95 days v. FC Nantes, 25 November 1978)^[52]
• Record Attendance: 39033, 20 November 1992, v. Olympique Marseille ^[53]
• Highest transfer fee paid: 5.3 millions Euros (to Sturm Graz for Mario Haas in 1999)^[54][55]
• Highest transfer fee received: 8.8 millions Euros (from Olympique Lyonnais, for Peguy Luyindula in 2001)^[56][57]
• UEFA ranking:
  • 80 = (80) Levski Sofia (24.250)
  • 81 (105) AS Nancy Lorraine (24.090)
  • 82 (85) RC Strasbourg (23.090)
  • 83 (94) Partizan Belgrade (23.050)
  • 83 (84) Slavia Praha (23.050)^[58]

References