CA Lannemezan is a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 club based in Lannemezan

Lannemezan

Lannemezan is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in south-western France.-Geography:The Petite Baïse has its source in the commune.Lannemezan is around 30 km east of Tarbes, and around 100 km south-west of Toulouse.-References:*...

 in the Hautes-Pyrénées

Hautes-Pyrénées

Hautes-Pyrénées is a department in southwestern France. It is part of the Midi-Pyrénées region.-History:...

 department. It will join the second level of French professional rugby, Pro D2

Rugby Pro D2

Rugby Pro D2, also known as Pro D2 is the second level of domestic club rugby union in France, below the first division, Top 14. The competition was introduced in 2000. There is relegation and promotion between both the Top 14 and Fédérale 1, the third-level competition...

, in the upcoming 2009–10 season after winning the 2009 championship of the top amateur level, Fédérale 1

Fédérale 1

Le championnat de France de première division fédérale, a.k.a. Fédérale 1, is a French rugby union club competition, the highest level of amateur rugby. The competition has been organised by the Fédération Française de Rugby since 2000, when it replaced the B2 Group...

.

History

Although the club was founded in 1913, its current senior side dates only to 2003. In the 1999–2000 season, Lannemezan earned promotion to Pro D2 for the first time, but its promotion was blocked by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR), administrator of the French professional leagues. Stadoceste Tarbais, from the nearby community of Tarbes

Tarbes

Tarbes is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in south-western France.It is part of the historical region of Gascony. It is the second largest metropolitan area of Midi-Pyrénées, with 110,000 inhabitants....

, which had just earned promotion to the second amateur level, Fédérale 2

Fédérale 2

Fédérale 2 is a rugby union club championship division in France. It is the fourth division of rugby above Fédérale 3. Teams can earn promotion to Fédérale 1, and subsequently, the professional leagues such as Rugby Pro D2 and the Top 14.-Results:...

, offered a merger. While CAL's board strongly opposed the merger, its president pushed the plan through, and the newly merged Lannemezan Tarbes Hautes-Pyrénées (also known as LT65) took Lannemezan's place in Pro D2, although CAL kept its youth teams and its charter.

However, tensions quickly arose between the two merged clubs, exacerbated by the fact that all home games were played in Tarbes. The merged club soon changed its name to Tarbes Pyrénées Rugby

Tarbes Pyrénées Rugby

Tarbes Pyrénées Rugby is a French rugby union team that currently takes part in Pro D2, the second level of the country's professional league system....

. In 2003, CAL decided to relaunch its senior side, starting in Fédérale 3

Fédérale 3

Fédérale 3 is the fifth division of rugby union in France. The competition involves 226 clubs in 21 pools of 8, and winners can progress up into higher division of competition. The competition above Fédérale 3 is Fédérale 2 and above that, Fédérale 1...

, the third level of French amateur rugby. CAL rose through the amateur ranks and eventually returned to its previous place in Pro D2 in 2009.

External links

• CA Lannemezan - Official site