RC Strasbourg
Encyclopedia
Racing Club de Strasbourg (commonly known as RC Strasbourg, RCS or simply Strasbourg) is a French association football
club founded in 1906 and professional since 1933, based in the city of Strasbourg
, in Alsace
. They currently play in the Championnat National
, the third tier of French football
, having been relegated from Ligue 2
at the conclusion of the 2009–10
season. The team has been playing at the Stade de la Meinau
since 1914.
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) and has taken part in 52 European games since 1961. Despite these accomplishments, the RCS has never really managed to lastingly establish itself as one of France's leading clubs, facing relegation at least once in every decade since the early 1950s. This recurring gap between high expectations and disappointing results has more than once led to instability and crises: Racing has changed its manager 52 times in 75 years of professional play, often under popular pressure.
The destiny of the RCS has always closely espoused the history of Alsace. Like the region of which it emanates, Racing has changed three times of nationality in less than thirty years and has a troubled, passionate history. Founded in what was then a part of the German Empire
, the club has from the beginning insisted on its Alsatian and popular roots, in opposition to the first Strasbourg-based clubs which were emanations of the German-born bourgeoisie. When Alsace went back to France in 1919, the club changed its appellation from "1. FC Neudorf" to the current "Racing club de Strasbourg" to imitate Pierre de Coubertin
's Racing Club de France
as a clear gesture of francophilia. Racing players went 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. As Alsace was definitively returned to France, Racing's oppositional identity switched more towards Jacobinism
, with for example emotional wins in the cup in 1951 and 1966 amidst Franco-Alsatian controversies. More recently, the club has been eager to promote its European vocation along with its strong local ties.
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 help of their primary-school teacher, they formed a team called "Erster Fußball Club Neudorf" commonly named "FC Neudorf". At that time, the new 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 central 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 large park in southern Strasbourg close to the Neudorf. As its name told, FC Frankonia was mainly composed of German-born immigrants from the Franconia
region of southwest Germany—some of them soldiers—living in central and northern Strasbourg while the FC Neudorf had clearly Alsatian, popular roots. FC Neudorf joined the southern German league in 1909, starting at its lowest level, Division C. They captured the Division championship in 1912, earning promotion to Division B. In 1914, FC Neudorf was able to evict rivals Frankonia from the Haemmerle Garten for a rent of 300 marks a year. This location would later become the site of the Stade de la Meinau
where the club still plays today. 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. 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 which was a symbolical inspiration for Strasbourg's Racing as Alsace was reintegrated within France . The word is usually pronounced in French ("Le Racing") or in Alsatian
("D'Racing") without any English accentuation. Racing quickly joined French competitions and won the Alsace championship in 1923, 1924 and 1927. They also took part in the Coupe de France
, the only national competition at that time: in 1925, they reached the last sixteen where they fell to Lille after eliminating the then-dominating Red Star Paris
.
On 10 June 1933, at the "Restaurant de la Bourse", the club made the jump to the professional ranks and thus joined the national championship established just a year before. RCS started competition in Division 2
but immediately earned promotion to the top flight at the end of the 1933–34 season, going through a pair of two-leg playoff matches, first against FC Mulhouse
(0–0 and 3–1), and then against AS Saint-Étienne
(2–0 and 4–4). Racing earned very 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 rivals FC Sochaux (1–2
). This successful RCS team of the 1930s included two French internationals, Fritz Keller
and Oscar Heisserer
, as well as German striker Oskar Rohr
who still holds the scoring record at Strasbourg.
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 youngsters kept the club existing in Périgueux
where they won the Dordogne championship in 1940. 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 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 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
. Oskar Rohr
also had been imprisoned since 1940 after serving in the Légion Etrangère
at the outbreak of the war. 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
.
—who became in April 1945 the first Alsatian to captain the national team—and Spanish defender Paco Mateo. In 1947, the Strasbourgeois reached for the second time the final of the cup 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 Valenciennes
3–0
to finally bring the Coupe de France home. The significance of this victory went far beyond the sporting realm as Alsace was then shaken by the Oradour-sur-Glane
massacre investigation. Fourteen Alsatians, most of them forcibly incorporated in the Das Reich
division, had been charged with war crimes, a move that aroused considerable resentment in the region. Immediately after their return in Strasbourg, the players held a symbolical and emotional ceremony at the city's monument to the deaths.
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. The club, however, was unable to build on this success and was relegated to Division 2 in 1957 and 1960, each time gaining immediate promotion back to the top flight.
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 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
. Again, Racing's triumph in the cup was not without controversy, reporter Thierry Roland said on live TV that "the cup [was] leaving France", a comment that was deemed offensive by many in Alsace.
In 1968, Racing started a process that would eventually lead to a merger with two other clubs, the "Association Sportive Culturelle de la Meinau" and, most importantly, the CS des Pierrots 1922 Strasbourg
. The merger 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 amateur championship in 1969 and 1970—but lacked sufficient structures to jump to professional play while Racing was more wealthy but in search for talent. The merger thus appeared as an excellent opportunity to build a powerful football club in Strasbourg and was favoured by business and political circles. However, the wedding was a difficult one with many internal struggles that were evidenced when some of the former Pierrots left the new entity as soon as 1971 to re-found their former club. That same year, the RPSM was relegated despite the arrival at the end of the season of Yugoslavian star Ivica Osim
. As usual, 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 CS Sedan to leave a foreign player spot for Reinhard Libuda
. The Yugoslavian left Strasbourg in tears but helped Sedan to decent results while Libuda was quickly suspended due to a match fixing scandal in Germany and eventually released in March 1973. 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 merger.
, 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 backbone of the team for the superb 1976–1980 period. During these four years, Racing won two championships (D2 in 1977 and D1 in 1979), reached very honourable league rankings the two other years (third in 1978, fifth in 1980) and had its best results ever in European play (UEFA cup
round of sixteen in 1979, Champions cup
quarter finals in 1980).
The start of the 1976–77 season was nevertheless difficult. In November, after a defeat at Amiens
, Racing called Alexander 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 renowned international coaching career behind him, especially with spells at the Netherlands national team
and Benfica. Under his guidance, the team quickly improved, finishing ahead of it group to earn promotion to Division 1
and defeating AS Monaco for the Division 2
championship title, the first one in the club's history. After accomplishing his mission, Schwartz definitely 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 genial player with a strong personality, the first Frenchman to shine in the neighbouring Bundesliga with VfB Stuttgart
. His second return to Strasbourg, after a first comeback as a player, was greeted with enthusiasm and his charisma aroused a strong public interest for the team's performances, with attendance rates at an all-time high.
The 1977–78 season saw the peculiar dominance of the two promoted sides with Monaco going on to win the championship and Strasbourg reaching an unexpected third place, the best ranking since 1936. Gress printed his mark on the team right away, insisting on the recruitment of experienced, hard-working players (Jacky Novi
, Raymond Domenech
, Francis Piasecki
) instead of foreign stars and putting into practice innovative tactical ideas. A self-proclaimed admirer of Ajax Amsterdam
's total football
, Gress wanted all his players to both defend and attack and asked for great versatility. This was rather unusual in French football at that time. In most French clubs, defenders were told not to cross the midfield line and strikers had almost no defensive duties. To the contrary, Gress instructed his forwards to exert immediate pressure on the other's side defenders and encouraged offensive initiatives by his own backs. A sign of versatility was the fact the side'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 left foot and Gress used his peculiar profile to puzzle defenses, with great success.
For the 1978–79 season, Racing kept essentially the same team that had won promotion in 1977 and a third place in 1978. The only exceptions were the addition of midfielder Roger Jouve
and the exchange between striker Jacques Vergnes
and Chadian
player Nabatingue Toko
. A French international, Vergnes clashed with Gress due to his unwillingness to assume defensive duties and his vocal frustration after being regularly sidelined. He was quickly sent to Bordeaux six games after the start the season. His replacement, Tonko, was the only foreign player on the squad that year, a fact that again was unusual since French club football was at that time still very dependent on the qualities of players from abroad. Strasbourg took the lead early in the season and did not give it back until the end in spite of widespread skepticism from national followers. The absence of big names in the team was considered by many to be a crippling handicap against established teams like AS Saint-Etienne
or FC Nantes which had internationally renowned players. For his part, Gress used the critical review of the press to boost his player's motivation and insisted that "the star is the team". Racing finished atop the championship on 56 points with an undefeated home record. The return from Lyon, where the title game was played, was triumphant with huge crowds greeting the team at every railway station in Alsace before the arrival of the train at Strasbourg
.
The club saw same movement during the 1979 inter-season. Chairman Alain Léopold was replaced by the influential André Bord, Duguépéroux ended his pro career and Gemmrich left for Bordeaux. To replace him, Bord imposed the recruitment of Carlos Bianchi
to Gress. Bianchi was a prolific goalscorer but he was also a very traditional striker with no intention to commit to defense and teamplay, to Gress' despair. The season was marked by the return of internal struggles, especially with the increasingly confrontational relationship between Gress and Bord, but the team nevertheless achieved a fifth place finish and advanced to the quarter-finals of the European Champions Cup, where it was eliminated by Ajax Amsterdam
(0–0;0–4).
led Racing to its second Division 2 title with players like Juan Simon
, Peter Reichert
and the returning Léonard Specht
. Strasbourg, however, was unable to preserve its spot in the top-flight and was back in Division 2
in 1989. With Specht now a manager, Racing failed to secure promotion for the next two seasons, each time falling in the playoffs, first against OGC Nice
and then again RC Lens
. In 1991–92, Gress came back to his hometown as manager and, after defeating Rennes
(0–0; 4–1) in the final promotion playoff match, Strasbourg made a lasting return to the top flight. The 1992–93 season saw the club finish at eighth place, a ranking that has not been equaled since, allowing the likes of José Cobos
, Frank Leboeuf
and Marc Keller
to shine in the top flight. At the end of the 1993–94 season, Gress definitely left Racing due to personal disagreements with the club's direction. He was replaced by Daniel Jeandupeux who was himself fired after eight months. Jacky Duguépéroux
then took over the club and led it to its most brilliant period since the 1979 title. During the 1990s, there was a mounting interest for football in France with the rise of the national team and, like other 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 of the cup in 1995, losing to Paris Saint-Germain (0–1
). In April that same year, Strasbourg was also the only team to defeat champions FC Nantes, 2–0 at la Meinau. 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 round, losing to Italian giants AC Milan.
In 1996, the Bosman ruling
entered into force and made it difficult 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 top 5 before ultimately settling 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, still trained by Jacky Duguépéroux
, went on to capture the Coupe de la Ligue
—the first national trophy in eighteen years—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 la Meinau, but fell 0–3 in the away leg.
In the meantime, IMG had taken over the club in the summer of 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. During their reign, the club sold all of its best prospects and essentially replaced them with disappointing, expensive foreign players (Diego Hector Garay, Gonzalo Belloso
, Mario Haas
among others). 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
.
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. 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 UEFA Cup where they reached the last sixteen.
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
. Ginestet hired French legend Jean-Pierre Papin
as the new manager and the club again won immediate promotion to the top flight in 2007, finishing at third place. In spite of this, Papin resigned as manager, citing internal relationship problems. 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. Furlan was nevertheless confirmed as manager for the following Ligue 2 season but failed in his mission to bring the club back in the top-tier as Racing ended 4th with a blasting defeat at Montpellier
. Furlan's contract was subsequently terminated and Phillipe Ginestet stepped down from his position as chairman while remaining the major shareholder. He was succeeded by Léonard Specht who picked the legendary Gilbert Gress as manager. However, Gress quickly entered in conflict with many members of the club, including Ginestet whom he violently attacked just after his side's defeat to Châteauroux
in the inaugural league game. Ginestet then convened an extraordinary meeting of the board to sack Gilbert Gress, prompting Léonard Specht's resignation. Gress was replaced by assistant manager Pascal Janin, first as a caretaker and then as permanent manager when Ginestet re-took the club's presidency at the end of August 2009. In the 2009-2010 Season, a final day of the season away defeat relegated Strasbourg to the National as they suffered their second relegation in three seasons. The 2010-2011 season saw them narrowly miss out on promotion back to Ligue 2 as they finished 4th behind Guingamp. On July 17 2011, Racing Club de Strasbourg entered total liquidation and were removed from the National in favour of AS Cherbourg. On 25 August 2011, after lengthy negotiations with the FFF, Strasbourg were eventually reinstated into the fifth tier of the French footballing, the CFA 2, Group C.
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. 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.
La Meinau has been chosen among the 12 stadia composing France's bid for the organization of Euro 2016. Should France be awarded the tournament, its capacity would be upgraded to 36, 000.
, 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 fan-base ouside of this area is essentially limited to people that, for a reason or another, have a personal link with Alsace. The club also has ties to the other side of the Rhine, especially through a supporter friendship with Karlsruher SC
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. 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". 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. 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.
Racing 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. There is however a significant degree of inter-regional rivalry between Alsace and Lorraine, leading to some acrimony between the fans on both sides. 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. Strasbourg won the game 2–0. When FC Mulhouse
was professional, the two sides also nourished a rivalry that persists as far as youth teams are concerned.
. 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 Charles de Gaulle
and Georges 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. 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 bankruptcy. 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. 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
. 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 million euros. 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. 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.
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. 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 to an IMG group eager to cut its losses after the death of Mark McCormack but had to cover a 3 million euro deficit to close the 2002–03 budget. It is estimated that Racing lost 15 million euros during the IMG era, mainly due to a dubious recruitment policy.
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. 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 the new owner, but he was eventually out-bided by Ginestet who took control of the club midway through the 2005–06 season, forcing Keller's departure a few months later. Ginestet held a majority share during four years, which he sold in the end of 2009 for a price of 1.6 millions Euros. After some speculation, the new owner was identified as Alain Fontenla, a French invetstment broker based in London. As of 2010, Fontenla owns (85%), along with Carousel Finance (15%) a holding named "Racing investissements", which itself owns a majority share (70%) of EuroRacing, the main shareholder (78%) of the club. The other major shareholder of the club is Lohr SA, an industrial group centered on transportation activities.
The 2009–2010 season saw a record of five successive presidents. Early into the season, Léonard Specht
stepped down from his position, after the sacking of Glibert Gress, whom he had appointed as manager. Philippe Ginestet then re-took the presidency, but left the club when the takeover by the new owners was completed in December. The new owners chose to name Julien Fournier as the new Chief executive but, after some turmoil, Fournier quickly entered a dispute with the new major shareholder, Alain Fontenla. Fournier's contract was terminated in February and he was replaced by Luc Dayan on an interim basis. Only a month later, Jean-Claude Plessis, a former chairman of FC Sochaux came to replace Dayan.
who played a record 18 times with the national team while at Strasbourg and was the first Alsatian and first and only RCS player to wear the armband for France. Dominique Dropsy
, Léonard Specht
and Gérard Hausser
also 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. Unsurprinsgly, 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
. This figure was repeated a month later for a friendly against Spain
(Dropsy, Piasecki, Gemmrich and Léonard Specht
). Frank Leboeuf
and Marc Keller
were the last 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 1998, the other one being Youri Djorkaeff
. The last player once at Strasbourg to play for France is Olivier Dacourt while Richard Dutruel
is the last international to play for RCS (both in 2004).
With regional feelings still strong in Alsace, the performances of local players logically attract special attention. Seven out of the ten players with the most apparitions for Racing are from Alsace: René Hauss
(who holds the record), Léonard Specht
, René Deutschmann, Edmond Haan
, Gérard Hausser
, Jean Schuth and Raymond Kaelbel
. Since 1979, there is also a peculiar tradition that every Racing team to win a trophy or reach a final featured a Breton
as captain, manager or both. Jacky Duguépéroux
captained the 1979 team and won the Coupe de la Ligue
in 1997 and 2005 as a manager. The 2001 Coupe de France
winning team for itself included Yvon Pouliquen as manager and Corentin Martins
as captain. Pouliquen also was the captain for the 1995 final.
Apart from French internationals and Alsatians, there is a strong tradition to have foreign 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 la Meinau in the 1950s. Other Mitteleuropa players fondly remembered include Alexander Schwartz, Ivica Osim
, Ivan Hasek
, Alexander Vencel or Danijel Ljuboja
while Russian Aleksandr Mostovoi is the last world-class star to play for Racing to this date.
. 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 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 manager to win two trophies with Strasbourg.
The current manager is Pascal Janin
, who has occupied virtually every coaching position at the club (youth coach, reserves coach, goalkeeping coach, assistant-manager) before being appointed as Gress' successor.
Football in France
Football is the most popular sport in France. The Fédération Française de Football is the national governing bodyand is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the game of association football in the country, both professional and amateur...
club founded in 1906 and professional since 1933, based in the city of Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
, in Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
. They currently play in the Championnat National
Championnat National
The Championnat de France National, commonly referred to as simply National or Division 3, serves as the third division of the French football league system behind Ligue 1 and Ligue 2...
, the third tier of French football
Football in France
Football is the most popular sport in France. The Fédération Française de Football is the national governing bodyand is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the game of association football in the country, both professional and amateur...
, having been relegated from Ligue 2
Ligue 2
Ligue 2 , formerly known as Division 2, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Professionnel , the other being Ligue 1, the country's top football division...
at the conclusion of the 2009–10
2009–10 Ligue 2
The Ligue 2 2009–10 season was the sixty-ninth edition since its establishment. The fixtures were announced on 5 June 2009, and the league began on 7 August and ended on 14 May 2010....
season. The team has been playing at the Stade de la Meinau
Stade de la Meinau
The Stade de la Meinau, commonly known as "La Meinau" is a football stadium in Strasbourg, France. It is the home ground of RC Strasbourg and has also hosted international matches, including one game of World cup 1938, two games of Euro 1984 and the final of the Cup Winners' Cup in 1988. La Meinau...
since 1914.
The club is one of the six to win all three major French trophies: the Championship in 1979
French football Division 1 1978-79
RC Strasbourg won Division 1 season 1978/1979 of the French Association Football League with 56 points.-Participating teams:-Final table:...
, the Coupe de France
Coupe de France
The Coupe Charles Simon, commonly known as the Coupe de France , is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation...
in 1951
Coupe de France Final 1951
The Coupe de France Final 1951 was a football match held at Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes on May 6, 1951, that saw RC Strasbourg defeat US Valenciennes-Anzin 3-0 thanks to goals by René Bihel, Raymond Krug and André Nagy.-Match details:...
, 1966
Coupe de France Final 1966
The Coupe de France Final 1966 was a football match held at Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes on May 22, 1966, that saw RC Strasbourg defeat FC Nantes 1-0 thanks to a goal by Pierre Sbaiz.-Context:...
, 2001
Coupe de France Final 2001
The Coupe de France Final 2001 was a football match held at Stade de France, Saint-Denis on 36 May 2001, that saw RC Strasbourg defeat Amiens SC in a penalty shoot out. After normal time and extra-time could not separate the two sides, the match was to be decided on penalty kicks...
and the Coupe de la Ligue
Coupe de la Ligue
The Coupe de la Ligue , known outside of France as the French League Cup, is a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel...
in 1997
Coupe de la Ligue Final 1997
The Coupe de la Ligue Final 1997 was a football match held at Parc des Princes, Paris on April 12, 1997, that saw RC Strasbourg defeat FC Girondins de Bordeaux in a penalty shootout-Match details:...
and 2005
Coupe de la Ligue Final 2005
The Coupe de la Ligue Final 2005 was a football match held at Stade de France, Saint-Denis on April 30, 2005, that saw RC Strasbourg defeat SM Caen 2-1 thanks to goals by Mamadou Niang and Jean-Christophe Devaux.-Match details:...
. Strasbourg is among the six teams that have played more than 2000 games in France's top flight (56 seasons) and has taken part in 52 European games since 1961. Despite these accomplishments, the RCS has never really managed to lastingly establish itself as one of France's leading clubs, facing relegation at least once in every decade since the early 1950s. This recurring gap between high expectations and disappointing results has more than once led to instability and crises: Racing has changed its manager 52 times in 75 years of professional play, often under popular pressure.
The destiny of the RCS has always closely espoused the history of Alsace. Like the region of which it emanates, Racing has changed three times of nationality in less than thirty years and has a troubled, passionate history. Founded in what was then a part of the German Empire
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
, the club has from the beginning insisted on its Alsatian and popular roots, in opposition to the first Strasbourg-based clubs which were emanations of the German-born bourgeoisie. When Alsace went back to France in 1919, the club changed its appellation from "1. FC Neudorf" to the current "Racing club de Strasbourg" to imitate Pierre de Coubertin
Pierre de Coubertin
Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin was a French educationalist and historian, founder of the International Olympic Committee, and is considered the father of the modern Olympic Games...
's Racing Club de France
Racing Club de France
Racing Club de France can refer to:*the former name of Racing Métro rugby union club*the former name of Racing Club de Paris football club*the former name of the basketball club Paris Basket Racing, a predecessor to today's Paris-Levallois Basket...
as a clear gesture of francophilia. Racing players went through World War II as most Alsatians did: evacuated in 1939, annexed in 1940 and striving to avoid nazification and incorporation in the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
between 1942 and 1944. As Alsace was definitively returned to France, Racing's oppositional identity switched more towards Jacobinism
Jacobin (politics)
A Jacobin , in the context of the French Revolution, was a member of the Jacobin Club, a revolutionary far-left political movement. The Jacobin Club was the most famous political club of the French Revolution. So called from the Dominican convent where they originally met, in the Rue St. Jacques ,...
, with for example emotional wins in the cup in 1951 and 1966 amidst Franco-Alsatian controversies. More recently, the club has been eager to promote its European vocation along with its strong local ties.
Foundation and early years (1906–1945)
Strasburg
-Places:*Strasbourg, a city in Alsace *Straßburg, Austria, in Carinthia*Strasburg, Germany, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania*the former name of Brodnica, became Polish after World War I*Strassburg, the German name for Aiud, Alba...
, Elsaß-Lothringen, in the German Empire
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
, but is today Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
, Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
, in France. With the help of their primary-school teacher, they formed a team called "Erster Fußball Club Neudorf" commonly named "FC Neudorf". At that time, the new 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 central and elitist Straßburger Fußball Verein
AS Strasbourg
FV Straßburg was a German football club from Straßburg, Elsaß-Lothringen. Today the club plays as the French club Association Sportive de Strasbourg in what is now Strasbourg, Alsace.-History:...
. 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
SG SS Straßburg
SS Straßburg was a German association football club from the city of Straßburg, Elsass .The team was founded in 1900 as FC Frankonia 1900 Straßburg when the region was under German control...
to the Haemmerle Garten, a large park in southern Strasbourg close to the Neudorf. As its name told, FC Frankonia was mainly composed of German-born immigrants from the Franconia
Franconia
Franconia is a region of Germany comprising the northern parts of the modern state of Bavaria, a small part of southern Thuringia, and a region in northeastern Baden-Württemberg called Tauberfranken...
region of southwest Germany—some of them soldiers—living in central and northern Strasbourg while the FC Neudorf had clearly Alsatian, popular roots. FC Neudorf joined the southern German league in 1909, starting at its lowest level, Division C. They captured the Division championship in 1912, earning promotion to Division B. In 1914, FC Neudorf was able to evict rivals Frankonia from the Haemmerle Garten for a rent of 300 marks a year. This location would later become the site of the Stade de la Meinau
Stade de la Meinau
The Stade de la Meinau, commonly known as "La Meinau" is a football stadium in Strasbourg, France. It is the home ground of RC Strasbourg and has also hosted international matches, including one game of World cup 1938, two games of Euro 1984 and the final of the Cup Winners' Cup in 1988. La Meinau...
where the club still plays today. In the aftermath of World War I the territory of Alsace-Lorraine
Alsace-Lorraine
The Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine was a territory created by the German Empire in 1871 after it annexed most of Alsace and the Moselle region of Lorraine following its victory in the Franco-Prussian War. The Alsatian part lay in the Rhine Valley on the west bank of the Rhine River and east...
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. 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 which was a symbolical inspiration for Strasbourg's Racing as Alsace was reintegrated within France . The word is usually pronounced in French ("Le Racing") or in Alsatian
Alsatian language
Alsatian is a Low Alemannic German dialect spoken in most of Alsace, a region in eastern France which has passed between French and German control many times.-Language family:...
("D'Racing") without any English accentuation. Racing quickly joined French competitions and won the Alsace championship in 1923, 1924 and 1927. They also took part in the Coupe de France
Coupe de France
The Coupe Charles Simon, commonly known as the Coupe de France , is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation...
, the only national competition at that time: in 1925, they reached the last sixteen where they fell to Lille after eliminating the then-dominating Red Star Paris
Red Star Saint-Ouen
Red Star Football Club 93 is a French association football club based in Saint-Ouen located in the northern suburbs of Paris. The club was founded in 1897 and currently play in the Championnat National, the third level of French football...
.
On 10 June 1933, at the "Restaurant de la Bourse", the club made the jump to the professional ranks and thus joined the national championship established just a year before. RCS started competition in Division 2
Ligue 2
Ligue 2 , formerly known as Division 2, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Professionnel , the other being Ligue 1, the country's top football division...
but immediately earned promotion to the top flight at the end of the 1933–34 season, going through a pair of two-leg playoff matches, first against FC Mulhouse
FC Mulhouse
Football Club de Mulhouse is a French association football club based in Mulhouse. The club was founded in 1893 and currently play in the Championnat de France amateur, the fourth level of French football. Mulhouse plays its home matches at the Stade de l'Ill located within the city...
(0–0 and 3–1), and then against AS Saint-Étienne
AS Saint-Étienne
Association Sportive de Saint-Étienne Loire is a French association football club based in Saint-Étienne. The club was founded in 1919 and currently play in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. Saint-Étienne plays its home matches at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard located within the city...
(2–0 and 4–4). Racing earned very 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
Coupe de France
The Coupe Charles Simon, commonly known as the Coupe de France , is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation...
, losing to rivals FC Sochaux (1–2
Coupe de France Final 1937
The Coupe de France Final 1937 was a football match held at Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes on May 9, 1937, that saw FC Sochaux-Montbéliard defeat RC Strasbourg 2-1 thanks to goals by Miguel Angel Lauri and Bernard Williams.-Match details:...
). This successful RCS team of the 1930s included two French internationals, Fritz Keller
Fritz Keller
Frédéric "Fritz" Keller was a German-born French footballer who played as a forward in the Première division for RC Strasbourg, and for the France national team...
and Oscar Heisserer
Oscar Heisserer
Oscar Heisserer was a French footballer.He played for RC Strasbourg, and appeared for France in the 1938 World Cup, where he scored a goal.-References:* *...
, as well as German striker Oskar Rohr
Oskar Rohr
Oskar Rohr was a German footballer and one of the first footballers to play abroad in a foreign league. He was born in Mannheim, Germany.-Early career:...
who still holds the scoring record at Strasbourg.
With the outbreak of World War II, professional sport was suspended and Alsatians were evacuated in south-west France, especially in the Dordogne
Dordogne
Dordogne is a départment in south-west France. The départment is located in the region of Aquitaine, between the Loire valley and the High Pyrénées named after the great river Dordogne that runs through it...
. During the Phoney War, a group of youngsters kept the club existing in Périgueux
Périgueux
Périgueux is a commune in the Dordogne department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.Périgueux is the prefecture of the department and the capital of the region...
where they won the Dordogne championship in 1940. 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
Gauliga Elsaß
The Gauliga Elsaß was the highest football league in the region of Alsace from 1940 to 1945. The Nazis reorganised the administrative region and the Alsace became part of the Gau Baden.-Overview:...
, 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 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
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
and the Waffen SS and several club players—including Alsatian star Oscar Heisserer
Oscar Heisserer
Oscar Heisserer was a French footballer.He played for RC Strasbourg, and appeared for France in the 1938 World Cup, where he scored a goal.-References:* *...
—fled or had their teammates deliberately wound them to avoid incorporation
Malgré-nous
The term Malgré-nous refers to men of the Alsace-Lorraine region who were forcibly conscripted into the German Wehrmacht or in the Waffen SS, during the Second World War....
. Oskar Rohr
Oskar Rohr
Oskar Rohr was a German footballer and one of the first footballers to play abroad in a foreign league. He was born in Mannheim, Germany.-Early career:...
also had been imprisoned since 1940 after serving in the Légion Etrangère
French Foreign Legion
The French Foreign Legion is a unique military service wing of the French Army established in 1831. The foreign legion was exclusively created for foreign nationals willing to serve in the French Armed Forces...
at the outbreak of the war. During a game against SS side "SG SS Straßburg
SG SS Straßburg
SS Straßburg was a German association football club from the city of Straßburg, Elsass .The team was founded in 1900 as FC Frankonia 1900 Straßburg when the region was under German control...
", Rasensportclub players wore a uniform consisting of a blue jersey, white shorts and red socks as a clear display of French patriotism
Patriotism
Patriotism is a devotion to one's country, excluding differences caused by the dependencies of the term's meaning upon context, geography and philosophy...
.
First national successes... and failures (1945–1976)
Allied armies retook Alsace in 1944 and the club quickly resumed play as "Racing Club de Strasbourg" in France's top flight. The team was then built around Oscar HeissererOscar Heisserer
Oscar Heisserer was a French footballer.He played for RC Strasbourg, and appeared for France in the 1938 World Cup, where he scored a goal.-References:* *...
—who became in April 1945 the first Alsatian to captain the national team—and Spanish defender Paco Mateo. In 1947, the Strasbourgeois reached for the second time the final of the cup at Colombes
Colombes
Colombes is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.-History:On 13 March 1896, 17% of the territory of Colombes was detached and became the commune of Bois-Colombes ....
, this time losing to Lille OSC
Lille OSC
LOSC Lille Métropole is a French association football club based in Lille. The club was founded in 1944 as a result of a merger and currently play in Ligue 1, the first division of French football. Lille plays its home matches at the Stade Lille-Metropole in nearby Villeneuve-d'Ascq. In 2012, the...
, 0–2
Coupe de France Final 1947
The Coupe de France Final 1947 was a football match held at Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes on May 11, 1947, that saw Lille OSC defeat RC Strasbourg 2-0 thanks to goals by Roger Vandooren and an own goals of Joseph Lang.-Match details:...
. 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
SR Colmar
Sports Réunis Colmar is a French association football team founded in 1920.-History:They are based in Colmar, Alsace and are currently playing in the Championnat National, the third tier in the French football after winning Group A of the Championnat de France amateur in the 2009–10 season. The...
liquidated their professional team, leaving room for Strasbourg to stay up. In 1951, The Bleus won their first major trophy, defeating Valenciennes
Valenciennes FC
Valenciennes Football Club is a French association football club based in Valenciennes. The club was founded in 1913 and currently play in Ligue 1, the top level of French football. Valenciennes plays its home matches at the recently-built Stade du Hainaut located within the city...
3–0
Coupe de France Final 1951
The Coupe de France Final 1951 was a football match held at Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes on May 6, 1951, that saw RC Strasbourg defeat US Valenciennes-Anzin 3-0 thanks to goals by René Bihel, Raymond Krug and André Nagy.-Match details:...
to finally bring the Coupe de France home. The significance of this victory went far beyond the sporting realm as Alsace was then shaken by the Oradour-sur-Glane
Oradour-sur-Glane
Oradour-sur-Glane is a commune in the Haute-Vienne department in the Limousin region in west-central France.The original village was destroyed on 10 June 1944, when 642 of its inhabitants, including women and children, were massacred by a German Waffen-SS company...
massacre investigation. Fourteen Alsatians, most of them forcibly incorporated in the Das Reich
Das Reich
Das Reich is the name of:* a German SS-division, see 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich* a national socialist newspaper, see Das Reich * the main work of German right-wing intellectual Friedrich Hielscher...
division, had been charged with war crimes, a move that aroused considerable resentment in the region. Immediately after their return in Strasbourg, the players held a symbolical and emotional ceremony at the city's monument to the deaths.
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
Austria national football team
The Austria national football team is the association football team that represents the country of Austria in international competition and is controlled by the Austrian Football Association ....
star Ernst Stojaspal
Ernst Stojaspal
Ernst Stojaspal was an Austrian football player. He was born in Vienna.-Club career:A prolific striker, the left-footed Stojaspal played for Austria Wien for 10 years, winning three league titles and 2 domestic cups. Also, he topped the final goalscoring charts 5 times...
, Strasbourg had one of its best championship seasons in the post-war era, eventually ending with the 4th 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 promotion back to the top flight.
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. The competition was the idea of Swiss pools supremo Ernst Thommen, Ottorino Barassi from Italy, and the English Football Association general secretary Stanley Rous, all of whom later became senior officials...
thanks to the city's Foire européenne. In 1964–65
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup 1964-65
The seventh Inter-Cities Fairs Cup was played over the 1964-'65 season. The competition was won by Ferencváros in a one game final against Juventus, despite the game taking place at the Italian's home ground, the Stadio Comunale...
under Paul Frantz
Paul Frantz
Paul Frantz is a former French football manager.-Career:A physical education teacher, he never played as a professional, a fact that did nor prevent him from earning his 3rd level manager degree - necessary to coach pro teams in France - as valedictorian in 1958. He was the first manager with no...
's guidance, Racing ousted giants AC Milan and FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
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
Coupe de France Final 1966
The Coupe de France Final 1966 was a football match held at Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes on May 22, 1966, that saw RC Strasbourg defeat FC Nantes 1-0 thanks to a goal by Pierre Sbaiz.-Context:...
. On this occasion, captain René Hauss
René Hauss
René Hauss was a French former footballer and coach.He spent his entire playing career with RC Strasbourg....
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
Raymond Kaelbel
Raymond Kaelbel was a French international footballer who was part of France national football team during 1958 FIFA World Cup....
and young talents Gilbert Gress and Gérard Hausser
Gérard Hausser
Gérard Hausser is a former French footballer.During his career he played for RC Strasbourg , Karlsruher SC , and FC Metz...
. Again, Racing's triumph in the cup was not without controversy, reporter Thierry Roland said on live TV that "the cup [was] leaving France", a comment that was deemed offensive by many in Alsace.
In 1968, Racing started a process that would eventually lead to a merger with two other clubs, the "Association Sportive Culturelle de la Meinau" and, most importantly, the CS des Pierrots 1922 Strasbourg
ASPV Strasbourg
Association Sportive Pierrots Vauban Strasbourg is a French association football team who based in Strasbourg, Alsace, France and are currently playing in the Championnat de France Amateurs 2 Group B.-History:...
. The merger 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 amateur championship in 1969 and 1970—but lacked sufficient structures to jump to professional play while Racing was more wealthy but in search for talent. The merger thus appeared as an excellent opportunity to build a powerful football club in Strasbourg and was favoured by business and political circles. However, the wedding was a difficult one with many internal struggles that were evidenced when some of the former Pierrots left the new entity as soon as 1971 to re-found their former club. That same year, the RPSM was relegated despite the arrival at the end of the season of Yugoslavian star Ivica Osim
Ivica Osim
Ivan "Ivica" Osim is a Bosnian former football player and manager. He was most recently head coach of Japan, before he suffered a stroke in November 2007 and left the post...
. As usual, Strasbourg then won immediate promotion with Osim and two French internationals in its ranks: Jean-Noël Huck
Jean-Noël Huck
Jean-Noël Huck is a French former professional football player and manager.He is the father of another footballer, William Huck.-External links:**...
and Marc Molitor
Marc Molitor
Marc Molitor is a French former professional football player.-External links:**...
. Back in division 1 in 1972, the club made one of the biggest transfer blunders in its history: Osim was sent to CS Sedan to leave a foreign player spot for Reinhard Libuda
Reinhard Libuda
Reinhard "Stan" Libuda was a German footballer playing on the right wing....
. The Yugoslavian left Strasbourg in tears but helped Sedan to decent results while Libuda was quickly suspended due to a match fixing scandal in Germany and eventually released in March 1973. 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 merger.
Glorious years (1976–1980)
In 1976, the future seemed somewhat dark for Racing: the club had been relegated for the second time in only four years, was torn apart by internal struggles following the failure of the merger and was desperately seeking municipal subventions to reach a balanced budget. Financial difficulties meant that Racing was unable 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 essentially on players out of its youth academy and local amateur clubs. Fortunately for the club, the mid-1970s saw the emergence of a very talented generation of youngsters consisting mainly of Léonard SpechtLéonard Specht
Léonard Specht is a French former professional football player. He was also chairman of RC Strasbourg in 2009.-External links:**...
, Jean-Jacques Marx, René Deutschmann, Yves Ehrlacher, Albert Gemmrich
Albert Gemmrich
Albert Gemmrich is a retired football striker from France, who obtained 5 caps for the French national team.-References: *...
, Roland Wagner
Roland Wagner
Roland Wagner is a French former professional football player.-External links:**...
and Joël Tanter. Along with goalkeeper Dominique Dropsy
Dominique Dropsy
Dominique Dropsy is a former French footballer who played goalkeeper, and who earned seventeen international caps for the French national team during the late 1970s, early 1980s. A player of RC Strasbourg , he was a member of the French team in the 1978 FIFA World Cup.-References:...
and captain Jacky Duguépéroux
Jacky Duguépéroux
Jacky Duguépéroux is a former French football player. He previously served as manager of Tunisian side Espérance.-As a player:*Division 1 1979 -AS a coach:...
, these players formed the backbone of the team for the superb 1976–1980 period. During these four years, Racing won two championships (D2 in 1977 and D1 in 1979), reached very honourable league rankings the two other years (third in 1978, fifth in 1980) and had its best results ever in European play (UEFA cup
UEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...
round of sixteen in 1979, Champions cup
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
quarter finals in 1980).
The start of the 1976–77 season was nevertheless difficult. In November, after a defeat at Amiens
Amiens SC
Amiens Sporting Club is a French association football club based in Amiens. The club was formed in 1901 and currently play in Ligue 2, the second level of French football. The club plays its home matches at the Stade de la Licorne located within the city...
, Racing called Alexander Schwartz out of retirement to help and supervise the work of player-manager Heinz Schilcher
Heinz Schilcher
Heinz Schilcher is a retired Austrian football player and manager, currently works as scout for AFC Ajax.-Coaching career:...
. Schwartz was an important player of the 1930s team and had a renowned international coaching career behind him, especially with spells at the Netherlands national team
Netherlands national football team
The Netherlands National Football Team represents the Netherlands in association football and is controlled by the Royal Dutch Football Association , the governing body for football in the Netherlands...
and Benfica. Under his guidance, the team quickly improved, finishing ahead of it group to earn promotion to Division 1
Ligue 1
Ligue 1 , is the French professional league for association football clubs. It is the country's primary football competition and serves as the top division of the French football league system. Ligue 1 is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Professionnel, the other being Ligue 2....
and defeating AS Monaco for the Division 2
Ligue 2
Ligue 2 , formerly known as Division 2, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Professionnel , the other being Ligue 1, the country's top football division...
championship title, the first one in the club's history. After accomplishing his mission, Schwartz definitely 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 genial player with a strong personality, the first Frenchman to shine in the neighbouring Bundesliga with VfB Stuttgart
VfB Stuttgart
Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart, is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club is best known for its football team, which has participated in all but two Bundesliga seasons...
. His second return to Strasbourg, after a first comeback as a player, was greeted with enthusiasm and his charisma aroused a strong public interest for the team's performances, with attendance rates at an all-time high.
The 1977–78 season saw the peculiar dominance of the two promoted sides with Monaco going on to win the championship and Strasbourg reaching an unexpected third place, the best ranking since 1936. Gress printed his mark on the team right away, insisting on the recruitment of experienced, hard-working players (Jacky Novi
Jacky Novi
Jacques Novi , most commonly called Jacky Novi is a French former professional football player.He is the seventh player with most appearance in French championship.-References and notes:...
, Raymond Domenech
Raymond Domenech
Raymond Domenech is a retired French footballer and the former manager of the France national team.-2006 World Cup:On 12 July 2004, Domenech was a surprise choice to succeed Jacques Santini after the country's disappointing exit from UEFA Euro 2004 by losing in the quarter-final match to the...
, Francis Piasecki
Francis Piasecki
Francis Piasecki is a French retired professional football midfielder.-External links:**...
) instead of foreign stars and putting into practice innovative tactical ideas. A self-proclaimed admirer of Ajax Amsterdam
Ajax Amsterdam
Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax , also referred to as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam or simply Ajax , is a professional football club from Amsterdam, Netherlands...
's total football
Total Football
"Total Football" is the label given to an influential tactical theory of association football in which any outfield player can take over the role of any other player in a team. It was pioneered by Dutch football club Ajax from 1969 to 1973, and further used by the Netherlands National Football...
, Gress wanted all his players to both defend and attack and asked for great versatility. This was rather unusual in French football at that time. In most French clubs, defenders were told not to cross the midfield line and strikers had almost no defensive duties. To the contrary, Gress instructed his forwards to exert immediate pressure on the other's side defenders and encouraged offensive initiatives by his own backs. A sign of versatility was the fact the side's top-scorer during that era, Albert Gemmrich
Albert Gemmrich
Albert Gemmrich is a retired football striker from France, who obtained 5 caps for the French national team.-References: *...
, 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 left foot and Gress used his peculiar profile to puzzle defenses, with great success.
| }} |
| Line-up for the 1979 title game at Lyon |
For the 1978–79 season, Racing kept essentially the same team that had won promotion in 1977 and a third place in 1978. The only exceptions were the addition of midfielder Roger Jouve
Roger Jouve
Roger Jouve is a retired French international football midfielder.-Titles:*French championship in 1979 with RC Strasbourg*Division 2 in 1970 with OGC Nice-References:**...
and the exchange between striker Jacques Vergnes
Jacques Vergnes
Jacques Vergnes is a French former professional football player.-External links:**...
and Chadian
Chad national football team
The Chad national football team, nicknamed Sao, represents Chad in international football. The team is controlled by the Fédération Tchadienne de Football, the governing body for football in the country, and has been managed since 2009 by Sherif El-Khashab...
player Nabatingue Toko
Nabatingue Toko
Nabatingue Tokomon Dieudonné, often shortened to Nabatingue Toko is a Chadian football attacker who retired in 1986.- Career :...
. A French international, Vergnes clashed with Gress due to his unwillingness to assume defensive duties and his vocal frustration after being regularly sidelined. He was quickly sent to Bordeaux six games after the start the season. His replacement, Tonko, was the only foreign player on the squad that year, a fact that again was unusual since French club football was at that time still very dependent on the qualities of players from abroad. Strasbourg took the lead early in the season and did not give it back until the end in spite of widespread skepticism from national followers. The absence of big names in the team was considered by many to be a crippling handicap against established teams like AS Saint-Etienne
AS Saint-Étienne
Association Sportive de Saint-Étienne Loire is a French association football club based in Saint-Étienne. The club was founded in 1919 and currently play in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. Saint-Étienne plays its home matches at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard located within the city...
or FC Nantes which had internationally renowned players. For his part, Gress used the critical review of the press to boost his player's motivation and insisted that "the star is the team". Racing finished atop the championship on 56 points with an undefeated home record. The return from Lyon, where the title game was played, was triumphant with huge crowds greeting the team at every railway station in Alsace before the arrival of the train at Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
.
The club saw same movement during the 1979 inter-season. Chairman Alain Léopold was replaced by the influential André Bord, Duguépéroux ended his pro career and Gemmrich left for Bordeaux. To replace him, Bord imposed the recruitment of Carlos Bianchi
Carlos Bianchi
Carlos Arcecio Bianchi , popularly known as El Virrey , is a prolific Argentine football forward turned manager...
to Gress. Bianchi was a prolific goalscorer but he was also a very traditional striker with no intention to commit to defense and teamplay, to Gress' despair. The season was marked by the return of internal struggles, especially with the increasingly confrontational relationship between Gress and Bord, but the team nevertheless achieved a fifth place finish and advanced to the quarter-finals of the European Champions Cup, where it was eliminated by Ajax Amsterdam
Ajax Amsterdam
Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax , also referred to as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam or simply Ajax , is a professional football club from Amsterdam, Netherlands...
(0–0;0–4).
Chronic instability (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. For the first time, Strasbourg failed to win immediate promotion back to the first tier, eventually ending with the 9th place in its group, the worst ranking ever for the club. Success however came back with the 1987–88 season as new manager Henryk KasperczakHenryk Kasperczak
Henryk Wojciech Kasperczak is a Polish football manager and a football player.As a player, Kasperczak took part in two FIFA World Cups with Poland, achieving third place in 1974, as well as a silver medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada.As a manager, Kasperczak enjoyed most...
led Racing to its second Division 2 title with players like Juan Simon
Juan Simón
Juan Simón is a former football defender from Argentina.-Early years:Born in Rosario , Simón started his career with Newell's Old Boys in 1977, at age 9. In 1979 he was part of the Argentina national under-20 football team that won the FIFA U-20 World Cup...
, Peter Reichert
Peter Reichert
Peter Reichert is a German former footballer.-References:**...
and the returning Léonard Specht
Léonard Specht
Léonard Specht is a French former professional football player. He was also chairman of RC Strasbourg in 2009.-External links:**...
. Strasbourg, however, was unable to preserve its spot in the top-flight and was back in Division 2
Ligue 2
Ligue 2 , formerly known as Division 2, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Professionnel , the other being Ligue 1, the country's top football division...
in 1989. With Specht now a manager, Racing failed to secure promotion for the next two seasons, each time falling in the playoffs, first against OGC Nice
OGC Nice
Olympique Gymnaste Club Nice Côte d'Azur is a French association football club based in Nice. The club was founded in 1904 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the top-tier of French football. Nice plays its home matches at the Stade Municipal du Ray located within the city. In 2013, the club is...
and then again RC Lens
RC Lens
Racing Club de Lens is a French association football club based in the northern city of Lens in the Pas-de-Calais department. Its nickname, sang et or , comes from its traditional colours of red and gold. Their primary rivals are their northern neighbors Lille OSC, whom they contest the Derby du...
. In 1991–92, Gress came back to his hometown as manager and, after defeating Rennes
Stade Rennais FC
Stade Rennais Football Club is a French association football club based in Rennes. The club was founded in 1901 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the top tier of French football. Rennes plays its home matches at the Stade de la Route de Lorient located within the city...
(0–0; 4–1) in the final promotion playoff match, Strasbourg made a lasting return to the top flight. The 1992–93 season saw the club finish at eighth place, a ranking that has not been equaled since, allowing the likes of José Cobos
José Cobos
José Javier Cobos Castillo , known as Cobos, is a retired French footballer who played as a left defender.-Football career:...
, Frank Leboeuf
Frank Leboeuf
Franck Alain James Leboeuf or Lebœuf is a former French international footballer who played as a defender...
and Marc Keller
Marc Keller
Marc Keller is a retired French football player, who played primarily as a midfielder. In his club career he played in France, Germany and England. For the national side he played six times, scoring one goal against Brazil. He later became Director-General of RC Strasbourg and AS Monaco.-External...
to shine in the top flight. At the end of the 1993–94 season, Gress definitely left Racing due to personal disagreements with the club's direction. He was replaced by Daniel Jeandupeux who was himself fired after eight months. Jacky Duguépéroux
Jacky Duguépéroux
Jacky Duguépéroux is a former French football player. He previously served as manager of Tunisian side Espérance.-As a player:*Division 1 1979 -AS a coach:...
then took over the club and led it to its most brilliant period since the 1979 title. During the 1990s, there was a mounting interest for football in France with the rise of the national team and, like other clubs, Racing benefited from this context. The club was then able to attract French major players like Franck Sauzée
Franck Sauzée
Franck Sauzée is a former French international footballer and manager. He played 39 times for the French national team between 1988 and 1993, scoring nine goals and captaining the team several times...
and foreign stars like Aleksandr Mostovoi. With this mix of established players and rising prospects, the team reached the final of the cup in 1995, losing to Paris Saint-Germain (0–1
Coupe de France Final 1995
The Coupe de France Final 1995 was a football match held at Parc des Princes, Paris on May 13, 1995, that saw Paris SG defeat RC Strasbourg 1-0 thanks to a goal by Paul Le Guen.-Match details:...
). In April that same year, Strasbourg was also the only team to defeat champions FC Nantes, 2–0 at la Meinau. 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 round, losing to Italian giants AC Milan.
In 1996, the Bosman ruling
Bosman ruling
Union Royale Belge des Sociétés de Football Association ASBL v Jean-Marc Bosman is a 1995 European Court of Justice decision concerning freedom of movement for workers, freedom of association, and direct effect of article 39 of the EC Treaty...
entered into force and made it difficult 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
Marc Keller
Marc Keller is a retired French football player, who played primarily as a midfielder. In his club career he played in France, Germany and England. For the national side he played six times, scoring one goal against Brazil. He later became Director-General of RC Strasbourg and AS Monaco.-External...
and Frank Leboeuf
Frank Leboeuf
Franck Alain James Leboeuf or Lebœuf is a former French international footballer who played as a defender...
. Despite these departures, Racing fared well in the league, staying most of the season in the top 5 before ultimately settling for a 9th place finish. That same year, the IMG
IMG (business)
IMG, originally known as the International Management Group is a global sports and media business headquartered in New York City.-History:...
–McCormack
Mark McCormack
Mark Hume McCormack was an American lawyer, sports agent for professional athletes and a prolific writer...
Group was chosen by the municipality to take control of the club. The players, still trained by Jacky Duguépéroux
Jacky Duguépéroux
Jacky Duguépéroux is a former French football player. He previously served as manager of Tunisian side Espérance.-As a player:*Division 1 1979 -AS a coach:...
, went on to capture the Coupe de la Ligue
Coupe de la Ligue
The Coupe de la Ligue , known outside of France as the French League Cup, is a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel...
—the first national trophy in eighteen years—by defeating Bordeaux
FC Girondins de Bordeaux
Football Club des Girondins de Bordeaux is a French association football club based in the city of Bordeaux. The club currently play in Ligue 1, the first division of French football, and won its last Ligue 1 title in the 2008–09 season....
in a penalty shootout
Coupe de la Ligue Final 1997
The Coupe de la Ligue Final 1997 was a football match held at Parc des Princes, Paris on April 12, 1997, that saw RC Strasbourg defeat FC Girondins de Bordeaux in a penalty shootout-Match details:...
. A good UEFA Cup
UEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...
run followed that victory, allowing young players formed at the club like Olivier Dacourt or Valérien Ismaël
Valérien Ismaël
Valérien Ismaël is a former French footballer.-Personal life:Valérien Ismaël is married to Karolina. They have a son, Alexis. His hobbies are golf, tennis and watching movies.-Strasbourg:...
to shine in continental play. After a successful qualification round against Glasgow Rangers
Rangers F.C.
Rangers Football Club are an association football club based in Glasgow, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Premier League. The club are nicknamed the Gers, Teddy Bears and the Light Blues, and the fans are known to each other as bluenoses...
and Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
, Racing defeated Inter Milan 2–0 at la Meinau, but fell 0–3 in the away leg.
In the meantime, IMG had taken over the club in the summer of 1997 and Patrick Proisy
Patrick Proisy
Patrick Proisy is a French former professional tennis player best remembered for reaching the finals of the French Open in 1972 losing against Spaniard Andrés Gimeno in four sets. He added to that one more final and a single title in Hilversum, 1977.-Runner-ups :-References:...
, former tennis player and head of the French branch, became president. He was joined a year later by his friend Claude Le Roy
Claude Le Roy
Claude Le Roy is a French football manager and former player, who gained prominence at international level as coach to the Senegal and Ghana national teams...
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. During their reign, the club sold all of its best prospects and essentially replaced them with disappointing, expensive foreign players (Diego Hector Garay, Gonzalo Belloso
Gonzalo Belloso
Gonzalo Belloso is an Argentine football striker. He is currently without a club having been released by Rosario Central of the Primera Division Argentina in July 2008....
, Mario Haas
Mario Haas
Mario Haas is an Austrian football forward, who currently plays for SK Sturm Graz.-Club career:thumb|left|275px|Haas in action with SK Sturm Graz...
among others). 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
Coupe de France Final 2001
The Coupe de France Final 2001 was a football match held at Stade de France, Saint-Denis on 36 May 2001, that saw RC Strasbourg defeat Amiens SC in a penalty shoot out. After normal time and extra-time could not separate the two sides, the match was to be decided on penalty kicks...
against Amiens SC
Amiens SC
Amiens Sporting Club is a French association football club based in Amiens. The club was formed in 1901 and currently play in Ligue 2, the second level of French football. The club plays its home matches at the Stade de la Licorne located within the city...
. On that occasion, Paraguayan
Paraguay national football team
The Paraguay national football team is controlled by the Paraguayan Football Association and represents Paraguay in men's international football competitions. The team has reached the second round of the World Cup on four occasions . The 2010 trip also featured their first appearance in the...
star José Luis Chilavert
José Luis Chilavert
José Luis Félix Chilavert González is a Paraguayan former football player who played as a goalkeeper. He was a three-time IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper award winner....
scored the winning penalty for Strasbourg at the Stade de France
Stade de France
The Stade de France is the national stadium of France, situated just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis. It has an all-seater capacity of 80,000, making it the fifth largest stadium in Europe, and is used by both the France national football team and French rugby union team for...
.
Ivan Hašek
Ivan Hašek is a retired Czech footballer who played as a central midfielder.He spent 11 years of his career with Sparta Prague, appearing in more than 300 official games with the club, and later acting as its manager....
, 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. The club was taken over by a pool of local investors with former player Marc Keller
Marc Keller
Marc Keller is a retired French football player, who played primarily as a midfielder. In his club career he played in France, Germany and England. For the national side he played six times, scoring one goal against Brazil. He later became Director-General of RC Strasbourg and AS Monaco.-External...
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
SM Caen
Stade Malherbe Caen is a professional French football team, playing in the city of Caen, Normandy. The club was founded on 17 November 1913 following the merger of Club Malherbe Caennais and Club Sportif Caennais...
2–1 in the final of the League Cup
Coupe de la Ligue Final 2005
The Coupe de la Ligue Final 2005 was a football match held at Stade de France, Saint-Denis on April 30, 2005, that saw RC Strasbourg defeat SM Caen 2-1 thanks to goals by Mamadou Niang and Jean-Christophe Devaux.-Match details:...
, a feat which provided them with a passport to the 2005–06 UEFA Cup where they reached the last sixteen.
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
Olympique de Marseille
Olympique de Marseille is a French association football club based in Marseille. Founded in 1899, the club plays in Ligue 1 and have spent most of its history in the top tier of French football. Marseille have been French champions nine times and have won the Coupe de France a record ten times. In...
. Ginestet hired French legend Jean-Pierre Papin
Jean-Pierre Papin
Jean-Pierre Papin is a former French professional football player who was European Footballer of the Year in 1991.Papin achieved his greatest success while playing for Olympique Marseille between 1986 and 1992...
as the new manager and the club again won immediate promotion to the top flight in 2007, finishing at third place. In spite of this, Papin resigned as manager, citing internal relationship problems. and was succeeded by Jean-Marc Furlan
Jean-Marc Furlan
Jean-Marc Furlan is a football manager. He currently coaches Troyes AC.-Coaching career:...
. 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. Furlan was nevertheless confirmed as manager for the following Ligue 2 season but failed in his mission to bring the club back in the top-tier as Racing ended 4th with a blasting defeat at Montpellier
Montpellier HSC
Montpellier Hérault Sport Club is a French association football club based in the city of Montpellier. The club was founded in 1919 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the top level of French football. Montpellier plays its home matches at the Stade de la Mosson, located within the city...
. Furlan's contract was subsequently terminated and Phillipe Ginestet stepped down from his position as chairman while remaining the major shareholder. He was succeeded by Léonard Specht who picked the legendary Gilbert Gress as manager. However, Gress quickly entered in conflict with many members of the club, including Ginestet whom he violently attacked just after his side's defeat to Châteauroux
LB Châteauroux
La Berrichonne de Châteauroux is a French association football club based in Châteauroux. The football team is a part of a sports club that consists of several other sports and was founded in 1883. The team currently plays in Ligue 2, the second division of French football, having finished 16th in...
in the inaugural league game. Ginestet then convened an extraordinary meeting of the board to sack Gilbert Gress, prompting Léonard Specht's resignation. Gress was replaced by assistant manager Pascal Janin, first as a caretaker and then as permanent manager when Ginestet re-took the club's presidency at the end of August 2009. In the 2009-2010 Season, a final day of the season away defeat relegated Strasbourg to the National as they suffered their second relegation in three seasons. The 2010-2011 season saw them narrowly miss out on promotion back to Ligue 2 as they finished 4th behind Guingamp. On July 17 2011, Racing Club de Strasbourg entered total liquidation and were removed from the National in favour of AS Cherbourg. On 25 August 2011, after lengthy negotiations with the FFF, Strasbourg were eventually reinstated into the fifth tier of the French footballing, the CFA 2, Group C.
Colours and crest
While the colours of the town are red and white, Racing has always played in a combination of blue and white. The exact origin of this choice of colours is unknown. 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 medium blue, dark blue, sky blue, and white as the main color of its home jersey. Since 2007, the Flag of Alsace is featured on the back of the club's shirt. HummelHummel International
hummel International is a Denmark-based sportswear company. The firm was started in 1923 by the Messmer family in the town of Hamburg, Germany. It currently manufactures apparel for football, handball, basketball, rugby league, Australian football, shinty and volleyball...
is the current kit designer. Previously (1973–2000; 2004–2007), Racing was equipped by Adidas
Adidas
Adidas AG is a German sports apparel manufacturer and parent company of the Adidas Group, which consists of the Reebok sportswear company, TaylorMade-Adidas golf company , and Rockport...
, which has its French seat in Landersheim
Landersheim
Landersheim is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.-Geography:Surrounding communes are Saessolsheim and Rohr to the north-west, Willgottheim in the south-east, Zeinheim and Westhouse-Marmoutier to the south-west with Maennolsheim and Friedolsheim in the...
, between Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
and Saverne
Saverne
Saverne is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France. It is situated on the Rhine-Marne canal at the foot of a pass over the Vosges Mountains, and 45 km N.W...
. Asics
ASICS
ASICS is a Japanese athletic equipment company. ASICS produces professional footwear and sports equipment designed for football, running, netball, tennis, badminton, squash, martial arts, cricket, golf, wrestling, track & field, cross-training, volleyball, cheerleading, lacrosse, and for many other...
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. It includes a stylized stork
Stork
Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family Ciconiidae. They are the only family in the biological order Ciconiiformes, which was once much larger and held a number of families....
(symbol of Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
), a red diagonal stripe from the city's coat of arms and a depiction of the Cathedral
Strasbourg Cathedral
Strasbourg Cathedral or the Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Strasbourg, France. Although considerable parts of it are still in Romanesque architecture, it is widely consideredSusan Bernstein: , The Johns Hopkins University Press to be among the finest...
along with the club's initials: RCS. Between 1997 and 2006, the club used another logo, introduced by Patrick Proisy
Patrick Proisy
Patrick Proisy is a French former professional tennis player best remembered for reaching the finals of the French Open in 1972 losing against Spaniard Andrés Gimeno in four sets. He added to that one more final and a single title in Hilversum, 1977.-Runner-ups :-References:...
. 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.
Stadium
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.La Meinau has been chosen among the 12 stadia composing France's bid for the organization of Euro 2016. Should France be awarded the tournament, its capacity would be upgraded to 36, 000.
Supporters
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 AlsaceAlsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
, Racing attracts a large fan base that covers both the Bas-Rhin
Bas-Rhin
Bas-Rhin is a department of France. The name means "Lower Rhine". It is the more populous and densely populated of the two departments of the Alsace region, with 1,079,013 inhabitants in 2006.- History :...
and Haut-Rhin
Haut-Rhin
Haut-Rhin is a département of the Alsace region of France, named after the Rhine river. Its name means Upper Rhine. Haut-Rhin is the smaller and less populated of the two departements of Alsace, although is still densely populated compared to the rest of France.-Subdivisions:The department...
départements as well as the eastern part of the Moselle
Moselle
Moselle is a department in the east of France named after the river Moselle.- History :Moselle is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
. The fan-base ouside of this area is essentially limited to people that, for a reason or another, have a personal link with Alsace. The club also has ties to the other side of the Rhine, especially through a supporter friendship with Karlsruher SC
Karlsruher SC
Karlsruher SC is a German association football club, based in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg. KSC rose out of the consolidation of a number of predecessor clubs. They currently play in the 2...
and regular friendly matches during the summer.
On average, the attendance in Ligue 1
Ligue 1
Ligue 1 , is the French professional league for association football clubs. It is the country's primary football competition and serves as the top division of the French football league system. Ligue 1 is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Professionnel, the other being Ligue 2....
has been around 20,000 for a stadium capacity of 29,000. 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
Kop
Spion Kop is a colloquial name or term for a number of terraces and stands at sports stadiums, particularly in the United Kingdom...
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
Corentin Martins
Corentin Martins da Silva , known as Martins, is a retired French footballer of Portuguese descent, who played as an attacking midfielder.-Club career:...
has once asserted that the Strasbourg public is "demanding, but fair". 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. Racing is always an emotional topic in Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
. 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.
Racing Strasbourg's main rivals are FC Metz
FC Metz
Football Club de Metz, commonly referred to as simply Metz , is a French association football club based in Metz. The club was formed in 1932 and has spent most of its history in the Ligue 1, though they currently play in Ligue 2, the second level in French football league system. Metz plays its...
. The clubs compete is what is generally referred as the "Derby de l'Est" ("the Eastern derby
Local derby
In many countries the term local derby, or simply just derby means a sporting fixture between two, generally local, rivals, particularly in association football...
") in France, a rather inappropriate term since the two cities are 150 km. distant. There is however a significant degree of inter-regional rivalry between Alsace and Lorraine, leading to some acrimony between the fans on both sides. 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. Strasbourg won the game 2–0. When FC Mulhouse
FC Mulhouse
Football Club de Mulhouse is a French association football club based in Mulhouse. The club was founded in 1893 and currently play in the Championnat de France amateur, the fourth level of French football. Mulhouse plays its home matches at the Stade de l'Ill located within the city...
was professional, the two sides also nourished a rivalry that persists as far as youth teams are concerned.
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 MeinauStade de la Meinau
The Stade de la Meinau, commonly known as "La Meinau" is a football stadium in Strasbourg, France. It is the home ground of RC Strasbourg and has also hosted international matches, including one game of World cup 1938, two games of Euro 1984 and the final of the Cup Winners' Cup in 1988. La Meinau...
. RCS quickly entered a rivalry with FC Sochaux, a team that was backed by Mathis' competitor Peugeot
Peugeot
Peugeot is a major French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën, the second largest carmaker based in Europe.The family business that precedes the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810, and manufactured coffee mills and bicycles. On 20 November 1858, Emile Peugeot applied for the lion...
. After WW2, Mathis ceased activity and the club had to find other sponsors including the Crédit Mutuel
Crédit Mutuel
Crédit Mutuel is a major French bank, with headquarters in Strasbourg, Alsace. Its slogan is "La banque à qui parler" . It is currently run by Michel Lucas and Alain Fradin and has 7.4 million customers - roughly half of whom live in the Grand-Est, i.e...
—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 Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
and Georges Pompidou
Georges Pompidou
Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou was a French politician. He was Prime Minister of France from 1962 to 1968, holding the longest tenure in this position, and later President of the French Republic from 1969 until his death in 1974.-Biography:...
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. 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
Daniel Hechter
Daniel Hechter is a French fashion designer, sometimes referred to as the inventor of Pret-a-Porter or ready-to-wear .-Personal life:...
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 bankruptcy. Racing was at that time salvaged by the Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
municipality which took a 49% share of the club but had to relinquish it a few years later as the Pasqua
Charles Pasqua
Charles Pasqua is a French businessman and Gaullist politician. He was Interior Minister from 1986 to 1988, under Jacques Chirac's cohabitation government, and also from 1993 to 1995, under the government of Edouard Balladur...
legislation restricted public support to professional sport. 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
IMG (business)
IMG, originally known as the International Management Group is a global sports and media business headquartered in New York City.-History:...
- McCormack
Mark McCormack
Mark Hume McCormack was an American lawyer, sports agent for professional athletes and a prolific writer...
Group through its French branch headed by Patrick Proisy
Patrick Proisy
Patrick Proisy is a French former professional tennis player best remembered for reaching the finals of the French Open in 1972 losing against Spaniard Andrés Gimeno in four sets. He added to that one more final and a single title in Hilversum, 1977.-Runner-ups :-References:...
. 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
Olympique de Marseille
Olympique de Marseille is a French association football club based in Marseille. Founded in 1899, the club plays in Ligue 1 and have spent most of its history in the top tier of French football. Marseille have been French champions nine times and have won the Coupe de France a record ten times. In...
. 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 million euros. 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. 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.
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. Racing's troubles as well as the town's refusal to finance an extension of the stade de la Meinau
Stade de la Meinau
The Stade de la Meinau, commonly known as "La Meinau" is a football stadium in Strasbourg, France. It is the home ground of RC Strasbourg and has also hosted international matches, including one game of World cup 1938, two games of Euro 1984 and the final of the Cup Winners' Cup in 1988. 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
Catherine Trautmann
Catherine Trautmann is a former Minister of Culture of France and now Member of the European Parliament for the East of France.She was elected as mayor of Strasbourg in 1989, re-elected in 1995, then defeated in 2001....
. 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 to an IMG group eager to cut its losses after the death of Mark McCormack but had to cover a 3 million euro deficit to close the 2002–03 budget. It is estimated that Racing lost 15 million euros during the IMG era, mainly due to a dubious recruitment policy.
Thanks to a prudent transfer policy initiated by director Marc Keller
Marc Keller
Marc Keller is a retired French football player, who played primarily as a midfielder. In his club career he played in France, Germany and England. For the national side he played six times, scoring one goal against Brazil. He later became Director-General of RC Strasbourg and AS Monaco.-External...
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. 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
Alain Afflelou
Alain Afflelou is a French retail chain specializing in optical services and sales of the Alain Afflelou brand of eyewear. Created in 1972 in Bouscat by Alain Afflelou , as of 2007 the company had over 894 stores, 201 of which were in Spain.In 2006, Bridgepoint Capital, a UK investment firm,...
, the biggest optician in France and a former president of the Girondins de Bordeaux, would be the new owner, but he was eventually out-bided by Ginestet who took control of the club midway through the 2005–06 season, forcing Keller's departure a few months later. Ginestet held a majority share during four years, which he sold in the end of 2009 for a price of 1.6 millions Euros. After some speculation, the new owner was identified as Alain Fontenla, a French invetstment broker based in London. As of 2010, Fontenla owns (85%), along with Carousel Finance (15%) a holding named "Racing investissements", which itself owns a majority share (70%) of EuroRacing, the main shareholder (78%) of the club. The other major shareholder of the club is Lohr SA, an industrial group centered on transportation activities.
Presidential history
Below is a list of RC Strasbourg's 15 presidents since the start of the professional era in 1933. 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.The 2009–2010 season saw a record of five successive presidents. Early into the season, Léonard Specht
Léonard Specht
Léonard Specht is a French former professional football player. He was also chairman of RC Strasbourg in 2009.-External links:**...
stepped down from his position, after the sacking of Glibert Gress, whom he had appointed as manager. Philippe Ginestet then re-took the presidency, but left the club when the takeover by the new owners was completed in December. The new owners chose to name Julien Fournier as the new Chief executive but, after some turmoil, Fournier quickly entered a dispute with the new major shareholder, Alain Fontenla. Fournier's contract was terminated in February and he was replaced by Luc Dayan on an interim basis. Only a month later, Jean-Claude Plessis, a former chairman of FC Sochaux came to replace Dayan.
Current squad
As of 26. August 2011Reserves squad
Strasbourg's B team plays in the Championnat de France amateur, Group A. Pro players also often play for the reserves.Former players
RCS does not have an official hall of fame or an all-time XI. Various selections have been made by press and supporters but none has achieved universal respect. 21 players have been capped for France while playing for Strasbourg. The most notable one is Oscar HeissererOscar Heisserer
Oscar Heisserer was a French footballer.He played for RC Strasbourg, and appeared for France in the 1938 World Cup, where he scored a goal.-References:* *...
who played a record 18 times with the national team while at Strasbourg and was the first Alsatian and first and only RCS player to wear the armband for France. Dominique Dropsy
Dominique Dropsy
Dominique Dropsy is a former French footballer who played goalkeeper, and who earned seventeen international caps for the French national team during the late 1970s, early 1980s. A player of RC Strasbourg , he was a member of the French team in the 1978 FIFA World Cup.-References:...
, Léonard Specht
Léonard Specht
Léonard Specht is a French former professional football player. He was also chairman of RC Strasbourg in 2009.-External links:**...
and Gérard Hausser
Gérard Hausser
Gérard Hausser is a former French footballer.During his career he played for RC Strasbourg , Karlsruher SC , and FC Metz...
also earned more than 10 caps while Marc Molitor
Marc Molitor
Marc Molitor is a French former professional football player.-External links:**...
is one of the rare examples of a player being capped for the national team while playing in the Division 2. Unsurprinsgly, 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
Dominique Dropsy
Dominique Dropsy is a former French footballer who played goalkeeper, and who earned seventeen international caps for the French national team during the late 1970s, early 1980s. A player of RC Strasbourg , he was a member of the French team in the 1978 FIFA World Cup.-References:...
, Roger Jouve
Roger Jouve
Roger Jouve is a retired French international football midfielder.-Titles:*French championship in 1979 with RC Strasbourg*Division 2 in 1970 with OGC Nice-References:**...
, Francis Piasecki
Francis Piasecki
Francis Piasecki is a French retired professional football midfielder.-External links:**...
, Albert Gemmrich
Albert Gemmrich
Albert Gemmrich is a retired football striker from France, who obtained 5 caps for the French national team.-References: *...
) on the field for a Euro 1980 qualifying game against Luxembourg
Luxembourg national football team
The Luxembourg national football team is the national football team of Luxembourg, and is controlled by the Luxembourg Football Federation. The team play most of their home matches at the Stade Josy Barthel, in Luxembourg.- History :...
. This figure was repeated a month later for a friendly against Spain
Spain national football team
The Spain national football team represents Spain in international association football and is controlled by the Royal Spanish Football Federation, the governing body for football in Spain. The current head coach is Vicente del Bosque...
(Dropsy, Piasecki, Gemmrich and Léonard Specht
Léonard Specht
Léonard Specht is a French former professional football player. He was also chairman of RC Strasbourg in 2009.-External links:**...
). Frank Leboeuf
Frank Leboeuf
Franck Alain James Leboeuf or Lebœuf is a former French international footballer who played as a defender...
and Marc Keller
Marc Keller
Marc Keller is a retired French football player, who played primarily as a midfielder. In his club career he played in France, Germany and England. For the national side he played six times, scoring one goal against Brazil. He later became Director-General of RC Strasbourg and AS Monaco.-External...
were the last 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 1998, the other one being Youri Djorkaeff
Youri Djorkaeff
Youri Raffi Djorkaeff is a former French international footballer who played as a forward or as an attacking midfielder. With the French national team, Djorkaeff won the 1998 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2000...
. The last player once at Strasbourg to play for France is Olivier Dacourt while Richard Dutruel
Richard Dutruel
Richard Philippe Dutruel is a retired professional French footballer, who played as a goalkeeper.-Football career:...
is the last international to play for RCS (both in 2004).
With regional feelings still strong in Alsace, the performances of local players logically attract special attention. Seven out of the ten players with the most apparitions for Racing are from Alsace: René Hauss
René Hauss
René Hauss was a French former footballer and coach.He spent his entire playing career with RC Strasbourg....
(who holds the record), Léonard Specht
Léonard Specht
Léonard Specht is a French former professional football player. He was also chairman of RC Strasbourg in 2009.-External links:**...
, René Deutschmann, Edmond Haan
Edmond Haan
Edmond Haan is a French former football striker.-External links:* *...
, Gérard Hausser
Gérard Hausser
Gérard Hausser is a former French footballer.During his career he played for RC Strasbourg , Karlsruher SC , and FC Metz...
, Jean Schuth and Raymond Kaelbel
Raymond Kaelbel
Raymond Kaelbel was a French international footballer who was part of France national football team during 1958 FIFA World Cup....
. Since 1979, there is also a peculiar tradition that every Racing team to win a trophy or reach a final featured a Breton
Breton people
The Bretons are an ethnic group located in the region of Brittany in France. They trace much of their heritage to groups of Brythonic speakers who emigrated from southwestern Great Britain in waves from the 3rd to 6th century into the Armorican peninsula, subsequently named Brittany after them.The...
as captain, manager or both. Jacky Duguépéroux
Jacky Duguépéroux
Jacky Duguépéroux is a former French football player. He previously served as manager of Tunisian side Espérance.-As a player:*Division 1 1979 -AS a coach:...
captained the 1979 team and won the Coupe de la Ligue
Coupe de la Ligue
The Coupe de la Ligue , known outside of France as the French League Cup, is a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel...
in 1997 and 2005 as a manager. The 2001 Coupe de France
Coupe de France
The Coupe Charles Simon, commonly known as the Coupe de France , is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation...
winning team for itself included Yvon Pouliquen as manager and Corentin Martins
Corentin Martins
Corentin Martins da Silva , known as Martins, is a retired French footballer of Portuguese descent, who played as an attacking midfielder.-Club career:...
as captain. Pouliquen also was the captain for the 1995 final.
Apart from French internationals and Alsatians, there is a strong tradition to have foreign players from Central and Eastern Europe
Central and Eastern Europe
Central and Eastern Europe is a term describing former communist states in Europe, after the collapse of the Iron Curtain in 1989/90. In scholarly literature the abbreviations CEE or CEEC are often used for this concept...
at Strasbourg. The successful Racing team of the 1930s regularly included Austrians
Austrians
Austrians are a nation and ethnic group, consisting of the population of the Republic of Austria and its historical predecessor states who share a common Austrian culture and Austrian descent....
both as players and coaches, a tradition that was continued when Ernst Stojaspal
Ernst Stojaspal
Ernst Stojaspal was an Austrian football player. He was born in Vienna.-Club career:A prolific striker, the left-footed Stojaspal played for Austria Wien for 10 years, winning three league titles and 2 domestic cups. Also, he topped the final goalscoring charts 5 times...
played at la Meinau in the 1950s. Other Mitteleuropa players fondly remembered include Alexander Schwartz, Ivica Osim
Ivica Osim
Ivan "Ivica" Osim is a Bosnian former football player and manager. He was most recently head coach of Japan, before he suffered a stroke in November 2007 and left the post...
, Ivan Hasek
Ivan Hašek
Ivan Hašek is a retired Czech footballer who played as a central midfielder.He spent 11 years of his career with Sparta Prague, appearing in more than 300 official games with the club, and later acting as its manager....
, Alexander Vencel or Danijel Ljuboja
Danijel Ljuboja
Danijel Ljuboja, is a Serbian football forward currently playing for Legia Warsaw.-Club:...
while Russian Aleksandr Mostovoi is the last world-class star to play for Racing to this date.
Managers
Strasbourg has had 48 managers in the professional era, with the holder of the office changing 56 times. This is a record in French football only surpassed by Olympique de MarseilleOlympique de Marseille
Olympique de Marseille is a French association football club based in Marseille. Founded in 1899, the club plays in Ligue 1 and have spent most of its history in the top tier of French football. Marseille have been French champions nine times and have won the Coupe de France a record ten times. In...
. 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 three spells, 275 matches). Paul Frantz
Paul Frantz
Paul Frantz is a former French football manager.-Career:A physical education teacher, he never played as a professional, a fact that did nor prevent him from earning his 3rd level manager degree - necessary to coach pro teams in France - as valedictorian in 1958. He was the first manager with no...
holds the record for the most spells at Racing with four (73 months overall, 227 matches). Jacky Duguépéroux
Jacky Duguépéroux
Jacky Duguépéroux is a former French football player. He previously served as manager of Tunisian side Espérance.-As a player:*Division 1 1979 -AS a coach:...
is the only manager to win two trophies with Strasbourg.
The current manager is Pascal Janin
Pascal Janin
Pascal Janin is a French former footballer and football manager.-Career:He played as a goalkeeper for Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 sides Angers, Gueugnon, Monaco, Orléans, Abbeville and Strasbourg.-Coaching career:...
, who has occupied virtually every coaching position at the club (youth coach, reserves coach, goalkeeping coach, assistant-manager) before being appointed as Gress' successor.
Current coaching staff
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Manager | vacant |
| Assistant Manager |  Cyril Serredszum |
| Goalkeeping Coach |  Alexander Vencel |
| Fitness Coach | Jean-Claude Thiry |
| Reserve Team Coach | François Keller |
| Head of Youth Development | Jean-François Kuentz |
League
- Ligue 1Ligue 1Ligue 1 , is the French professional league for association football clubs. It is the country's primary football competition and serves as the top division of the French football league system. Ligue 1 is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Professionnel, the other being Ligue 2....
champions (1): 1979French football Division 1 1978-79RC Strasbourg won Division 1 season 1978/1979 of the French Association Football League with 56 points.-Participating teams:-Final table:... - Ligue 2Ligue 2Ligue 2 , formerly known as Division 2, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Professionnel , the other being Ligue 1, the country's top football division...
champions (2): 1977, 1988 - Ligue 2Ligue 2Ligue 2 , formerly known as Division 2, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Professionnel , the other being Ligue 1, the country's top football division...
promotion: 1934, 1953, 1958, 1961, 1972, 1992, 2002, 2007 - Alsace champions (3): 1923, 1924, 1926
- Dordogne champions (1): 1940
Cups
- Coupe de FranceCoupe de FranceThe Coupe Charles Simon, commonly known as the Coupe de France , is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation...
winners (3): 1951Coupe de France Final 1951The Coupe de France Final 1951 was a football match held at Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes on May 6, 1951, that saw RC Strasbourg defeat US Valenciennes-Anzin 3-0 thanks to goals by René Bihel, Raymond Krug and André Nagy.-Match details:...
, 1966Coupe de France Final 1966The Coupe de France Final 1966 was a football match held at Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes on May 22, 1966, that saw RC Strasbourg defeat FC Nantes 1-0 thanks to a goal by Pierre Sbaiz.-Context:...
, 2001Coupe de France Final 2001The Coupe de France Final 2001 was a football match held at Stade de France, Saint-Denis on 36 May 2001, that saw RC Strasbourg defeat Amiens SC in a penalty shoot out. After normal time and extra-time could not separate the two sides, the match was to be decided on penalty kicks... - Coupe de la LigueCoupe de la LigueThe Coupe de la Ligue , known outside of France as the French League Cup, is a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel...
winners (2): 1997Coupe de la Ligue Final 1997The Coupe de la Ligue Final 1997 was a football match held at Parc des Princes, Paris on April 12, 1997, that saw RC Strasbourg defeat FC Girondins de Bordeaux in a penalty shootout-Match details:...
, 2005Coupe de la Ligue Final 2005The Coupe de la Ligue Final 2005 was a football match held at Stade de France, Saint-Denis on April 30, 2005, that saw RC Strasbourg defeat SM Caen 2-1 thanks to goals by Mamadou Niang and Jean-Christophe Devaux.-Match details:... - UEFA Intertoto CupUEFA Intertoto CupThe UEFA Intertoto Cup, also abbreviated as UI Cup and originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition for European clubs that had not qualified for one of the two major UEFA competitions, the Champions League and the UEFA Cup. The competition was discontinued...
winners (1): 1995
Records
- Largest victory: 10–0 (v. Valenciennes FCValenciennes FCValenciennes Football Club is a French association football club based in Valenciennes. The club was founded in 1913 and currently play in Ligue 1, the top level of French football. Valenciennes plays its home matches at the recently-built Stade du Hainaut located within the city...
1937–38) - Largest defeat: 0–8 (v. Limoges FCLimoges FCLimoges Football Club, founded in 1947, are a French association football team based in Limoges, France, who are currently playing in the sixth tier of the French football league system...
, 1959–60) - Largest victory in European play: 5–0 (v. Grazer AKGrazer AKGrazer AK, founded 18 August 1902 as Grazer Athletik-Sport Klub , is an Austrian sports club, from the city of Graz in the federal state of Styria . The football section is one of the most traditional Austrian clubs, most successful in the decade 1995 – 2005...
, 2005–06) - Largest defeat in European play: 2–10 (v. MTK Budapest, 1961–62)
- Record appearances: René HaussRené HaussRené Hauss was a French former footballer and coach.He spent his entire playing career with RC Strasbourg....
(580; 421 in Ligue 1; between 1949 and 1969) - Record appearances for a player still active at the club: Guillaume LacourGuillaume LacourGuillaume Lacour is a French football player who currently plays for Ligue 1 club Évian Thonon Gaillard FC. He plays as a midfielder and joined his current club from RC Strasbourg following an eight-year stint....
(212; 134 in Ligue 1; since 2002) - Most appearances in a row for the club: Dominique DropsyDominique DropsyDominique Dropsy is a former French footballer who played goalkeeper, and who earned seventeen international caps for the French national team during the late 1970s, early 1980s. A player of RC Strasbourg , he was a member of the French team in the 1978 FIFA World Cup.-References:...
(336; between 1973 and 1982) - Most goals for the club: Oskar RohrOskar RohrOskar Rohr was a German footballer and one of the first footballers to play abroad in a foreign league. He was born in Mannheim, Germany.-Early career:...
(118; between 1934 and 1939) - Most goals for a single championship season at the club: Oskar RohrOskar RohrOskar Rohr was a German footballer and one of the first footballers to play abroad in a foreign league. He was born in Mannheim, Germany.-Early career:...
(30; 1936–37) - Most goals for the club by a player still active: Danijel LjubojaDanijel LjubojaDanijel Ljuboja, is a Serbian football forward currently playing for Legia Warsaw.-Club:...
(34; between 2000 and 2003) - Most goals for the club by a player still active at the club: James FanchoneJames FanchoneJames Fanchone is a French soccer player, currently with Le Havre AC. On the 23 June 2011 James Fanchone move to Ligue 2 club Le Havre for an undisclosed fee.-External links:* at lfp.fr...
(12; since 2007) - Oldest player: René HaussRené HaussRené Hauss was a French former footballer and coach.He spent his entire playing career with RC Strasbourg....
(39 years, 351 days; v. FC Nantes; 11 December 1966) - Youngest player: Jacques GlassmannJacques GlassmannJacques Glassmann is a former footballer from France.He is famous for having revealed the bribery scandal involving Olympique de Marseille and his team US Valenciennes...
(16 years, 95 days v. FC Nantes, 25 November 1978) - Record Attendance: 39033, 20 November 1992, v. Olympique Marseille
- Highest transfer fee paid: 5.3 million euros (to Sturm Graz for Mario HaasMario HaasMario Haas is an Austrian football forward, who currently plays for SK Sturm Graz.-Club career:thumb|left|275px|Haas in action with SK Sturm Graz...
in 1999) - Highest transfer fee received: 8.8 million euros (from Olympique LyonnaisOlympique LyonnaisOlympique Lyonnais is a French association football club based in Lyon. They play in France's highest football division, Ligue 1. The club was formed as Lyon Olympique Universitaire in 1899, according to many supporters and sport historians, but was nationally established as a club in 1950. The...
, for Peguy LuyindulaPéguy LuyindulaPéguy Luyindula in Kinshasa is a French football striker. He currently plays for Paris Saint-Germain, in the French League.-Early career:...
in 2001) - UEFA ranking:
- 80 = (80)
Levski Sofia (24.250) - 81
(105) AS Nancy Lorraine (24.090) - 82 (85) RC Strasbourg (23.090)
- 83 (94)
Partizan BelgradeFK PartizanFudbalski klub Partizan is a professional football club based in Belgrade, Serbia. In its long history, FK Partizan won as many as 37 trophies. The club is the holder of 23 national championships, 12 national cups and 1 national supercup, and has also won the Mitropa Cup in 1978...
(23.050) - 83 (84)
Slavia Praha (23.050)
- 80 = (80)