Toulouse Olympique
Encyclopedia
Toulouse Olympique are a French
professional rugby league
team from Toulouse
, in the southwest of France. They were founded on 22 October, in 1937 two years after the founding of the French Rugby League Federation. Between 1995 and 2002 the club were known as Spacers de Toulouse, due to links with the local aerospace
industry. They currently play in the Co-operative Championship, the second tier competition below the European Super League
, having joined in time for the 2009 season. This followed being denied a Super League
licence.
The club has played in six Lord Derby Cup
finals, but has never won the competition, they have however been champions of France
on four occasions, as well as runners-up in five years.
decided to establish rugby league in Toulouse, they bought the Arnauné stadium (Stade des Minimes) and formed Toulouse Olympique.
The first match Toulouse played was on 24 October 1937 against Albi. In 1938, Toulouse Olympique merged with another club in the city, Galia Club Toulousain. In 1939, TO reached for the first time the Cup final in France. During the war years, the club opted (like other rugby league clubs in France) to play rugby union
, following the ban on rugby league by the Vichy regime
in France. In 1944, Toulouse reached the Semi-Final of the French Cup in rugby union. In the mean time the Arnauné stadium was confiscated by the State like most of the assets of the French Federation of rugby league. Following liberation by the Allies and the restoration of the French Championship, the club was on the losing side twice when they met Carcassonne
in the finals for the 1944-45 and 1945-46 competitions. After a decade away from the top, another strong team emerged that included Pierre Lacaze and Georges Aillères.
In 1995, Toulouse Olympique changed their name to Spacers de Toulouse (or Toulouse Spacers) and kept this until 2002. In 2000, the club won the championship. Toulouse's ambition to join the European Super League
grew but in 2003, their application was rejected by the Rugby Football League
in favour of Union Treiziste Catalane.
In 2005 Olympique became the first French club ever to reach the semi-finals of the Rugby League Challenge Cup
, when they defeated European Super League
side Widnes Vikings
40-24. They went on to lose 56-18 to world champions
Leeds Rhinos
in the semi-final at the Galpharm Stadium
, Huddersfield
.
Toulouse Olympique XIII's main objective is to be accepted into Super League
. In 2006, the Rugby Football League
decided to introduce franchising for the 2009 Super League season with the number of clubs being increased from 12 to 14. Toulouse were one of the applicants, but failed to win a licence, losing out to the 12 existing Super League clubs, Salford City Reds
and the Crusaders. After the announcement however, the Rugby Football League invited the French Rugby League Federation to nominate a team to enter the second tier Co-operative Championship (previously National League One) for the 2009 season
.
Toulouse Olympique will apply in the next round of franchising to be accepted in Super League in 2012.
In its first season in Championship, in 2009, the TO suffered a bad start with a lack of any real pre-season game (while other Championship sides had friendlies and Northern Rail Cup games). In its first match of the Championship, the TO team, largely revamped relative to the previous year suffered a massive defeat in Widnes 70-0. The rest of the season showed however great capacity in this new team who at some point took the 4th place in the league. However the loss of their play maker Nathan Wynn for several weeks in the defeat against Featherstone at home in June marked the beginning of a series of defeat which in the end prevented the team to reach its goal to make the playoff in their first year. The team finished 10th out of 11 teams in their first season.
At the start of the 2010 season, the club has made significant additions to the team with two players coming from Super League clubs (Vincent Duport
and Simon Worrall
) and three good French players from Elite 1 sides (Carlos Mendes Varela
, Romain Mencarini
, Yoan Tisseyre
). The TO will also benefit from an agreement with the Catalans Dragons to register 3 dual players from the Super League team. To qualify for a place in Super League, the club needs to be in the Grand Final in 2012. The club will therefore be looking into finishing in one of the two top spots which give the highest chance to reach the Grand Final in the playoffs.
Lilian Albert Johan Barthau Damian Couturier Nicolas Delgal David Delpoux Nicolas Faure
Yohann Gigord Jerome Gout
Sylvain Houles
Anthony Maria Mathieu Mercier Cyril Moliner Andrei Olari Bruno Ormeno
Antoine Reveillon Olivier Santignan Yohann Tisseyre Remi Vignau
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
professional rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
team from Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
, in the southwest of France. They were founded on 22 October, in 1937 two years after the founding of the French Rugby League Federation. Between 1995 and 2002 the club were known as Spacers de Toulouse, due to links with the local aerospace
Aerospace
Aerospace comprises the atmosphere of Earth and surrounding space. Typically the term is used to refer to the industry that researches, designs, manufactures, operates, and maintains vehicles moving through air and space...
industry. They currently play in the Co-operative Championship, the second tier competition below the European Super League
Super League
Super League is the top-level professional rugby league football club competition in Europe. As a result of sponsorship from engage Mutual Assurance the competition is currently officially known as the engage Super League. The League features fourteen teams: thirteen from England and one from...
, having joined in time for the 2009 season. This followed being denied a Super League
Super League
Super League is the top-level professional rugby league football club competition in Europe. As a result of sponsorship from engage Mutual Assurance the competition is currently officially known as the engage Super League. The League features fourteen teams: thirteen from England and one from...
licence.
The club has played in six Lord Derby Cup
Lord Derby Cup
The Lord Derby Cup , also known as French Rugby à XIII Cup, is the premier knock-out competition for the sport of rugby league football in France. It is open to all French rugby league clubs....
finals, but has never won the competition, they have however been champions of France
French rugby league championship
The French rugby league championship has been the major rugby league tournament for semi-professional and professional clubs in France and Monaco since the sport was introduced to the country in the thirties....
on four occasions, as well as runners-up in five years.
History
In March 1937, the Fédération Française de Rugby à XIIIFédération Française de Rugby à XIII
The French Rugby League Federation is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in France. The Federation was formed during 1934 and since then has organized and governed the French rugby league championship, the Lord Derby Cup and all of the clubs that are contained within those...
decided to establish rugby league in Toulouse, they bought the Arnauné stadium (Stade des Minimes) and formed Toulouse Olympique.
The first match Toulouse played was on 24 October 1937 against Albi. In 1938, Toulouse Olympique merged with another club in the city, Galia Club Toulousain. In 1939, TO reached for the first time the Cup final in France. During the war years, the club opted (like other rugby league clubs in France) to play rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
, following the ban on rugby league by the Vichy regime
Vichy France
Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
in France. In 1944, Toulouse reached the Semi-Final of the French Cup in rugby union. In the mean time the Arnauné stadium was confiscated by the State like most of the assets of the French Federation of rugby league. Following liberation by the Allies and the restoration of the French Championship, the club was on the losing side twice when they met Carcassonne
AS Carcassonne
AS Carcassonne are a professional rugby league football club based in Carcassonne in the south of France. They play in the French rugby league championship and are one of the most successful clubs in French rugby league, having won a total of ten French Championship titles and eleven Lord Derby Cups...
in the finals for the 1944-45 and 1945-46 competitions. After a decade away from the top, another strong team emerged that included Pierre Lacaze and Georges Aillères.
In 1995, Toulouse Olympique changed their name to Spacers de Toulouse (or Toulouse Spacers) and kept this until 2002. In 2000, the club won the championship. Toulouse's ambition to join the European Super League
Super League
Super League is the top-level professional rugby league football club competition in Europe. As a result of sponsorship from engage Mutual Assurance the competition is currently officially known as the engage Super League. The League features fourteen teams: thirteen from England and one from...
grew but in 2003, their application was rejected by the Rugby Football League
Rugby Football League
The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league football in England. Based at Red Hall in Leeds, it administers the England national rugby league team, the Challenge Cup, Super League and the Rugby League Championships...
in favour of Union Treiziste Catalane.
In 2005 Olympique became the first French club ever to reach the semi-finals of the Rugby League Challenge Cup
Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup is a knockout cup competition for rugby league clubs organised by the Rugby Football League. Originally it was contested only by British teams but in recent years has been expanded to allow teams from France and Russia to take part....
, when they defeated European Super League
Super League
Super League is the top-level professional rugby league football club competition in Europe. As a result of sponsorship from engage Mutual Assurance the competition is currently officially known as the engage Super League. The League features fourteen teams: thirteen from England and one from...
side Widnes Vikings
Widnes Vikings
Widnes Vikings RLFC are an English professional rugby league club based in Widnes, Cheshire. They currently play in the Engage Super League, the top tier of European rugby league, after being awarded a license to compete in the top-flight Super League from 2012 onward...
40-24. They went on to lose 56-18 to world champions
World Club Challenge
The World Club Challenge is an annual rugby league football match held between the champions of the Australasian National Rugby League and the European Super League competitions to determine the world's best rugby league club...
Leeds Rhinos
Leeds Rhinos
Leeds Rhinos is an English professional rugby league football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire. The club won the 2011 Super League and became the most successful club in the Super League era, beating St Helens 32-16 on 8th October 2011. Formed in 1890, Leeds competes in Europe's Super League...
in the semi-final at the Galpharm Stadium
Galpharm Stadium
The Galpharm Stadium, formerly the Alfred McAlpine Stadium, is a multi-use sports in Huddersfield in West Yorkshire, England. Since 1994, it has been the home ground of Huddersfield Town and Super League side, Huddersfield Giants.-The Stadium:...
, Huddersfield
Huddersfield
Huddersfield is a large market town within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England, situated halfway between Leeds and Manchester. It lies north of London, and south of Bradford, the nearest city....
.
Recent seasons summaries
| Year of Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Position | P | R | M | F | W | Challenge Cup | Lord Derby Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 Championship | 20 | 4 | 0 | 16 | 10/11 | R3 | - | |||||
| 2010 Championship | 20 | 8 | 0 | 12 | 8/11 | R4 | - | |||||
| 2009 Championship | 20 | 9 | 0 | 11 | 10/11 | R3 | - | |||||
| 2008 Elite One Elite One Championship The Elite One Championship is the top tier French professional domestic rugby league competition.... |
20 | 8 | 0 | 12 | 7/11 | R4 | QF | |||||
| 2007 Elite One Elite One Championship The Elite One Championship is the top tier French professional domestic rugby league competition.... |
20 | 15 | 1 | 4 | 2/11 | |
R3 | Round of 16 | ||||
| 2006 Elite One Elite One Championship The Elite One Championship is the top tier French professional domestic rugby league competition.... |
20 | 16 | 0 | 4 | 2/12 | |
|
R4 | SF | |||
| 2005 Elite One Elite One Championship The Elite One Championship is the top tier French professional domestic rugby league competition.... |
|18 | 15 | 0 | 3 | 2/10 | |
SF | SF | ||||
| 2004 Elite One Elite One Championship The Elite One Championship is the top tier French professional domestic rugby league competition.... |
|18 | 12 | 0 | 6 | 3/10 | QF |
2009 onwards
Super League
Super League is the top-level professional rugby league football club competition in Europe. As a result of sponsorship from engage Mutual Assurance the competition is currently officially known as the engage Super League. The League features fourteen teams: thirteen from England and one from...
. In 2006, the Rugby Football League
Rugby Football League
The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league football in England. Based at Red Hall in Leeds, it administers the England national rugby league team, the Challenge Cup, Super League and the Rugby League Championships...
decided to introduce franchising for the 2009 Super League season with the number of clubs being increased from 12 to 14. Toulouse were one of the applicants, but failed to win a licence, losing out to the 12 existing Super League clubs, Salford City Reds
Salford City Reds
Salford City Reds are an English rugby league club based in Salford, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1873, they currently play in the Super League. They have won six Rugby Football League Championships and one Challenge Cup...
and the Crusaders. After the announcement however, the Rugby Football League invited the French Rugby League Federation to nominate a team to enter the second tier Co-operative Championship (previously National League One) for the 2009 season
Toulouse Olympique 2009
2009 was the first year of participation to the Championship for the Toulouse Olympique rugby league club. Toulouse was allowed special dispensation to field five overseas players in their first season. The new Toulouse team was composed of 9 full time players, 13 part-time players and 10 members...
.
Toulouse Olympique will apply in the next round of franchising to be accepted in Super League in 2012.
In its first season in Championship, in 2009, the TO suffered a bad start with a lack of any real pre-season game (while other Championship sides had friendlies and Northern Rail Cup games). In its first match of the Championship, the TO team, largely revamped relative to the previous year suffered a massive defeat in Widnes 70-0. The rest of the season showed however great capacity in this new team who at some point took the 4th place in the league. However the loss of their play maker Nathan Wynn for several weeks in the defeat against Featherstone at home in June marked the beginning of a series of defeat which in the end prevented the team to reach its goal to make the playoff in their first year. The team finished 10th out of 11 teams in their first season.
At the start of the 2010 season, the club has made significant additions to the team with two players coming from Super League clubs (Vincent Duport
Vincent Duport
Vincent Duport is a French professional rugby league footballer for Catalans Dragons in Super League. He was previously playing for Toulouse Olympique in the Co-operative Championship...
and Simon Worrall
Simon Worrall
Simon Worrall is an English rugby league footballer for Toulouse Olympique in the Co-operative Championship he previsouly played for Leeds Rhinos and rugby union for Leeds Carnegie.His usual position is second row or at loose-forward....
) and three good French players from Elite 1 sides (Carlos Mendes Varela
Carlos Mendes Varela
Carlos Mendes Varela is a Portuguese-born French professional rugby league player. Arrived in France at 12, he took the French nationality and played in 2008 for the France A team . His position is winger or centre...
, Romain Mencarini
Romain Mencarini
Romain Mencarini is a rugby league player of the Toulouse Olympique in Championship. He plays prop....
, Yoan Tisseyre
Yoan Tisseyre
Yoan Tisseyre, is a rugby league player who plays for Toulouse Olympique and has represented France. He plays second row.-Playing career:Previously at the French club Lézignan Sangliers, he joined Toulouse at the end of the 2009 Championship season....
). The TO will also benefit from an agreement with the Catalans Dragons to register 3 dual players from the Super League team. To qualify for a place in Super League, the club needs to be in the Grand Final in 2012. The club will therefore be looking into finishing in one of the two top spots which give the highest chance to reach the Grand Final in the playoffs.
2011/12 Squad
2011/12 squadLilian Albert Johan Barthau Damian Couturier Nicolas Delgal David Delpoux Nicolas Faure
Nicolas Fauré
Nicolas Fauré is a rugby league player of the Toulouse Olympique in Championship. He plays prop....
Yohann Gigord Jerome Gout
Jérôme Gout
Jérôme Gout is a rugby league player of the Toulouse Olympique in Championship. He plays prop. He did not play any game during the first season of Toulouse in Championship in 2009 due to a knee injury. He is back in the playing squad for the 2010 season....
Sylvain Houles
Sylvain Houles
Sylvain Houles born in France is a rugby league player for Toulouse Olympique in the Co-operative Championship.Houles has previously played for Huddersfield, London Broncos and Wakefield Trinity Wildcats in the European Super League. He also played for Dewsbury RamsHe is a French international...
Anthony Maria Mathieu Mercier Cyril Moliner Andrei Olari Bruno Ormeno
Bruno Ormeno
Bruno Ormeno is a rugby league player of the Toulouse Olympique in Championship. He plays centre....
Antoine Reveillon Olivier Santignan Yohann Tisseyre Remi Vignau
Honours
- French ChampionshipFrench rugby league championshipThe French rugby league championship has been the major rugby league tournament for semi-professional and professional clubs in France and Monaco since the sport was introduced to the country in the thirties....
: 1965, 1973, 1975, 2000 (4 times)