RC Strasbourg

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For the Championnat de France Amateurs 2 club, see Vauban Strasbourg.

RC Strasbourg

Full name

Racing Club de Strasbourg

Nickname(s)

Racing

Founded

1906

Ground

Stade de la Meinau
12, rue de l'Extenwoerth
67100 Strasbourg 4

Capacity

29,230

Chairman

Philippe Ginestet

Manager

Jean-Pierre Papin

League

Ligue 2

2005-2006

Ligue 1, 19th (relegated)





Home colours





Away colours

Racing Club de Strasbourg, commonly known as RC Strasbourg, is a French football team, playing in the city of Strasbourg.

1 History
2 Birth of "Racing"
3 The first trophy
4 The first championship
5 Current squad
6 Team B
- 6.1 Out on loan
7 Honours
- 7.1 League
- 7.2 Cups
8 Records
9 Managers since 1970
10 Distinguished former players
11 External references

[edit] History

In 1906, a group of youngsters in the Neudorf neighborhood of Straßburg bought their first leather football. With the help of their primary-school teacher, they formed a team called Fußball Club Neudorf.

The meetings took place at the Polygon in Elsass. In 1914, FC Neudorf rented the Haemmerle garden for 300 deutschmarks a year, an area that would later become the Stade de la Meinau.

[edit] Birth of "Racing"

After the First World War, when Alsace came under French control, FC Neudorf was renamed RC Strasbourg Neudorf, then eventually Racing Club de Strasbourg. The first stands, made out of wood, were built in 1921. Within five years, Racing had won their first title: Champions of Alsace.

On June 10, 1933, at the "restaurant de la Bourse", Racing made the big jump to the professional ranks after a General Assembly that confirmed the addition of Racing. Several months later, they reached Division 1 for the first time, after two two-legged matches, firstly against Mulhouse (0-0 and 3-1), and then against Saint-Etienne (2-0 and 4-4).

Racing immediately climbed to the top of the table, finishing 2nd in '34/'35, 3rd in '35/'36, 6th in '36/'37, and 5th in '37/'38. After World War II, the Alsatian club remained in the first division until the end of the '48/'49 season, when it was condemned to relegation; however, a massive stroke of luck occurred for Racing. Neighbours SR Colmar liquidated their professional team, and Racing was allowed to stay in the first division after all.

[edit] The first trophy

The grace period was only temporary, however. After the '51/'52 season, the Meinau club was relegated to Division 2 after the worst season in club history. Nevertheless, Racing defeated US Valenciennes 3-0 in the French Cup final to claim their first major trophy.

The next few years passed without glory. Other than another French Cup victory in 1971, the seasons were spent alternating between the first and second divisions. Mediocrity reigned.

[edit] The first championship

At the end of the 1976/77 season, Racing was promoted to Ligue 1 once again. The promoted team ended the year in third place and only got stronger. In '78/'79, the Alsatians finished first in the Division 1 and thus were Champions of France for the first and so far only time in their history.

That year they amassed 56 points, scored 63 goals, and conceded 28. They had the best defence in the league and boasted an undefeated record at home. Racing was at the summit of French football, and qualified for the quarter-finals of the European Champions Cup the next season, only to be eliminated by Ajax Amsterdam.

The success did not last, and Racing plunged into crisis. The 1980s was a difficult time, and the "Blues" found themselves back in Division 2 in 1986.

After defeating Rennes in 1991 by a score of 4-1, Strasbourg returned to the top flight in 1992. In 1995, a place in the final of the French Cup (where they lost 1-0) allowed Racing to have a taste of big matches and for the European Cup. They reached the last sixteen, where they were eliminated by Italian giants AC Milan.

Two years later, they spent the season in and around the top of the table, before finishing in 9th place. That same year, the IMG group was chosen by the municipality to change the fate of the club and the players trained by the captain of the French champions in 1979, Jacky Duguépéroux, would write a new page in the history of Racing by taking the League Cup against Bordeaux.

A good run in the UEFA Cup would follow. After qualifications against Glasgow Rangers and Liverpool, in the first round of the knockout stage, Racing beat Inter Milan 2-0 at Meinau, but fell 3-0 in the second leg.

Since all the members of the club are rebuilding a future that all of Alsace hopes for, gorged with emotions to engrave again and again images of celebration in the heart of its supporters, like they saw on May 25, 2001, after the victory in the final of the French Cup against Amiens.

After a season in "purgatory" in 2001/2002, Racing re-took its place among the football elite in the Hexagon by finishing runners-up in Ligue 2.

The 2002/2003 season, in which Racing would come to finish in an encouraging 13th place, would be marked by the withdrawal of the IMG group and the arrival of a new and ambitious group led by Egon Gindorf, who succeeded Patrick Proisy as president, and by Marc Keller, named General Director.

Placed under the title "recapture", the 2003/2004 season needed to allow Racing to stabilize the club amongst the national elite and to win the favor of the Alsatian public once again.

In 2005, Racing won their second domestic trophy in four years when they beat Caen 2-1 in the final of the League Cup, a feat which provided them with a passport to the 2005/6 UEFA Cup.

Following the 2005-2006 season, Racing were relegated into the Second Division. Jean-Pierre Papin took over from Jacky Duguépéroux, signing a two-year deal to coach the club as they look to return to the top flight. [1]

[edit] Current squad

As of February 19, 2007

No.	Position	Player
1	GK	Nicolas Puydebois
2	DF	Yves Deroff
3	DF	Jean-Christophe Devaux
4	DF	Eugène Ekobo
5	DF	Habib Bellaïd
6	MF	Ahmed Kantari
8	MF	Renaud Cohade
9	FW	Hervé Tum
10	MF	Yacine Abdessadki (c)
11	MF	Ali Sami Yachir
12	MF	Edgar Loué
14	MF	Romain Gasmi
15	FW	Ali Mathlouthi
16	GK	Stéphane Cassard
17	FW	João Paulo Daniel (on loan from Young Boys)

No.	Position	Player
18	MF	Pascal Johansen
19	MF	Guillaume Lacour
20	DF	Ahmed Abou Moslem
21	DF	Jeff Strasser
22	MF	Morgan Schneiderlin
23	FW	Kevin Gameiro
24	FW	Eric Mouloungui
25	MF	Leyti N'Diaye (on loan from Marseille)
26	DF	Jean-Christophe Vergerolle
27	FW	David Papys M'Bodji (on loan from Créteil)
28	MF	Emil Gargorov
29	MF	Pascal Camadini
30	GK	Regis Gurtner
33	MF	Quentin Othon

[edit] Team B

No.		Position	Player
		MF	Antoine Picot

[edit] Out on loan

No.	Position	Player
––	MF	Abd Rabo Hosni (on loan to Ismaily)
––	DF	Yann Schneider (on loan to Siegen)
––	MF	Poitier Alcino
––	MF	Gaetan Krebs (on loan to Siegen)

No.	Position	Player
––	FW	Rudy Carlier (on loan to Clermont)
––	FW	Haykel Guemamdia (on loan to Al-Ahli)
––	FW	Jérémy Perbet (on loan to Charleroi)
—	FW	Dimitar Rangelov (on loan to Erzgebirge Aue)