Everything you need to know: RC Strasbourg Alsace
THE STORY
The origins of the club go back to the Strasbourg district of Neudorf in 1906, when the city was part of the German Empire. Part of the territory of Alsace-Lorraine, it was annexed by Germany in 1871 following its victory in the Franco-Prussian War and did not return to France until after the First World War.
It was then, in 1919, that the club known as FC Neudorf became RC Strasbourg Neudorf then Racing Club de Strasbourg. Three-time Alsace champion in the 1920s, the club began to broaden its horizons. In 1933 they joined the National Second Division and a year later they were promoted to the nascent First Division. Strasbourg finished second and then third in their first two top-level campaigns and have remained in the top flight for most of their history, despite often turbulent times.
They emerged from German occupation during World War II and finished third in the championship in 1947, a year in which they also reached their second Coupe de France final, losing to Lille. In 1949, they finished second from the bottom but were spared relegation because their Alsatian neighbors SR Colmar – who finished higher in the ranking – gave up their professional status.
Since then and until 1986, Strasbourg suffered five relegations but each time returned to the top flight at the first attempt. They won their first major honor in 1951, beating US Valenciennes 3-0 in the Coupe de France final. In 1966, they won the trophy again by beating FC Nantes in the final.
Champions
However, the club rarely finished in the upper echelons of the league and were relegated twice in the 1970s. Demoted in 1976, they returned to the top flight in 1977 and finished third in their first season. The 1978-79 campaign will go down in history as Racing won the league for the first and so far the only time in its history. Coached by former player Gilbert Gress, a team made up of French international goalkeeper Dominique Dropsy, striker Albert Gemmrich, Raymond Domenech and Arsène Wenger finished with two points ahead of Nantes and AS Saint-Etienne, the two powers at the time.
The golden age will be short-lived. In 1979-80, Strasbourg beat Start of Norway and the Czechs of Dukla Prague before losing to Ajax in the quarter-finals of the European Cup. Despite the signing of prolific Argentine striker Carlos Bianchi from Paris Saint-Germain, Racing fell to fifth and then seventh in the following two campaigns. They did not finish as high in the next four decades.
Cup success and European races
The 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s were marked by regular runs in the Cup, Strasbourg losing the final of the Coupe de France against PSG in 1995 then winning the Coupe de la Ligue in 1997 by beating the Girondins de Bordeaux on penalties. to goal. In 2001, they won the Coupe de France for the third time, although they needed a penalty shootout to defeat third Amiens SC in the final. There was another Coupe de la Ligue victory in 2005, when SM Caen were defeated in the final at the Stade de France.
These successes opened the door to European races. In 1997-98, they beat Rangers and Liverpool en route to the UEFA Cup third round, where they were narrowly beaten by future tournament winners, Brazilian superstar Ronaldo’s Internazionale. They reached the UEFA Cup in the round of 16 in 2005-06 before losing to Basel.
Liquidation and recovery of divisions
Difficult times set in. Strasbourg is relegated that season. They made an immediate return to Ligue 1 but fell back on first request in 2007-08 despite the emergence of a young talent called Kévin Gameiro, losing their last 11 league games. Two years later, in 2010, they moved up to level three for the first time in their history. In 2011, they were forced into liquidation and had to move to the fifth regional level.
Former player Marc Keller took over the club’s presidency in 2012 with the support of municipal and regional authorities. Strasbourg began the long ascent to the top, winning promotion to the third tier of the National Championship in 2013 and surviving there only in 2014 due to the financial difficulties of the clubs above them. They returned to Ligue 2 in 2016 and moved directly to Ligue 1 in 2017. In 2019, they capped their rise to the highest level of French football by winning the Coupe de la Ligue for the third time, beating EA Guingamp on penalties in the final in Lille.
Strasbourg beats Guingamp to win the 2019 League Cup final
COLORS AND CREST OF THE CLUB
‘Jetz geht’s los’
Strasbourg people wear blue shirts, white shorts and blue socks, while their shirt on the outside is white. The club badge includes a red stripe and features the cathedral which is one of the main symbols of the city of Strasbourg. It also features a stork, one of the symbols of Alsace. Their 2020-21 shirts also feature the phrase Jetzt geht’s los, a motto of encouragement in the local Alsatian dialect, alongside a stork carrying the Coupe de France trophy, marking 70 years since they first won this piece of silverware.
CLUB ICNS
Gilbert gress
Gress was born in Strasbourg and began his playing career with his hometown team, spending seven years there helping them win the Coupe de France in 1966. After a stint in West Germany with VfB Stuttgart , he won two league titles and a Coupe de France with Olympique de Marseille before returning for two years from 1973 to 1975. He returned again as a coach in 1977, leading the team to promotion to the elite, then leading them to their one and only league title in 1979. He later had two more. spells like trainer.
Dominique dropsy
The French international goalkeeper played for the club for more than a decade, playing in the team that won the championship in 1979. He also played for his country in the 1978 World Cup and went on to win two titles of champion in Bordeaux. Dropsy died in 2015 at the age of only 63.
Jacky Duguépéroux
As a player, Duguépéroux was a defender or midfielder who spent six years at Strasbourg, culminating in his winning campaign in 1979. He went on to make four stints as a coach, leading them twice to victories Coupe de la Ligue finals and also leading them to a Coupe de France final in 1995.
Frank Leboeuf
A class defender, Leboeuf played for the club from 1991 to 1996, participating in their journey to the 1995 Coupe de France final. He was sold to Chelsea and continued to play in London and in the squad. France who won the World Cup at home in 1998.
René Hauss
Originally from Alsace, Hauss holds the record for the greatest number of appearances in a Strasbourg jersey with more than 500. Right-back, he spent his entire playing career at the club from 1949 to 1967 and played in the winning teams of the Coupe de France of 1951 and 1966, serving as captain in the latter. He then spent a season as a coach before winning three Belgian titles at the head of Standard de Li.ège. Hauss died in December 2010 at the age of 82.
Oskar Rohr
The club’s top scorer with 118 goals, Rohr was a German international who played for Bayern Munich before moving to France in 1934 and spending five years in Strasbourg. In 1937 he scored in the Coupe de France final defeat against Sochaux and was the league’s top scorer with 30 goals in 30 games. He then played for FC Sète before being sent to a concentration camp and ending up on the Eastern Front during World War II. He survived and eventually died at the age of 76 in 1988.
HONORS
French Champion: 1979
Winners of the Coupe de France: 1951, 1966, 2001
League Cup winners: 1997, 2005, 2019
EUROPEAN RACES
European Cup quarter-finalists: 1979-80
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup quarter-finalists: 1964-65
UEFA Cup Last 16: 1978-79, 1997-98, 2005-06
STADIUM: Meinau stadium
The club started playing on the pitch in 1914, when it was known as Jardin Haemmerlé, but it didn’t really start to take shape until after WWI. Championship, when it had taken its modern form. A record crowd of 44,766 watched West Germany play Portugal at Euro 84, but today capacity is reduced to 26,109. However, plans are in place to renovate the stadium. and increase its capacity to 32,000 by 2025.
DID YOU KNOW?
The atmosphere at the Meinau stadium is known as one of the best in France but it is reinforced by a tradition which has been carried over to the other side of the border in Germany. When Strasbourg scores a goal, the stadium announcer gives the player’s first name and the supporters add the second. The announcer thanks them. His “Thank you” meet a giant “You’re welcome” (“You are welcome”) by the fans in unison. Stadium speaker Jean-Luc Filser explained in a 2017 interview with the magazine So walk that he was inspired by watching a Bayern Munich game and enjoying the way the fans and the stadium speaker interacted.
>> CLUB PROFILE: RC Strasbourg Alsace