FC Lausanne–Sport (also referred to as LS) is a Swiss football club based in Lausanne in the canton of Vaud. Founded in 1896, Lausanne Sport currently plays in the Swiss Super League, the highest tier of football in the country, and hosts games at the Stade de la Tuilière. The team has won seven league titles and the Swiss Cup nine times.
History
Chart of FC Lausanne-Sport table positions in the Swiss football league system
The club was founded in 1896 under the name of Montriond Lausanne. However, the Lausanne Football and Cricket Club was established in 1860, believed to be the oldest football club on the European continent by some historians. The club took the name Lausanne-Sports FC in 1920 after the football section merged with the Club Hygiénique de Lausanne, a physical education club. The club plays at the newly built Stade de la Tuilière. Previously Lausanne Sport had played at the Stade Olympique de la Pontaise, a 15,850 all-seater stadium used for the 1954 FIFA World Cup. They played in Swiss First Division between 1906 and 1931, 1932–2002, 2011-2014, 2016-2018 and currently from 2020.
The end of the 1950s and the whole of the 1960s were among the club's finest times. LS won the Swiss Cup twice (1962 and 1964), lost an additional Swiss Cup final to Basel by forfeit, won the Swiss championship (1965) and was runner-up four times (1961, 1962, 1963), as well as in 1969. The year 1965 was the year of the 7th and last Swiss championship title. It was probably the most successful, earning its protagonists the nickname of "Lords of the Night", a reference to some enchanting evenings. Since the advent of the floodlights in the new stadium, the matches have mainly taken place in the evenings which was at the time a unique feature.
After the 2001–02 season, Lausanne-Sports were relegated because the club did not obtain a first level license for the 2002–03 season. Following the 2002–03 season in the second division, Lausanne-Sports FC were again relegated due to bankruptcy. They were reformed as FC Lausanne-Sport for the 2003–04 season and had to begin play at the fourth tier. The team was promoted in consecutive seasons from the fourth division after the 2003–04 season and the third division after the 2004–05 season. After an additional six years in the second tier of Swiss football, the club was promoted to the Super League for the 2011–12 season for a three season stay before being relegated in 2014. After two seasons in the second tier the team was promoted for a two season stay in the top division in 2016 and survived relegation in their first season before being relegated back to the second tier again in 2018. Now somewhat of a yo-yo club the team were promoted to the top tier again in 2020.
Lausanne-Sport qualified for the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League after they reached the 2010 Swiss Cup final against Champions League-qualified Basel. In the 2010–11 Europa League, while still playing in the second tier Challenge League, they performed a shock getting to the group stages beating favourites Lokomotiv Moscow on the way.
On 13 November 2017, the club was acquired by Ineos, a Swiss-based British petrochemicals company owned by Jim Ratcliffe, the nation's wealthiest person.[3] The first transfer under the new ownership was that of Enzo Fernández, son of Zinedine Zidane.[4] However, the season ended with relegation. Ratcliffe's brother Bob became club president in March 2019.[5] The club won promotion back to the top flight as champions of the 2019–20 Swiss Challenge League.[6]
Billy Hunter (1922–23)
Jimmy Hogan (1925)
Robert Pache (1931–32)
Alwin Riemke (1934–35)
Friedrich Kerr (1939)
Béla Volentik (1950–51)
Bram Appel (1954–55)
Jean Luciano (1962–64)
Miroslav Blažević (1976–79)
Péter Pázmándy (1982–84)
Radu Nunweiller (1984–87)
Radu Nunweiller and 
Pablo Iglesias (2002–03)
Gabriel Calderón (1 January 2003 – 30 June 2003)
Francesco Gabriele (1 July 2014 – 9 October 2014)
Ilija Borenović (10 June 2021 - 4 February 2022)[11]
