Lille OSC
| File:LOSC Lille Crest 2012.png | ||||
| Full name | Lille Olympique Sporting Club | |||
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| Nickname(s) | Les Dogues (The Mastiffs) | |||
| Short name | LOSC | |||
| Founded | 23 September 1944 | |||
| Ground | Grand Stade Lille Métropole, Villeneuve-d'Ascq | |||
| Capacity | 50,186 | |||
| Chairman | Michel Seydoux | |||
| Manager | Rudi Garcia | |||
| League | Ligue 1 | |||
| 2011–12 | Ligue 1, 3rd | |||
| Website | http://www.losc.fr/ | |||
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LOSC Lille (Lille Olympique Sporting Club, French pronunciation: [lil ɔlɛ̃pik]; commonly referred to as Lille OSC or simply Lille) 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 previously played its home matches at the Stade Lille-Metropole in nearby Villeneuve-d'Ascq. In 2012, the club moved into its new facility, the Grand Stade Lille Métropole. The team is managed by former Lille player Rudi Garcia and captained by French international Rio Mavuba.
Lille was founded as a result of a merger between Olympique Lillois and SC Fives. Both clubs were founding members of the French Division 1 and Lillois was the league's inaugural champions. Under the Lille emblem, the club has won three league titles in 1946, 1954, and 2011 and six Coupe de France titles, which is tied for fourth-best among clubs. Lille and Red Star FC are the only French clubs in the competition's history to win the Coupe de France in three consecutive seasons. Lille's most successful period was the decade from 1946 to 1956 when the team was led by managers George Berry and André Cheuva.[1][2]
Lille have a long-standing rivalry with its neighbours RC Lens. The two clubs regularly contest the Derby du Nord. Lille is presided over by Michel Seydoux, a French businessman and movie producer. Seydoux initially purchased shares of the club in January 2002 and, subsequently, gained majority control two years later.
History
Before the Second World War, the city of Lille had two clubs in the First Division: The Olympique Lillois, first professional Champion of France in 1933, and the Sporting Club Fivois. Weakened by the conflict, the two clubs decided to merge after the Liberation and gave birth to the LOSC (Lille Olympique Sporting Club) in the autumn 1944.
The LOSC was a solid team all over the park and featured a strong British style and immediately imposed itself among the elite of French football. In ten years, Lille won two league titles and reached second place in the French Championship for four consecutive seasons. Its domination was even more striking in the Coupe de France: five wins in seven finals (including five successive finals!). We can also add to this list, a final of the Latin Cup, the forerunner of the European Cup. Trained by André Cheuva, President Louis Henno's team comprised many French internationals such as Jean Baratte and René Bihel, two exceptional strikers, and Joseph Jadrejak, François Bourbotte, Jules Bigot, Roger Carré, Bolek Tempowski, Albert Dubreucq, Jean Lechantre, André Strappe, Jean Vincent.
Ironically, the LOSC was relegated for the first time in 1956 as the first ever final of the European Cup took place in Paris. From then on, the big club of the immediate post-war period became a mid-table club, and fighting for titles was replaced by the struggle to survive. In the late 1960s, after a long period of anonymity, and weighed down by a lack of facilities and resources, the glorious LOSC abandoned its professional status. It was feared that the club might disappear. However, some young leaders, such as Max Pommerolle, came and gave new impetus to the club. Nevertheless, the results remained erratic and the only titles that ignited the fans' passions were won in the Second Division.
In July 1980, the LOSC was the first French Club to opt for the status of a Mixed Economy Company, of which the City of Lille became the majority shareholder. A by-product of ensuring stability and durability was that this system did not allow an ambitious sports policy. The teams of Presidents Amyot, Deschot and Dewailly all struggled to compete with the top teams in the country. Jacques Amyot’s resignation in 1990 led to three more difficult years for the club which compromised its very existence. It took Bernard Lecomte’s arrival in 1993 to set the club finances on the road to recovery. After a final relegation in 1997, the team trained by Bosnian coach Vahid Halilhodžić was soon promoted back to the elite, in the same year that French Football League was privatised. In just its first season back in the top flight 2000–01 French Division 1, the LOSC qualified for Europe for the first time in the club’s history, booking its place in the 2000–01 Champions League. On the back of the club’s new status, the LOSC entered into a decisive new era under the guidance of chairman and Chief executive officer Michel Seydoux and coach Claude Puel. The club left the historical Stade Grimonprez-Jooris to join the Stadium Lille Métropole and became a regular on the European scene. Amongst its most emphatic results was the 1–0 victory over Manchester United at the Stade de France in 2005, the 2–0 triumph over Milan in San Siro in 2006 and the 1–0 home win over Liverpool in 2010. A steady development off the pitch (inauguration of the Domaine de Luchin training complex in 2007, opening of the Grand Stade in 2012), coupled with the sporting progression under the expert hand of coach Rudi Garcia, took the LOSC back to the summit of the French game with the League and Cup double in 2011 (56 years after the club’s last trophy). In 2012, the LOSC confirmed its place at the top table of the domestic game with another qualification for Europe’s most prestigious club competition, the Champions League in 2012–13.
Stadium
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| Location | Villeneuve d'Ascq |
|---|---|
| Owner | Eiffage (until 2043) |
| Operator | Eiffage |
| Capacity | 50,186 |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | 2009 |
| Opened | 17 August 2012 |
| Construction cost | € 282 million (Hotel, Restaurant cost € 42 million, Total complex cost € 324 million) |
| Architect | Pierre Ferret[3] |
| Tenants | |
| Lille OSC (2012–present) | |
Before the Grand Stade
In 1975, LOSC began playing at the Stade Grimonprez-Jooris, a 21,128-seat facility. When the club began to play European Competitions, the arena did not match UEFA standards, prompting the club to play its UEFA Champions League games at the Stade Félix-Bollaert, home of rival RC Lens, in 2001. Plans were soon made to build a new stadium which would match UEFA demands, but the project was postponed and finally cancelled due to struggle with preservationists who stated that the location chosen for the new stadium was too close from the 17th Century Citadel.
The club, which was left without a place to play, moved to the Stadium Nord which was smaller than Grimonprez-Jooris (18,154 seats) and also did not fulfill UEFA demands. This situation forced the team, who succeeded to qualify for 2005-06 UEFA Champions League, to play at the Stade de France for its European matches. This solution was abandoned after two young LOSC fans lost their life when they got hit by a coming train after a game against Olympique Lyonnais.
New administration, new project
While LOSC was struggling with its stadium problems, the administrative landscape of the Lille area changed. The city was now included in a vast association with its enclosed neighbors, forming the Urban Community of Lille Métropole. The new administration, now in charge of the whole area, decided to launch a new stadium project. On 5 December 2006, an industrial bid for a 50,000-seat multi-purpose stadium, able to receive sport competitions, cultural shows and hold seminars, was launched.
The following January, three worldwide construction companies answered the call, each one with ambitious projects:
- Eiffage: a 50,000-seat capacity multi-purpose stadium, Meeting HQE standards with a retractable roof. The stadium has also a particularity: it can become a fully functionnal arena of 30,000 seats in only one hour: the Boite à spectacle.
- Bouygues: The project proposed by the company was highly effective in energy saving. The structure was geothermic and most of its power was produced by Renewable energy. The stadium would have a 50,127-seat capacity.
- Vinci: The project proposed by Vinci was the largest of the competition with a 50,921-seat capacity and a retractable roof. It would have been powered by 8000 m² of Solar panels
On February 2008, Eiffage was selected during a general meeting to build the stadium. The contract was officially signed between the two parties on October of the same year. Eiffage was given 45 months to finish the project
Construction of the stadium
On 10 July 2009, Eiffage received the building permit and the authorization to start the preparatory works for the construction at the Borne de l'Espoir location in Villeneuve-d'Ascq. In December 2009, the final two cities of the Lille Métropole who had yet to sign the building permit joined the project and gave their authorization. In February 2010, France officially became a candidate to organize the UEFA Euro 2016. The Grand Stade become the symbol of the candidature, boosting its public support.[4] In March 2010, construction of access infrastructure (Subway, Highway, parking lots) began followed one week after by the beginning of the construction of the arena itself. On 28 May 2010, France was officially chosen to organize the Euro 2016. Martine Aubry, who succeeded to Pierre Mauroy at the head of LCMU and big supporter of LOSC and the Grand Stade, expressed her wish to see the Grand Stade given a prominent amount of competition for the upcoming competition.[5] Construction accelerated, with the first brick posed by the Eiffage CEO on September 2010. In 2011, the structure supporting the roof was laid in place and constructions of the northern stands was completed by the end of that year. In 2012, the retractable roof, conceived in one piece, was successfully put in place in one day. Despite some legal delays, the stadium was delivered on schedule during the summer of 2012, in time for the 2012-13 LOSC season. Lille played their first match at the Grand Stade Lille Métropole on 17 August in a league game against AS Nancy Lorraine in front of 45,000 supporters. The match ended 1-1.
Stadium history
- Stade Henri Jooris (1944–1974)
- Stade Grimonprez Jooris (1974–2004)
- Stade Lille-Metropole (2004–2012)
- Grand Stade Lille Métropole (2012–onward)
Players
Current squad
As of 5 February 2013.[6]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Reserve squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Notable players
Below are the notable former players who have represented Lille in league and international competition since the club's foundation in 1926. To appear in the section below, a player must have played in at least 100 official matches for the club.
For a complete list of Lille OSC players, see Category:Lille OSC players
Management and staff
- Lille Olympique Sporting Club Lille Métropole (SASP)[9]
- President: Michel Seydoux
- President Adviser: Jean-Michel Van Damme
- Deputy Director: Frédéric Paquet, Didier de Climmer
- Assistant Deputy Director: Sandrine de Castro, Sophie Kaszkowiak
- Senior club staff[9]
- Administrative Director: Julien Mordacq
- Sporting Director: Frédéric Paquet
- Financial Director: Reynald Berghe
- Communications Director: Aurélien Delespierre
- Operations Director: Didier de Climmer
- Marketing Director: Guillaume Gallo
- Coaching and medical staff[9]
- Manager: Rudi Garcia
- Recruitment Director: Jean-Luc Buisine
- Doctor: Franck Legall
- Academy Director: Jean-Michel Van Damme
Managerial history
Former coaches include Georges Heylens (1984–1989), a former Belgian international player, Jacques Santini (1989–92), who managed France between 2002 and 2004, Bruno Metsu (1992–93), who managed Senegal in the 2002 World Cup, Pierre Mankowski (1993–1994), who was formerly the assistant coach of the French national team and Vahid Halilhodžić (1998–2002), who can be credited with the club's revival in the late nineties. The current coach, Rudi Garcia, who played for Lille from 1980 to 1988, replaced Claude Puel at the beginning of the 2008 season. Puel had been with Lille since 2002. Thanks to his successes with the club, Puel had been approached by Portuguese club Porto to replace José Mourinho and league rivals Lyon to replace Alain Perrin; he finally decided to join Lyon after six seasons at the club.
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Honours
Domestic
- Ligue 1
- Ligue 2
- Coupe de France
- Coupe Gambardella
- Champions (1): 1960
- Runners-Up (2): 1955, 2000
- Coupe Charles Drago
- Runners-Up (2): 1954, 1956
Europe
- UEFA Intertoto Cup
- Winner (1): 2004
- Latin Cup
- Runners-Up (1): 1951
References
- ^ [1]
- ^ "Lille seal historic title". ESPN Soccernet. 21 May 2011. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
- ^
http://www.pierre-ferret.com/maitrise/sports/stades/01.htm#.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help); Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ http://www.lagazettedescommunes.com/4747/nord-pas-de-calais-le-grand-stade-de-lille-locomotive-de-la-candidature-a-leuro-2016/
- ^ http://www.leparisien.fr/lille-59000/euro-2016-martine-aubry-veut-huit-matches-au-grand-stade-27-09-2010-1085064.php
- ^ "Effectif Pro" (in French). Lille OSC. Retrieved 24 January 2012.
- ^ "Effectif CFA" (in French). Lille OSC. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
- ^ "OSC Lille U19". Transfermarkt.co.uk. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
- ^ a b c "LOSC Lille Métropole SASP" (in French). Lille OSC. Retrieved 31 December 2010.
- ^ "France – Trainers of First and Second Division Clubs". RSSSF. Retrieved 31 December 2010.
External links
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