Stade de Reims - History

History

Stade de Reims was founded in 1911 under the name Société Sportive du Parc Pommery under the guidance of Marquis Melchior de Polignac, a Frenchman who later went on to serve on the International Olympic Committee. The club adopted its current name on 18 June 1931. Despite the country adopting professional football in 1932, Reims remained an amateur club until 1935 after the club won the Championnat de France amateur under the leadership of Scotsman Billy Aitken. The club reached Division 1 for the first time in the 1945–46 season, the first championship following the conclusion of World War II. During the same year, the club promoted defender Robert Jonquet to the senior team and signed Roger Marche from Olympique de Charleville. Together, the two went on to become, arguably, the club's most famous players in its history.

Reims won its first Division 1 championship in 1949. Led by a talented backline of Marche, Jonquet, and Armand Penverne, as well as midfielders Albert Batteux and Michel Leblond, and an underrated striker trio of Pierre Flamion, Pierre Sinibaldi, and Pierre Bini, Reims won the league by a single point over Lille. The following season, the club won the Coupe de France defeating Racing Paris 2–1 in the final. After the season, manager Henri Roessler departed the club and longtime player Batteux took the reins. The team's subsequent rise in the sport led to the signings of Raymond Kopa and Raoul Giraudo. In 1953, Reims won its second league title winning the league by four points. That same year, the club won the Latin Cup becoming the first French football club to attained the honour. The victory was cited as a coup for France after the country finished three straight years as runner-ups in the competition. After the 1954 season, Marche left to play for the Racing team in Paris. In 1955, Reims won its third title in six seasons. The championship led to the club's qualification for the newly-created European Cup.

In the inaugural edition of the European Cup, Reims reached the final where the team was defeated 4–3 by Spanish club Real Madrid. Reims controlled the match from the outset scoring two goals in the first ten minutes. However, two first half goals by Alfredo Di Stéfano and Héctor Rial for Madrid canceled out Reims' early attacks. In the second half, Reims took the lead through Michel Hidalgo, but within minutes, the match was re-drawn courtesy of a goal from Marquitos. Rial's game-winner in the 79th minute ended Reims' hopes of winning the first edition of the European Cup. In the following season, Reims lost prominent midfielder Kopa to Madrid, but still were able to recruit French internationals Just Fontaine, Jean Vincent, Roger Piantoni, and Dominique Colonna to the team. After early struggles, the additions paid off with the club winning its third title of the decade in the 1957–58 season. The team also won the Coupe de France after beating Nîmes Olympique 3–1 in the final, thus achieving the double.

In the 1958–59 edition of the European Cup, Reims returned to the final to face, for the second time, Real Madrid. Aside from Kopa switching sides and the arrival of Fontaine, Colonna, Piantoni, and Vincent to Reims, the lineups were nearly identical to the previous meeting. However, an undeterred Madrid, who had already won the competition three times, cruised through to a victory with a convincing 2–0 win. After the season, Penverne departed the club. The team was, however, boosted by the return of Kopa who, subsequently led the team to its fifth league title in 11 seasons in 1960. Following the season, Jonquet retired from international football and left Reims for Strasbourg. He was followed by Giraudo and Leblond. The departures failed to hinder Reims' performances domestically as the team won the league in 1962. The championship capped an amazing career for Just Fontaine, who, subsequently, retired from football. In the ensuing season, which was longtime manager Albert Batteux's last, Reims finished runner-up to Monaco in the league and, the following season, shocked many by finishing 17th, which resulted in the club falling to the second division. The relegation led to the departures or retirements of many of the players who were a part of Reims' dynastic run in the 1950s; all except for Kopa who remained with Reims until 1967.

Reims returned to top-flight for the 1966–67 season after two seasons in the second division. However, the stint proved short with Reims finishing 19th. In 1970, the club returned to top-flight and many in the league for nearly a decade. Reims' best performance in the league during its nine-year stint was finishing 5th in the 1975–76 season. Reims were relegated in 1979 and didn't return to the first division of French football for 33 years. In the ensuing season in Division 2, Reims was limited financially and was forced to field a much younger team during the campaign. Despite the return of former popular player Carlos Bianchi as manager during the mid-1980s, the club failed to return to Division 1. Reims did surprise many by reaching the semi-finals of the Coupe de France in back-to-back seasons in 1987 and 1988. As the years wore on, the club's financial situation began to take a turn for the worse and, in 1991, Reims was administratively relegated to Division 3 after its failure to find a buyer to help alleviate the club's debt, which had exceeded over ₣50 million. In October 1991, the club underwent liquidation and changed its name to Stade de Reims Champagne FC. The club spent the 1991–92 season in Division 3 and were, surprisingly, declared ineligible to compete in the league ahead of its final league match in May 1992 after a judicial liquidation resulted in the stoppage of the club's activities. In the ensuing months, all aspects of the club (its records, trophies, etc.) were auctioned off.

Reims was reborn in July 1992 under the name Stade de Reims Champagne. The club began play in the Division d'Honneur and spent two seasons in the league before earning promotion to the Championnat National. Reims spent the final years of the century playing in National and the Championnat de France amateur. In November 1996, most of the club's items that were sold in the 1992 auction were re-acquired under the assistance of the Alain Afflelou retail chain. In July 1999, the club changed its name back to Stade de Reims and, after three years, were rewarded with professional status after earning promotion back to Ligue 2. The club's return to Ligue 2 in 2002 was brief. Reims finished bottom of the league. In the next season playing in National, Reims won the league returning to Ligue 2. The club spent the next five seasons playing in the second division failing to finish in the top half of the table in every campaign. In the 2008–09 season, Reims were relegated from Ligue 2 and, like its previous relegation, responded by returning to the league after one season in National after finishing 2nd. Reims finished Ligue 2 as 10th in 2010-11 season. Reims finally finished the league as runner-up and returned to Ligue 1 after 33 years.