Stade Rennais F.C. - History

History

Stade Rennais Football Club was founded on 10 March 1901 by a group of former students living in Brittany. Football had quickly become widely circulated in nearby regions and it was soon brought to Brittany. The club's first match was played two weeks later against FC Rennais, which Stade lost 6–0. In 1902, Stade Rennais joined the USFSA federation and, subsequently, became a founding member of the Ligue de Bretagne de football, a newly-created regional league founded by the federation. In the league second season, the club won the competition after defeating the inaugural league winners FC Rennais 4–0 in the final. On 4 May 1904, Stade Rennais merged with its rivals FC Rennais to form Stade Rennais Université Club with the primary objective being to overcome the recent domination of the Ligue de Bretagne by US Saint-Malo, then known as US Saint-Servan, who utilized mostly British players. The new club adopted the colours of Rennais, which consisted of a red and black combination with black vertical stripes on the shirt. After three years of Saint-Malo dominating the league, Rennes finally eclipsed the club in 1908 under the leadership of Welsh manager Arthur Griffith. In the following season, Rennes won the league again. In 1910, Rennes were unable to win a third as Saint-Malo won the league by two points. The champions, subsequently, went on an impressive run in which it won the league for the next four seasons over.

After World War I, Rennes begin focusing its efforts on winning the recently-created Coupe de France. Strengthened by the arrivals of internationals Bernard Lenoble, Maurice Gastiger, Ernest Molles, and captain François Hugues after the war, in the competition's fourth campaign, Rennes reached the final. In the match, the club faced the two-time defending champions Red Star Olympique, who were led by attacker Paul Nicolas, defender Lucien Gamblin, and goalkeeper Pierre Chayriguès. Red Star opened the scoring in the 4th minute and the match was concluded following a late goal from Raymond Sentubéry. After the disorganization of the USFSA in the 1913, Rennes joined the Ligue de l'Ouest. In 1929, Rennes departed the league after disagreeing with the increased number of games the league sough to implement in the new season. The departure led to Rennes becoming a Free agent and the club played numerous friendly matches to compensate the loss of league matches.

In July 1930, the National Council of the French Football Federation voted 128–20 in support of professionalism in French football. Under the leadership of club president Isidore Odorico, Rennes were among the first clubs to adopt the new statute and, subsequently, became professional and were founding members of the new league. In the league's inaugural season, Rennes finished mid-table in its group. Two years later, in 1935, the club reached the final of the Coupe de France for the second time. Rennes, however, lost to Marseille 3–0 after failing to overcome three first-half goals. The club's attack was also limited in the match due to being deprived of its top two attackers; Walter Kaiser and Walter Vollweiler, who were both injured. Rennes spent four more years in the first division before suffering relegation to Division 2 in the 1936–37 season. Rennes, subsequently, played in Division 2 before professionalism was abolished due to World War II. After the war, Rennes returned to Division 1. Led by the Austrian-born Frenchman Franz Pleyer, Rennes achieved its best finish in the league after finishing 4th in the 1948–49 campaign. Despite the domestic resurgence under Pleyer, the club struggled to maintain the consistency and, in the 1950s, rotated between the first division and the second division under the watch of the Spaniard Salvador Artigas and Henri Guérin who acted in a player-coach role.

Under the leadership of new president Louis Girard, Rennes underwent a major upheaval, which included renovations to the Stade de la Route de Lorient. Girard sought to make Rennes competitive nationally and the first objective was achieved when the club earned promotion back to Division 1 in 1958. After finishing in the bottom-half of the table for six straight seasons, Rennes, now managed by former club player Jean Prouff, finished in 4th place in the 1964–65 season. In the same season, the club earned its first major honour after winning the Coupe de France. Rennes, led by players such as Daniel Rodighiéro, Georges Lamia, and Jean-Claude Lavaud defeated UA Sedan-Torcy 3–1 in the replay of the final. The first leg of the match ended 2–2, which resulted in a replay. After the cup success, Rennes played in European competition for the first time in the 1965–66 season. The club, however, lost to Czechoslovakian club Dukla Prague in the first round.

In the ensuing years, Rennes struggled in league play, but performed well in the Coupe de France reaching the semi-finals on two occasions in 1967 and 1970. In 1971, Rennes captured its second Coupe de France title after defeating Lyon 1–0 with the only goal coming from a penalty conversion by André Guy. On 23 May 1972, Rennes officially changed its name to its current form. After another season in charge, Prouff departed Rennes and the club entered free-fall. From 1972–1994, Rennes were supervised by 11 different managers and, during the years, consistently hovered between Division 1 and Division 2. In 1978, the club was on the verge of bankruptcy and, as a result, were order by a tribunal to sell its biggest earners and enter a policy of austerity. In the 1980s, the city's municipality gained a majority stake in the club.

In 1994, Rennes returned to Division 1 and entered a period of stability mainly due to the utilization of the club's youth academy. Instead of entering bidding wars for players, Rennes groomed its youngsters and inserted them onto the senior team when coaches felt they were ready. This strategy proved successful with players such as Sylvain Wiltord, Jocelyn Gourvennec. and Ulrich Le Pen. In 1998, the club was sold by the municipality to retail magnate François Pinault. Pinault put a substantial amount of funding into the club and sought to increase Rennes' production of youth talent by constructing a training center. The center was completed in 2000. Pinault also paid for a completed re-construction of the Stade de la Route de Lorient. He also invested in the transfer market recruiting several players from South America, most notably Lucas Severino, whom Rennes paid a record €21 million for.

The results were immediate in the decade from 2000–2010 with Rennes appeared in UEFA-sanctioned competitions in five of the ten seasons. In youth production, the club produced several youth talents such as Yann M'Vila, Yacine Brahimi, Jimmy Briand, and Abdoulaye Diallo, among others. In league competition, Rennes tied its best finish ever in the league by finishing 4th in the 2004–05 season. Two seasons later, the club accomplished this feat again. In 2009, Rennes reached the Coupe de France final for the fourth time in its history. In the final, Rennes faced Breton rival Guingamp and were heavy favorites. Despite taking the lead in the second half, Rennes were defeated 2–1 after Guingamp scored two goals in a ten-minute span.