 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Racing Club Albi XIII" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(December 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
 | ||
| Club information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Nickname | The Tigers | |
| Founded | 1934; 91 years ago (1934) | |
| Website | Official website | |
| Current details | ||
| Ground |
| |
| Coach | Tony Gigot | |
| Competition | Super XIII | |
| 2024-25 | 1st | |
| Uniforms | ||
| ||
Albi Rugby League XIII originally calledRacing Club Albigeois XIII[1] and more recently also known asRC Albi XIII are a semi-professionalrugby league team based inAlbi in theOccitanie region in southern France. Formed in 1934 the club compete in theSuper XIII the highest level of competition in France. They have won the French title on six occasions and theLord Derby Cup once. Their current home stadium is Stade Mazicou.
Racing Club Albigeois XIII were one of the founder clubs of rugby league in France indeed they were the second club formed afterUS Villeneuve in May 1934. They were formed byJean-Marie Vignal one ofJean Galia's pioneers who would be the club's first captain/coach andSimon Bompunt who would be the club's first chairman. Initially the club recruited from nearby Toulouse as the local Rugby Union clubSC Albi refused players to move to the new club, only two would move in the early years. The club finished 7th in their debut season their first ever match finishing in a 6–26 defeat atBordeaux XIII[2]
In season 1937-38 despite finishing 7th the club won through the play-offs to reach the final and then caused a major upset, beatingUS Villeneuve 8–3 to lift their first trophy.[3] They reached the semi-final in 1939–40 in what would be the last championship before war broke out. During the war theVichy Government banned Rugby League in France and the club were forced to join with the rugby union club in the townSC Albi under a new nameAlbi Olympique. After the war the club went back to Rugby League, they enjoyed a good spell at the end of the 1950s as they won theFrench rugby league championship three times in six years.[4] They also hosted the touringAustralia national rugby league team, losing 22–31 in 1952[5] and 20–25 in 1956,[6] but in 1959 they earned a 19–10 win against them in front of 5,845 spectators.[7]
The club won theLord Derby Cup in 1974[8] and won the league championship for a fifth time in 1977.[4]
The club withdrew from theElite One Championship at the end of the 2007–08 season due to financial reasons but in 2014–15 they won theElite Two Championship[9] and returned to the top flight finishing a creditable 5th in 2015–16.
In the2024–25 season, Albi won theSuper XIII title by defeatingAS Carcassone 26–16 in the final.[10]
The club currently runs youth sides and a ladies team.
The club have always played in amber and black. The Badge has been changed originally it was a French cockerel stood on a rugby ball with the number 13 on the ball. This was changed to a tiger next to a tower logo before the current one was used. The reference to 'Tigers' comes from the 90s when they followed many other clubs in adopting a moniker, possibly along the lines ofCastleford Tigers who happen to play in the same colours
They club are currently based at Stade Mazicou.
They were previously based at theStadium Municipal d'Albi which had been the club's home ground since it opened for rugby in 1964. The main stand is a cantilever grandstand while opposite is newer stand both these stands are all seated, at either end there is terracing. In 1977 theFrench rugby league championship was held here despite RC Albi being in the final againstAS Carcassonne. A record rugby crowd of 20,000 witnessed an Albi win, their last to date. In 1979France national rugby league team beat the touringPapua New Guinea national rugby league team 16–9. The stadium underwent a major revamp in 2007 resulting in the now 13,058 capacity including 8,000 seated.
Squad for 2025-26 Season
| Albi Super XIII Squad | |
|---|---|
