 | ||||
| Full name | Red Star Football Club | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nicknames | L'Étoile rouge (The Red Star)[1] Les verts et blancs (The Green and Whites) Les Audoniens (TheAudonians) | |||
| Founded | 21 February 1897; 128 years ago (1897-02-21) | |||
| Ground | Stade Bauer | |||
| Capacity | 5,600 | |||
| Owner | 777 Partners | |||
| President | Patrice Haddad | |||
| Head coach | Grégory Poirier | |||
| League | Ligue 2 | |||
| 2024–25 | Ligue 2, 15th of 18 | |||
| Website | www | |||
 Current season | ||||
Red Star Football Club (French pronunciation:[ʁɛdstaʁfutbolklœb]), commonly referred to asRed Star FC or simplyRed Star, is a French professionalfootball club founded inParis in 1897. The club plays its home matches at theStade Bauer.[2] They currently compete inLigue 2, the second tier ofFrench football, having been promoted from the third tierChampionnat National at the end of the2023–24 season. The club is the fourth oldest football club in France afterStandard AC of Paris,[3]Le Havre AC andGirondins de Bordeaux.
Despite the club's long spell under asemi-pro status, Red Star has a rich history. The club was founded in 1897 under the nameRed Star Club Français by French football legendJules Rimet. Rimet later went on to serve as president of both theFrench Football Federation andFIFA. Theoriginal FIFA World Cup Trophy was named in his honour. Red Star was one of the founding member clubs ofLigue 1 and has spent 19 seasons in the first division; the club's last top tier stint being in1974–75. In cup competitions, the club has won fiveCoupe de France titles, which is tied for fifth-best among all French clubs.
While the club have enjoyed only modest success on the field, the club is widely recognised for its distinctive social culture. Red Star supporters are strongly identified with their support ofleft-wing politics,social activism and a party atmosphere they create at the club's matches.[4]
The club was purchased by US-based private investment firm777 Partners in May 2022, a move which saw demonstrations from fans leading to the postponement of a Championnat National match in April 2022.[5][6]
Red Star Football Club was founded on 21 February 1897 in a Parisian café byJules Rimet and Ernest Weber under the nameRed Star Club Français. The derivation of the name is uncertain; it is possibly taken from thered star ofBuffalo Bill or possibly in reference to Miss Jenny, a Britishgoverness based in Paris who was adopted as the godmother of the club, who recommended the club be named after the historic shipping line, theRed Star Line.[7] Upon its creation, Rimet installed Jean de Piessac as club president and one of his younger brothers as club secretary. The club was officially inaugurated on 12 March 1897 after Rimet signed the club's statutes and sent them to theUSFSA, which, during this time, served as the head of French football. Members of the club were required to pay₣100 a month to help the club meet its daily quota. Red Star officially joined the USFSA in 1898 and was inserted into the third-tier of the association's football league system. In the club's infancy, the team played in navy blue and white at theChamp de Mars. However, soon after, Red Star moved toMeudon inHauts-de-Seine playing on aterrace overlooking theSeine Valley.[8] Midway through the year, de Piessac left his post as club president. Rimet quickly succeeded him and, by 1904, Red Star were playing in the first division of the USFSA league.[9]
In 1907, Red Star changed its name toRed Star Amical Club after merging with Amical Football Club. Due to the merger, the club departed Meudon and moved toGrenelle in the15th arrondissement. After three years in Grenelle, the club moved toSaint-Ouen inSeine-Saint-Denis to play in the newly builtStade de Paris. On 25 October 1909, the stadium was inaugurated following a match between Red Star and English clubOld Westminsters. The stadium was later renamed to its present name today. With the USFSA becoming disorganised in the early 1900s, Red Star joined the newly created Ligue de Football Association (LFA) in 1910. In 1912, the club earned its first honour after winning the association'sLigue Nationale. In the same year, the club also finished runner-up to Étoile des Deux Lacs in the Trophée de France.
In 1919, theFrench Football Federation was created and months later, theCoupe de France. From 1920–34, Red Star embarked on a remarkable uprising in which the club won four Coupe de France titles, achieved professional status, and were founding members of theFrench Division 1. The club's first Coupe de France victory came in1921, when the club, led byFrench internationalsPierre Chayriguès,Paul Nicolas, Juste Brouzes, Lucien Gamblin and Maurice Meyer, defeatedOlympique de Paris 2–1, courtesy of goals from Marcel Naudin and Robert Clavel. In the ensuing two seasons, Red Star won back-to-back Coupe de France titles. In1922, the club defeatedStade Rennais UC 2–0 and, in1923, Red Star beatCette 4–2 to complete thehat trick. In 1926, Red Star completed a second merger, this time with its local rivals Olympique de Paris whom it had defeated just five years ago in a Coupe de France final. Due to the merger, Red Star changed its name toRed Star Olympique and dropped its navy blue and white combination for a simple white blouse. In 1928, Red Star won its fourth Coupe de France title of the decade defeatingCA Paris 3–1 at theStade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir inColombes.
In July 1930, the National Council of the French Football Federation voted 128–20 in support of professionalism in French football. Red Star were among the first clubs to adopt the new statute and, subsequently, became professional and were founding members of the new league. In theleague's inaugural season, Red Star were relegated after finishing in the bottom three of its group. As a result, the club played the following season in theinaugural season of theDivision 2. Red Star won the league and returned to the first division for the1934–35 season. Following the club's return to Division 1, Red Star switched its colours from white to the green and white that exists today. In 1967, they merged withToulouse FC (notthe current club) out of the latter club's financial reasons and bought Toulouse's place in the top division. The merged club last played in first division in the1974–75 season.
Red Star were relegated fromLigue 2 in 1999. In1999–2000 they reached the semi-finals of theCoupe de la Ligue, losing to eventual championsGueugnon. They were relegated to the fourth tier in 2001, thereby losing their professional status. A year later, the FFF sent them down another tier due to €1.5 million debts. From 2003 to 2005, Red Star played in the sixth-tierDivision d'Honneur.[10]
After a long spell in the lower leagues, following a successful 2014–15 campaign, the team won promotion to Ligue 2, the second tier ofFrench football.[11] In their first season back in Ligue 2, Red Star finished 5th on the table missing promotion toLigue 1 by a single point.[12] In the 2016–17 Ligue 2 season, Red Star finished 19th and were relegated back to the third division of French football.[13]
Due to safety regulation issues withStade Bauer, Red Star has been forced to play at different stadiums the past few seasons when in Ligue 2.[14] They have employedStade Jean-Bouin in the past and then usedStade Pierre Brisson located inBeauvais. Since returning to the third tier in 2019, the club has returned to playing home matches at Stade Bauer.
In 2018, Red Star were promoted back to Ligue 2 as champions of theChampionnat National.[15] They were relegated again the following season, finishing bottom of Ligue 2. Their relegation was confirmed on 27 April 2019 after losing 2–1 to championsFC Metz.[16]
(Italics indicates winning seasons)[17][better source needed]
The club has relatively modest but loyal support, mostly centered aroundSaint-Ouen and the northern suburbs ofParis. Overtlyantifascist,[18] most of the fans areleft-wing,[19][20] and the club identifies itself as abanlieueworking-class club. Despite statements to the contrary, Red Stars' left-wing association did not originate at its founding in 1897, but developed over time due to its working-class population of Saint-Ouen and its cultural positioning in opposition to the commercialised model of clubs likeParis Saint-Germain. The club's name predates theRussian Revolution and had no connection tocommunism.[19] Nevertheless, over time, the "Red Star" name and the club's location attracted left-wing supporters.[21] In the modern era, the club has been referred to as "France's only openly communist club".[18] In 2015, French PresidentFrançois Hollande of theSocialist Party visited Red Star's museum, seeking to drum up support from amongst Red Star's left-wing fans.[18]
Average attendances in the 2020s have been consistently above 3000 spectators per match, with many home games sold out.[22]
The club has severalultras groups; "Red Star Fans", "Gang Green", "Perry Boys" and the smaller "Splif Brothers".
The fans have a long-standing friendship with "Red Kaos" ofGrenoble.[23]
Red Star have rivalries with fellowParisian derby rivals; withUS Créteil and a fierce rivalry withParis FC.[24]
Red Star unearthed several talented players during its early existence, most notablyPaul Nicolas, who spent nine years at the club, Nicolas later became a catalyst towards the development of professional football in France and was partly responsible for the creation of theLigue de Football Professionnel. Football managerRoger Lemerre started his managerial career with the club before leadingFrance to titles atUEFA Euro 2000 and the2001 FIFA Confederations Cup.
Red Star's youth academy was once very productive. The likes ofAlex Song,Moussa Sissoko andAbou Diaby, all renowned players in English football, came through the club's youth system. As a matter of fact, no less than five players at the 2014 World Cup had played in the club's youth teams.[25] Nevertheless, during the years spent in lower amateur divisions, the loss of professional status led to the dismantling of the youth academy setup, and although a project to rebuild it has been in the air for a few years,[26] it has yet to be done despite the club's return to professional football.[27]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
Below are the notable former players who have represented Red Star inleague and international competition since the club's foundation in 1897. To appear in the section below, a player must have played in at least 100 official matches for the club or have played for his country's team.
For a complete list of Red Star players, seeCategory:Red Star FC players.
Alfred AstonDavid Bellion Philippe BonnardelJean-Claude Bras Juste BrouzesAugustin ChantrelPierre Chayriguès Émilien Devic Marcel Domergue Lucien Gamblin Alfred Gindrat Jean-Luc Girard François HuguesEugène Langenove
Nasser Bouiche Christian LauduEugène MaësSteve MarletGuilherme Mauricio Georges Meuris Maurice Meyer Pol MorelPaul NicolasMarcel Pinel Julien Du RhéartJacky SimonAndré Simonyi Georges Stuttler Peppe Moncef ChahbouneAlexis Thépot Julien Verbrugge Lotfi Guellati
Nestor CombinGuillermo StábileHelenio Herrera
Yves Desmarets
Stéphan Raheriharimanana
Bror Mellberg
Hugo Pérez
Aleksandr BubnovFyodor Cherenkov
Safet Sušić
