Stade de Reims

French association football club

Football club

Stade de Reims

Full name	Stade de Reims
Nicknames	Les rouges et blancs (The Red and Whites)[1]
Founded	18 June 1931; 94 years ago (18 June 1931)
Ground	Stade Auguste-Delaune
Capacity	21,029[2]
President	Jean-Pierre Caillot
Head coach	Karel Geraerts
League	Ligue 2
2024–25	Ligue 1, 16th of 18 (relegated)
Website	stade-de-reims.com
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

Stade de Reims (French pronunciation: [stad də ʁɛ̃s]) is a French professional football club based in Reims. The club was formed in 1931 and plays in Ligue 2, the Second tier of football in France. Reims plays home matches at the Stade Auguste Delaune.

Reims is one of the most successful clubs in French football history having won six Ligue 1 titles, two Coupe de France trophies, and five Trophée des champions titles. The club has also performed well on European level having finished as runners-up in the 1956 and 1959 editions of the European Cup,^[3] and winning the Latin Cup and Coppa delle Alpi in 1953 and 1977, respectively. However, since the 1980s, Reims have struggled to get back to their zenith. The club hovered between Ligue 2 and the Championnat National for over thirty years after their relegation from the top flight in 1979. In 2012, they were promoted back to Ligue 1, were relegated again in 2016, but returned two years later.

Reims is viewed as a legendary club within French football circles, not only due to its domestic and European accolades, but its contribution towards the France national team through the 1940s and 1950s. They were largely responsible for the first Golden Generation of French football with Reims players Roger Marche, Raymond Kopa, Just Fontaine, Jean Vincent, Robert Jonquet, Armand Penverne, Dominique Colonna, and Roger Piantoni in the team that reached the semi-finals at the 1958 FIFA World Cup (third place).

History

Stade de Reims was founded in 1910 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.^[4] 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 attain the honour. The victory was cited as a coup for France after the country finished three straight years as runners-up 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 cancelled out Reims' early attacks. In the second half, Reims took the lead through Michel Hidalgo, but within minutes, the match was levelled courtesy of a goal from Marquitos. Real's 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 line-ups 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 AS 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 remained 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. (Upon the club's re-introduction in 1992, a new French law restricting alcohol advertising banned their old logo, which included a bottle of wine on top of a football; the club had no formal logo until 1999, when the old club name was restored.)

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. In the 2011–12 season, Reims finally finished the league as runner-up and returned to Ligue 1 after 33 years.

On 14 May 2016, Reims were relegated to Ligue 2 after a four year stay in the top flight.^[5] On 16 August 2016, Real Madrid played a friendly against Reims to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the 1956 European Cup final which both teams were involved in. Real Madrid won 5–3.^[6] On 21 April 2018, Reims were promoted back to Ligue 1 after a two year absence finishing first and claiming the Ligue 2 title.^[7]

In the 2018–19 season, Reims finished in 8th place, defeating champions Paris Saint-Germain 3–1 in the final game of the year.^[8] In the 2019–20 season, Reims were ranked in the 6th place, to qualify to the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League, and to play their first match in European competitions since 13 March 1963 against Feyenoord, which ended 1–1 in the 1962–63 European Cup.^[9]

In the 2024–25 season, Reims reached the Coupe de France final against Paris Saint-Germain but lost 3–0.^[10] Meanwhile, they lost their last three Ligue 1 matches, dropping to 16th place, while a stoppage-time winner for Le Havre allowed them to surpass Reims in the standings on the final matchday.^[11] Reims then faced FC Metz in the relegation play-off and were defeated 3–1 at home after extra time, resulting in their brief relegation, until Lyon were administratively relegated due to financial reasons, leading to Reims surviving. However, after an appeal Lyon were relieved from relegation and Reims were relegated again.^[12][13]

Honours

Stade de Reims honours

Type	Competition	Titles	Seasons/Years
Domestic	Ligue 1	6	1948–49, 1952–53, 1954–55, 1957–58, 1959–60, 1961–62
	Ligue 2	2	1965–66, 2017–18
	Championnat National	1	2003–04
	CFA 2	2	1998, 2015–16
	Division d'Honneur Nord-Est	1	1994
	Championnat de France amateur	1	1935
	Coupe de France	2	1949–50, 1957–58
	Coupe de la Ligue	1	1990–91
	Trophée des Champions	4	1955, 1958, 1960, 1966
International	Latin Cup	1	1953[14]

European record

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
1955–56	European Cup	1R	AGF Aarhus	2–2	2–0	4–2
		QF	Vörös Lobogó	4–2	4–4	8–6
		SF	Hibernian	2–0	1–0	3–0
		Final	Real Madrid	3–4
1958–59	European Cup	PR	Ards	6–2	4–1	10–3
		1R	HPS	4–0	3–0	7–0
		QF	Standard Liège	3–0	0–2	3–2
		SF	Young Boys	3–0	0–1	3–1
		Final	Real Madrid	0–2
1960–61	European Cup	PR	Jeunesse Esch	6–1	5–0	11–1
		1R	Burnley	3–2	0–2	3–4
1962–63	European Cup	1R	Austria Wien	5–0	2–3	7–3
		QF	Feyenoord	0–1	1–1	1–2
2020–21	UEFA Europa League	2QR	Servette	—N/a	1–0	—N/a
		3QR	Fehérvár	—N/a	0–0 (1–4 p)	—N/a

Players

Current squad

As of 6 September 2025.^[15]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 2 DF  KEN Joseph Okumu 3 DF  JPN Hiroki Sekine 4 DF  BEL Maxime Busi 5 DF  FRA Nicolas Pallois 6 MF  BEL Théo Leoni 7 FW  FRA Antoine Leautey 8 MF  CIV Yaya Fofana 9 FW  DEN Mohamed Daramy 10 MF  MLT Teddy Teuma 11 FW  FRA Amine Salama 17 MF  JPN Keito Nakamura 18 DF  ESP Sergio Akieme 20 GK  FRA Alexandre Olliero 23 MF  FRA Yohan Demoncy

No. Pos. Nation Player 24 MF  CIV Mory Gbane 27 FW  GAM Adama Bojang 28 DF  CIV Elie N'Tamon 29 GK  FRA Ewen Jaouen 30 MF  IRL John Patrick 58 MF  MLI Thiemoko Diarra 73 FW  IRL Ike Orazi 77 FW  BEL Norman Bassette (on loan from Coventry City) 85 FW  NGA Hafiz Umar Ibrahim 86 MF  CIV Patrick Zabi 87 MF  MLI Ange Martial Tia 92 DF  FRA Abdoul Koné 94 GK  GUI Soumaïla Sylla

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — DF  SWE Malcolm Jeng (at Feyenoord until 30 June 2026) — DF  CIV Cédric Kipré (at Ipswich Town until 30 June 2026) — MF  GER Reda Khadra (at Le Havre until 30 June 2026)

No. Pos. Nation Player — FW  CIV Oumar Diakité (at Cercle Brugge until 30 June 2026) — FW  USA Jordan Pefok (at Tondela until 30 June 2026) — FW  MLI Niama Pape Sissoko (at Debrecen until 30 June 2026)

Reserve team

As of 22 June 2025^[16]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 47 DF  FRA Melvin Borne 56 DF  FRA Killian Prouchet 59 FW  MLI Abdoulaye Gory 65 FW  FRA Sophian Do Carmo 70 GK  FRA Léo Ripert 75 FW  FRA Mathéo Titalom Penka 76 MF  FRA Lenny Sylla

No. Pos. Nation Player 77 FW  FRA Anddrys Solvet 78 FW  FRA Adama Baradji 79 DF  FRA Ansoumana Dansokho 80 GK  FRA Matisse Morville 81 DF  FRA Justin Tsouh 82 DF  FRA Sacha Burek 83 DF  NGA Amos Ochoche

Notable players

Below are the notable former players who have represented Stade de Reims in league and international competition since the club's foundation in 1910. To appear in the section below, a player must have played in at least 100 official matches for the club.

Morocco

1. Yunis Abdelhamid

Algeria

1. Aissa Mandi

France

1. Albert Batteux
2. Armand Penverne
3. Bruno Rodzik
4. Cédric Fauré
5. Dominique Colonna
6. Jacques Favre
7. Jean Templin
8. Jean Vincent
9. Just Fontaine
10. Léon Glovacki
11. Lucien Muller
12. Marcel Aubour
13. Michel Leblond
14. Pierre Flamion
15. Pierre Sinibaldi
16. Raoul Giraudo
17. Raymond Kopa
18. René Bliard
19. René-Jean Jacquet
20. Robert Jonquet
21. Robert Siatka
22. Roger Marche
23. Roger Piantoni
24. Simon Zimny

Zimbabwe

1. Marshall Munetsi

Club officials

Management^[17]

• President: Jean-Pierre Caillot
• Association President: Didier Perrin

Coaching^[18]

• Head coach: Karel Geraerts
• Assistant coach: Tim Smolders, Alberto Escobar, Franck Chalençon, Samba Diawara
• Goalkeeper coach: Thomas Trochut
• Match analyst: Adrien Mahy
• Performance manager: Nicolas Bouriette
• Sporting director: Pol-Édouard Caillot
• Physiotherapist: Romain Marteau, Yohann Bionne, Julien Vaur

*Coaching history

Dates Name 1931–34 David Harrison 1934–36 Billy Aitken 1936–37 Leopold Kielholz 1937 Sarkis Garabedian 1937–38 (?) Valère de Besveconny [fr] 1938–40 Erich Bieber 1940–41 Camille Cottin 1941–43 Jules Vandooren 1943–45 Sarkis Garabedian 1945–50 Henri Roessler 1950–63 Albert Batteux 1963 Camille Cottin 1963–64 Jean Prouff 1964–67 Robert Jonquet 1967 Claude Prosdocimi 1967–69 Émile Rummelhardt 1969–72 Élie Fruchard 1972 Léon Desmenez 1972 Célestin Oliver 1972–74 Lucien Leduc

Dates Name 1974–75 Léon Desmenez 1975 Michel Leblond 1975–79 Pierre Flamion 1979 Claude Prosdocimi 1979–80 René Vernier 1980–81 Robert Jonquet Léon Desmenez 1981–82 Léon Desmenez 1982–85 Pierre Phelipon 1985–88 Carlos Bianchi 1988–89 Dominique Bathenay 1989–90 Jacky Lemée 1990–91 Didier Notheaux 1991–92 Pierre Phelipon 1992–93 Daniel Duval 1993 Ghislain Bournel 1993–95 Tony Giannetta 1995–00 Manuel Abreu 2000 (interim) Franck Triquenaux 2000–02 Marc Collat

Dates Name 2002–03 Denis Goavec 2003–05 Ladislas Lozano 2005 (interim) Jean-Claude Cloët 2005–07 Thierry Froger 2008 Didier Tholot 2008–09 Luis Fernández 2009–10 Marc Collat 2010–14 Hubert Fournier 2014–15 Jean-Luc Vasseur 2015–16 Olivier Guégan 2016 (interim) David Guion 2016–17 Michel Der Zakarian 2017–21 David Guion 2021–22 Óscar García 2022–24 Will Still 2024 (caretaker) Samba Diawara 2024–2025 Luka Elsner 2025 (interim) Samba Diawara 2025– Karel Geraerts

References

1. "#925 – Stade de Reims : les Rouges et Blancs" (in French). Footnickname. 18 November 2022. Archived from the original on 6 March 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
2. "Stade Auguste Delaune | Stade de Reims". stade-de-reims.com. Archived from the original on 15 September 2023. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
3. "European Cup final results since 1956". Reuters. 23 May 2017. Archived from the original on 3 August 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
4. "Members of the International Olympic Committee since 1907". Olympic Museum. Archived from the original on 3 December 2010. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
5. "Reims relegated despite thrashing OL". Ligue 1. 14 May 2016. Archived from the original on 27 September 2021. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
6. "Live Commentary: Real Madrid 5–3 Reims — as it happened". Sports Mole. 16 August 2016.
7. "Reims secure promotion with Ligue 2 title". ESPN.com. 21 April 2018. Archived from the original on 28 January 2021. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
8. "PSG stumble to finish with finale loss to Reims". espn.in.
9. "Stade de Reims back in Europe after 57 years!". Ligue 1. 3 August 2020. Archived from the original on 26 September 2020. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
10. "Paris Saint-Germain 3-0 Reims: Barcola stars in Coupe de France final". beIN SPORTS. 24 May 2025.
11. "Stade de Reims: Between Heaven and Hell". beIN SPORTS. 20 May 2025.
12. "MATCH REPORT | Reims 1-3 Metz – Les Grenats win Ligue 1 relegation playoffs round". Get French Football News. 29 May 2025.
13. "Seven-times French champions Lyon relegated to Ligue 2". Reuters. 24 June 2025.
14. "El gran minero: Entrevista con Raymond Kopa" [The great miner: Interview with Raymond Kopa] (in Spanish). UEFA. 5 February 2011. Archived from the original on 13 February 2017. Retrieved 28 January 2019. En 1953, derrotamos al AC Milan por 3-0 en la final de la Copa Latina (antecesora de la Copa de Europa)
15. "Les joueurs" [The players] (in French). Stade de Reims. 26 January 2019. Archived from the original on 4 October 2024. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
16. "Groupe Pro 2". stade-de-reims.com. Archived from the original on 5 October 2024. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
17. "Stade de Reims, club fondé en 1931". Stade Reims. Archived from the original on 20 January 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
18. "Staff". Stade Reims. Archived from the original on 28 December 2010. Retrieved 4 January 2011.

External links

• Official website
• Stade de Reims on Soccerway
• Stade de Reims on ESPN (archived)
• Stade de Reims on UEFA

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