Stade de Reims facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Stade de Reims

Full name	Stade de Reims
Nickname(s)	Les rouges et blancs (The Red and Whites)
Founded	18 June 1931; 94 years ago (18 June 1931)
Ground	Stade Auguste-Delaune
Ground Capacity	21,029
President	Jean-Pierre Caillot
Head coach	Karel Geraerts
League	Ligue 1
2021–22	Ligue 1, 12th of 20
Home colours

Stade de Reims is a French professional football club from Reims. The club started in 1931. They play in Ligue 2, which is the second-highest football league in France. Their home games are held at the Stade Auguste Delaune.

Reims is known as one of the most successful clubs in French football history. They have won six Ligue 1 titles, two Coupe de France trophies, and five Trophée des champions titles. They also did well in European competitions. They were runners-up in the European Cup (now called the UEFA Champions League) in 1956 and 1959. They also won the Latin Cup in 1953 and the Coppa delle Alpi in 1977.

However, since the 1980s, Reims has found it tough to return to their top form. For over 30 years, they moved between Ligue 2 and the Championnat National. They were promoted back to Ligue 1 in 2012, went down again in 2016, but returned two years later.

Many people in French football see Reims as a legendary club. This is not just because of their wins, but also because of how much they helped the France national football team in the 1940s and 1950s. Players like Raymond Kopa, Just Fontaine, and Robert Jonquet from Reims were part of the French team that reached the semi-finals of the 1958 FIFA World Cup.

Club History

Early Years and First Wins

Stade de Reims began in 1910 as Société Sportive du Parc Pommery. It was started by Marquis Melchior de Polignac, who later joined the International Olympic Committee. The club changed its name to Stade de Reims on 18 June 1931.

Even though France started professional football in 1932, Reims stayed an amateur club until 1935. They won the Championnat de France amateur with Scottish coach Billy Aitken. Reims reached the top league, Division 1, for the first time in the 1945–46 season. This was the first championship after World War II. In the same year, they brought Robert Jonquet into the senior team and signed Roger Marche. These two players became some of the club's most famous.

Reims won their first Division 1 championship in 1949. The team had a strong defense with Marche, Jonquet, and Armand Penverne. Midfielders Albert Batteux and Michel Leblond were also key. Strikers Pierre Flamion, Pierre Sinibaldi, and Pierre Bini helped them win the league by just one point. The next season, they won the Coupe de France, beating Racing Paris 2–1 in the final.

Golden Era: 1950s Success

After the 1950 season, manager Henri Roessler left, and former player Albert Batteux took over. The team got even better and signed talented players like Raymond Kopa and Raoul Giraudo. In 1953, Reims won their second league title by four points. That same year, they won the 1953 Latin Cup, becoming the first French club to do so. This was a big achievement for French football.

In 1955, Reims won their third league title in six seasons. This win allowed them to play in the new European Cup. In the first European Cup final in 1956, Reims played against Real Madrid. Reims scored two goals early, but Real Madrid came back to win 4–3.

After this, Reims lost Kopa to Real Madrid. However, they signed other great French players like Just Fontaine, Jean Vincent, Roger Piantoni, and Dominique Colonna. These new players helped the club win their third league title of the decade in the 1957–58 season. They also won the Coupe de France, beating Nîmes Olympique 3–1. This meant they won both the league and the cup in the same year, which is called "the double."

In the 1958–59 European Cup, Reims again reached the final, facing Real Madrid. Real Madrid won 2–0. After this season, Penverne left. But Kopa returned to Reims, and he helped the team win their fifth league title in 1960.

Changes and Challenges

After 1960, many key players like Jonquet, Giraudo, and Leblond left or retired. However, Reims still won the league in 1962. This was a great end to Just Fontaine's career, as he retired from football. The next season, which was manager Albert Batteux's last, Reims finished second in the league. The season after that, they surprisingly finished 17th and were relegated to the second division. This led to many players from their successful 1950s team leaving, except for Kopa, who stayed until 1967.

Reims returned to the top league for the 1966–67 season but only stayed for one year. In 1970, they came back to the top league and stayed for almost a decade. Their best finish during this time was 5th place in the 1975–76 season. Reims was relegated again in 1979 and did not return to the top division for 33 years. In the second division, Reims faced money problems and had to use a very young team.

Even with former player Carlos Bianchi as manager in the mid-1980s, the club could not get back to Division 1. They did reach the semi-finals of the Coupe de France in 1987 and 1988. As years passed, the club's financial situation worsened. In 1991, Reims was moved down to Division 3 because they could not find a buyer to help with their large debt. In October 1991, the club had to close down and changed its name to Stade de Reims Champagne FC. They played in Division 3 for the 1991–92 season. In May 1992, the club's activities stopped completely. All their records and trophies were sold off.

Rebirth and Return to Top Flight

Reims was restarted in July 1992 as Stade de Reims Champagne. They started playing in a lower league called the Division d'Honneur. After two seasons, they were promoted to the Championnat National. Reims spent the end of the century playing in the National and Championnat de France amateur leagues. In November 1996, many of the club's items that were sold in 1992 were bought back. In July 1999, the club changed its name back to Stade de Reims. Three years later, they became a professional club again and were promoted back to Ligue 2.

Their return to Ligue 2 in 2002 was short, as Reims finished last. The next season, playing in the National league, Reims won the league and returned to Ligue 2. They spent the next five seasons in the second division. In the 2008–09 season, Reims was relegated from Ligue 2. Just like before, they returned to the league after one season in National. Reims finished 10th in Ligue 2 in 2010–11. In the 2011–12 season, Reims finished second in the league and finally returned to Ligue 1 after 33 years!

On 14 May 2016, Reims was relegated to Ligue 2 after four years in the top league. On 16 August 2016, Real Madrid played a friendly match against Reims to celebrate 60 years since their 1956 European Cup final. Real Madrid won 5–3. On 21 April 2018, Reims was promoted back to Ligue 1 after two years away, winning the Ligue 2 title.

In the 2018–19 season, Reims finished 8th in Ligue 1, even beating champions Paris Saint-Germain 3–1 in their last game. In the 2019–20 season, Reims finished 6th, which meant they qualified for the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League. This was their first European competition match since 1963.

In the 2024–25 season, Reims reached the 2025 Coupe de France final but lost 3–0 to Paris Saint-Germain. They also lost their last three Ligue 1 matches, dropping to 16th place. They then faced FC Metz in a play-off game and lost, which meant they were relegated. However, Lyon was initially moved down due to financial reasons, which saved Reims. But after an appeal, Lyon stayed up, and Reims was relegated again.

Club Achievements

European Matches

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

Team Players

Current Squad

No. Position Player 2 DF Joseph Okumu 3 DF Hiroki Sekine 4 DF Maxime Busi 5 DF Nicolas Pallois 6 MF Valentin Atangana 7 FW Junya Itō 8 MF Yaya Fofana 9 FW Mohamed Daramy 10 MF Teddy Teuma 11 FW Amine Salama 14 FW Reda Khadra 17 FW Keito Nakamura 18 DF Sergio Akieme 19 FW Jordan Pefok 20 GK Alexandre Olliero 22 FW Oumar Diakité

No. Position Player 23 MF Yohan Demoncy 24 MF Mory Gbane 27 FW Adama Bojang 29 GK Ewen Jaouen 30 MF John Patrick 31 DF Malcolm Jeng 58 FW Thiemoko Diarra 67 FW Mamadou Diakhon 73 FW Ike Orazi 74 FW Pape Sissoko 85 FW Hafiz Umar Ibrahim 86 MF Patrick Zabi 87 MF Ange Martial Tia 92 DF Abdoul Koné 93 DF Mohamed Ali Diadié 94 GK Soumaïla Sylla

Players on Loan

No. Position Player DF Cédric Kipré (at Ipswich Town until 30 June 2026)

Famous Players

Here are some well-known players who have played for Stade de Reims. To be on this list, a player must have played in at least 100 official matches for the club.

Club Management

Officials

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

Coaching Staff

• 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

See also

In Spanish: Stade de Reims para niños