Toulouse
Full nameToulouse Football Club
Nickname(s)Le Téfécé
Les Violets
Le Tef
Les Pitchouns[1]
Short nameTFC
Founded1970 (1970)
GroundStadium de Toulouse
Capacity33,150
Coordinates43°34′59″N 1°26′3″E / 43.58306°N 1.43417°E / 43.58306; 1.43417
OwnerRedBird Capital Partners (85%)
PresidentDamien Comolli
ManagerCarles Martínez Novell
LeagueLigue 1
2022–23Ligue 1, 13th of 20
WebsiteClub website

Toulouse Football Club is a French professional football club based in Toulouse. The club was founded in 1970 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the first division of French football. Toulouse plays its home matches at the Stadium de Toulouse located within the city.

Les Pitchouns are the current holders of the Coupe de France, and have won the second tier Ligue 2 on three occasions.[2] Toulouse have participated in European competition five times, including in 2007 when they qualified for the UEFA Champions League for the first time.[3] They are set to participate in the 2023–24 UEFA Europa League, following their victory in the preceding year's Coupe de France.

The president of Toulouse FC is Damien Comolli, who succeeded the French businessman Olivier Sadran who took over the club following its bankruptcy in 2001 which resulted in it being relegated to the Championnat National. The club has served as a springboard for several players, most notably the World Cup-winning goalkeeper Fabien Barthez, international strikers André-Pierre Gignac[4] and Martin Braithwaite.

History

The city was left without a big side in 1967 when Toulouse FC sold its players and place in the French top flight to Paris outfit Red Star, but three years later a new club, Union Sportive Toulouse, rose from the ashes. Adopting red and yellow jerseys, the club started out in Ligue 2 and in 1979 reclaimed the name Toulouse FC. Now wearing purple and white, Les Pitchouns gained top-flight promotion in 1982. A side containing Jacques Santini and Swiss forward Daniel Jeandupeux earned a penalty shoot-out victory against Diego Maradona's Napoli in the 1986–87 UEFA Cup, Toulouse's maiden European campaign.

Toulouse fans celebrate qualifying for the 2007–08 UEFA Champions League

After goalkeeper Fabien Barthez made his breakthrough and moved on, Toulouse were relegated in 1994. They subsequently bounced back and forth between Ligues 1 and 2 before slipping to the third flight in 2001 after financial problems. Toulouse were back in the top flight two seasons later, and in 2007 they finished third to earn a place in the 2007–08 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round. There, Liverpool overpowered them 5–0 on aggregate.[3]

In 2008–09, Toulouse finished fourth in the Ligue 1 table with 64 points, and secured a spot in the new Europa League, while André-Pierre Gignac led all scorers in Ligue 1 with 24 goals and was awarded a call-up to the French national team.[4]

In the 2015–16 Ligue 1 season, Toulouse avoided relegation to Ligue 2 in the last game of the season. With 12 minutes to go, Toulouse were behind to Angers 2–1 and needed a win to survive, and scored two late goals and won the match 3–2.[5] Two years later, they finished 18th and won the promotion/relegation playoff 4–0 on aggregate against Ligue 2's AC Ajaccio.[6]

On 6 January 2020, Toulouse dismissed manager Antoine Kombouaré following the club's 1–0 loss to Championnat National 2 side Saint-Pryvé Saint-Hilaire in the Coupe de France. Under Kombouaré the club had lost ten matches in a row, leading him to be dismissed and replaced by Denis Zanko.[7] On 30 April that year, Toulouse were relegated to Ligue 2 after the LFP elected to end the season early due to the coronavirus pandemic.[8]

On 21 July 2020, RedBird Capital Partners acquired an 85% stake in Toulouse FC.[9] The club achieved promotion back to Ligue 1 by winning the second tier, Ligue 2, in 2022.[10] On 29 April 2023, Toulouse won its first-ever Coupe de France title, defeating Kombouaré's Nantes in the final by a score of 5–1.[11] It was the city's second title, however, as the former Toulouse FC had won it back in 1957.[12][13]

Name changes

  • Union Sportive Toulouse (1970–79)
  • Toulouse Football Club (1979–current)

Stadium

Stadium de Toulouse

Toulouse play their home matches at the Stadium de Toulouse. Built in 1937, the stadium presently has a capacity of 33,150. The stadium was used as a venue for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, 2007 Rugby Union World Cup and UEFA Euro 2016.

Colours

The violet is a reference to one of two Toulouse nicknames: la Cité des violettes (the City of Violets), the second one being la Ville rose (the Pink City), which explains the colour of former alternate jerseys.[3] The team's logo displays the gold and blood-red Occitan cross, the symbol of Occitania, of which Toulouse is a historical capital.[4]

Club rivalries

Derby de la Garonne

The Derby de la Garonne is a derby match between Girondins de Bordeaux and Toulouse. The derby derives from the fact that Bordeaux and Toulouse are the two major cities in south-western France, both of which are situated on the Garonne River. The consistency and competitiveness of the rivalry developed following Toulouse's return to Ligue 1 after being administratively relegated to the Championnat National in 2001.[14]

Players

Current squad

As of 8 January 2024[15]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK France FRA Thomas Himeur
2 DF Denmark DEN Rasmus Nicolaisen
3 DF Denmark DEN Mikkel Desler
4 MF Netherlands NED Stijn Spierings (on loan from Lens)
5 MF Australia AUS Denis Genreau
6 DF Cape Verde CPV Logan Costa
7 FW Morocco MAR Zakaria Aboukhlal
8 MF Switzerland SUI Vincent Sierro (captain)
9 FW Netherlands NED Thijs Dallinga
10 FW Guinea GUI Ibrahim Cissoko
11 MF Spain ESP César Gelabert
12 DF Norway NOR Warren Kamanzi
13 DF France FRA Christian Mawissa
14 FW Morocco MAR Yanis Begraoui
15 MF Norway NOR Aron Dønnum
17 DF Chile CHI Gabriel Suazo
No. Pos. Nation Player
18 DF Sweden SWE Oliver Zandén
19 FW Cameroon CMR Frank Magri
20 MF Germany GER Niklas Schmidt
21 MF Burkina Faso BFA Mamady Bangré
22 MF Finland FIN Naatan Skyttä
23 DF Mali MLI Moussa Diarra
24 MF Venezuela VEN Cristian Cásseres Jr.
25 DF Cameroon CMR Kévin Keben
26 DF France FRA Ylies Aradj
30 GK Spain ESP Álex Domínguez
33 FW France FRA Bonota Traoré
34 MF France FRA Noah Lahmadi
35 FW France FRA Noah Edjouma
37 MF France FRA Yann Gboho
40 GK France FRA Justin Lacombe
50 GK France FRA Guillaume Restes

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
16 GK Norway NOR Kjetil Haug (at Sarpsborg 08 until 31 December 2023)
77 FW Jamaica JAM Junior Flemmings (at Voždovac until 30 June 2024)
— DF France FRA Anthony Rouault (at VfB Stuttgart until 30 June 2024)
No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF Serbia SRB Veljko Birmančević (at Sparta Prague until 30 June 2024)
— FW Bosnia and Herzegovina BIH Said Hamulić (at Vitesse until 30 June 2024)

Honours

The 2022–23 Coupe de France on display at the Capitole in Toulouse.
As of 11 May 2023.[2]

Domestic

Toulouse in European football

Matches

Season Competition Round Opponent Home Away Aggregate
1986–87 UEFA Cup First round Italy Napoli 1–0 (a.e.t.) 0–1 1–1 (4–3 p)
Second round Soviet Union Spartak Moscow 3–1 1–5 4–6
1987–88 UEFA Cup First round Greece Panionios 5–1 1–0 6–1
Second round Germany Bayer Leverkusen 1–1 0–1 1–2
2007–08 UEFA Champions League Third qualifying round England Liverpool 0–1 0–4 0–5
2007–08 UEFA Cup Play-off round Bulgaria CSKA Sofia 0–0 1-1 1-1
Group E Germany Bayer Leverkusen — 0–1 5th place
Russia Spartak Moscow 2–1 —
Switzerland Zürich — 0–2
Czech Republic Sparta Prague 2–3 —
2009–10 UEFA Europa League Play-off round Turkey Trabzonspor 0–1 3–1 3–2
Group J Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk 0–2 0–4 3rd place
Belgium Club Brugge 2–2 0–1
Serbia Partizan 1–0 3–2
2023–24 UEFA Europa League Group E Belgium Union Saint-Gilloise 0–0 1–1 2nd place
Austria LASK 1–0 2–1
England Liverpool 3–2 1–5
Knockout round play-offs Portugal Benfica

Club officials

President Damien Comolli
Association President José Da Silva
Manager Carles Martínez Novell
Assistant Manager Jordan Galtier
Assistant Manager Stéphane Lièvre
First-Team Coach Pol García
Goalkeeper Coach Éric Allibert
Conditioning Coach Denis Valour
Conditioning Coach Guillaume Ravé
Conditioning Coach Clément Hazard
Youth Coach Jean-Baptiste Winckler
Chief Analyst Julien Demeaux
Club Doctor Patrick Flamant
Physiotherapist Sébastien Cirilo
Physiotherapist Boris Cohen
Masseur Florent Parquin
Kit Manager Jacqui Teulieres
Academy Director Rémy Loret

Source: LFP.fr

Managers

See also

References

  1. ↑ "#434 – Toulouse FC : les Pitchouns" (in French). Footnickname. 21 February 2021. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  2. 1 2 "Toulouse football club". LFP. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 "Toulouse FC". UEFA. 18 February 2011. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 "Wiki". TFC.info. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  5. ↑ Bairner, Robin (14 May 2016). "Extra-Time: Toulouse troll Domino's Pizza after relegation escape". Goal.com. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  6. ↑ "Toulouse confirm Ligue 1 survival". Ligue1.com. 27 May 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  7. ↑ "TOULOUSE SACK KOMBOUARÉ". www.ligue1.com.
  8. ↑ "Amiens and Toulouse relegation confirmed after clubs vote for 20-team Ligue 1". BBC Sport. 27 June 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  9. ↑ "RedBird Capital Partners acquires 85 per cent stake in Toulouse FC". Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  10. ↑ "Ligue 2 : vainqueur de Niort, Toulouse rejouera en Ligue 1 la saison prochaine" [Ligue 2: victor of Niort, Toulouse will replay in Ligue 1 next season]. L'Équipe (in French). 25 April 2022. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  11. ↑ "Toulouse win their first major trophy – and show a way to succeed in Ligue 1". Guardian. 2 May 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  12. 1 2 "Toulouse surclasse Nantes et remporte la Coupe de France à l'issue d'un match sans incident". Le Monde.fr (in French). Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  13. ↑ "Nantes 1 Toulouse 5". BBC Sport. 29 April 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  14. ↑ "Didot-Gourcuff, le duel breton du derby de la Garonne" (in French). Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 5 March 2009. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2010.
  15. ↑ "Equipe". Toulouse FC. Retrieved 21 July 2023.

Further reading

  • Toulouse Football Club, de 1937 à nos jours, de Jean-Louis Berho et Didier Pitorre, avec la collaboration de Jean-Paul Cazeneuve et Jérôme Leclerc (Éditions Universelles)
  • La Grande Histoire du TFC, de Nicolas Bernard (Éditions Universelles)
  • TouFoulCan, la Bande-dessinée qui supporte le Toulouse Football Club.
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