Draft:History of RC Strasbourg Alsace

Founded in 1906 as Fußballclub Neudorf, Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace's history has been marked by constant periods of instability, firstly due to political issues (for the first forty years of its existence, the club played alternately in the French and German championships because of the dispute between the two countries over Alsace), and secondly due to corporate issues. In spite of this, the team was able to carve out a place for itself in the golden roll of the French league by winning a number of trophies, the most important of which was the championship in the 1978-79 season.

In the early 1900s, the English export of soccer to foreign countries also reached the deepest parts of the German Empire (which had already established a national league called the Verbandsliga in 1902), including the Reichsland Alsace-Lorraine. One of the cities most involved in this process was the capital city of Strasbourg (which already had a football club called Straßburger Fußball Club since 1890), where several football clubs saw the light of day, including Fußballclub Neudorf, founded by a group of students from the Neudorf district, located south of the city. The team, which was financially supported by the students' teacher, made its debut in a match against FC Germania from the Schluthfeld district, in which it withdrew after conceding seven goals in the first forty-five minutes of play.

Over the next three years, the team, renamed Fußballclub Cäsar Neudorf and given a corporate organizational chart to cope with the inexperience of the players, continued to produce unconvincing results, attracting criticism and threatening to split several times. Thanks to the arrival of Louis Becker as president, in 1909 Neudorf was able to gain membership in the Verband Süddeutscher Fußball-Vereine, the football association in the southern part of the German Empire, which was part of the third tier of German football. Neudorf began a gradual improvement in results: thanks to a highly offensive style of play, the team achieved large victories (including a 28-0 victory over Erstein, the second largest margin of victory in the history of German football), which led to a double promotion within two years. In 1914, a few weeks before promotion to the first division, Neudorf acquired its first playing field, the Hämmerlé's Garten, on which the Meinau Stadium was built. In the same year, all sports activities were interrupted due to the outbreak of the First World War.

With the annexation of Alsace and Lorraine to France at the end of the war, it was decided to change the name of the club, which, in homage to Racing Club de France, became Racing Club de Strasbourg. In the decade following the end of hostilities, Strasbourg played in the Alsace regional championship (winning it in 1923, 1924 and 1927) and, from the 1920-21 season, in the French Cup. In the latter competition, the team never made it past the round of 16, but in the 1925-26 season, it pulled off an upset by eliminating Red Star, a team that at the time held the record for most national cups won. It was also during this period that the first wooden stands were built on the field, which later became the Meinau Stadium.

In 1932, Strasbourg's management rejected a proposal to turn the team professional that had just been approved by the Football Federation. Attempts to change management's decision (including a proposal to merge with Strasbourg Red Star) yielded a positive result a year later when, after a vote of 126 for, 2 against and 2 abstentions, the team was finally allowed to become professional and debut in the second division.

After winning the playoffs against rivals Mulhouse and Saint-Étienne, the Alsatians battled with Sochaux for the title in their debut in the top flight. Initially, Strasbourg had the upper hand, finishing first in the first half of the season, but lost the head-to-head match on the road to Sochaux, who went on to win the title despite losing the final match. In the following championships, the team, boosted by German striker Oskar Rohr, confirmed its status as a mid-table team, while in the 1936-37 French Cup, Strasbourg reached the final: again, Sochaux prevailed, winning 2-1 in a comeback.

At the beginning of World War II, with the occupation of France by the Third Reich army, the team was reconstituted as an amateur club by some players who had fled to the south of the country. After winning the regional championship, the team was introduced into the German football system, taking the name Rasensportclub Straßburg and playing in the Gauliga Elsaß.

From then until the liberation of Alsace, Strasbourg would play in four editions of the Gauliga, finishing second three times in a row (losing the title to Mulhouse in a playoff in the first year) and participating in the 1941-42 edition of the German Cup, where they were eliminated by Mulhouse in the first round. Notable during this period was the heated rivalry with Red Star Strasbourg, renamed SS Strasbourg after their affiliation with the regime's political police.

At the end of hostilities, with the return of Alsace to the political control of France, Strasbourg was reintegrated into the same football system in which it had participated before the outbreak of the war. After finishing twelfth in the league at the end of the war, Strasbourg came close to a double in the 1946-47 season, finishing among the contenders for the championship and competing for the French Cup until the final, where they were defeated by Lille.

In the following seasons, Strasbourg went through a period of mixed results: in the 1948-49 championship, the team, relegated on the field, avoided relegation thanks to Colmar's abandonment of its professional status. Two seasons later, the team won its first official trophy by winning the 1950-51 edition of the French Cup: this was possible thanks to a victory in the final against Valenciennes, which sparked celebrations throughout Alsace, culminating in the team being welcomed by 50,000 fans.

Winning this trophy did not bring stability to the team's results, as they dropped to the second division three times during the 1950s (1952, 1957, and 1960), only to return to the top flight immediately afterwards. The only notable result of the decade came in the 1954-55 season, when Strasbourg, led by Ernst Stojaspal, contended for the top spots in the standings, finishing fourth overall, and were eliminated by Lille in the French Cup semifinals.

In the early 1960s, Strasbourg had the chance to make their debut on the European stage, playing in the 1961-62 edition of the Fairs Cup, where they were eliminated in the first round by MTK Hungária. Thanks to subsidies from the municipality, Strasbourg experienced a period of improved results, culminating in the 1964-65 season, during which the team fought for the title: in second place, one point behind Nantes with four games to play, the Alsatians drew the head-to-head match and then succumbed in the final, finishing fifth. In the same season, the team had an excellent performance in the Fairs Cup, reaching the quarterfinals (after eliminating the likes of AC Milan and Barcelona, the latter equalizing in the dying seconds of the second leg and being eliminated after a 0-0 draw in the replay), where they were eliminated by Manchester United, who had already guaranteed qualification to the semifinals from the first leg (thanks to a 5-0 away win).

The following season, Strasbourg reached the final of the French Cup for the fourth time in the club's history, defeating Toulouse after equalizing with a minute remaining and then winning in extra time. In the final, the Alsatians faced newly crowned French champions Nantes, whom they defeated 1-0. In the same season, Strasbourg also participated in the Fairs Cup, where they met AC Milan in the first round. After losing 1-0 at the San Siro, the Alsatians won the return leg 2-1, forcing a play-off, which Milan won on a draw after the match ended 1-1.

In the following seasons, Strasbourg's results in competitions were unremarkable (except for a fifth-place finish in the 1969-70 season), so much so that the club's management decided to merge the club with the amateur team Pierrots Vauban, renaming it Racing Pierrots Strasbourg Meinau. However, the results were unsatisfactory: in the first season under the new name (1970-71), the team was relegated to Division 2, only to return to the top flight the following year. A second relegation in the 1975-76 season led to a split in the club with the re-founding of Pierrots Vauban and the restoration of the Racing Club de Strasbourg name.

After regaining promotion by winning the second division after a playoff with the top team in Group A (Monaco), Strasbourg started the 1977-78 season with a virtually unchanged lineup from the previous year, with the addition of Jacques Novi, Francis Piasecki (both from Paris Saint-Germain), and Raymond Domenech. Gilbert Gress, a former Strasbourg center forward in the 1960s who would become the most representative coach in the club's history, was also brought in to lead the team. Under Gress, the team adopted a tactic based on collective play, based on the 4-3-3 formation, which included the use of Gemmrich, Tanter and Vergnes as attackers. After a slow start, Strasbourg gradually regained positions and placed themselves among the contenders for a place in the UEFA zone, which then consisted of only two teams. A late collapse by Olympique Marseille allowed the Alsatians to move into third place with three days to go: a 3-2 win at Laval on the final day secured them the final spot to qualify for their third European competition.

Riding the wave of this success, Strasbourg prepared for the next season without making too many changes to the squad, only buying Roger Jouve from Nice and replacing Vergnes with the younger Wagner. The team started the championship in better form than the previous year, taking the lead on the fifth day and maintaining it throughout the season, although a defeat against Saint-Étienne in the return leg had favored the Verts' approach. A brace by Wagner and a goal by Ehrlacher in the final match against Lyon (on June 1, 1979) sparked celebrations throughout Alsace, which culminated the following day when the team was welcomed by 200,000 fans at Strasbourg station.

Immediately after winning the national title, the team's leadership was taken over by the politician André Bord, repeatedly elected Secretary of State for the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry for Veterans in the governments installed between 1966 and 1978 and former president of the team's multisport section. The new president almost immediately came into conflict with Gress by organizing a transfer window that brought to Strasbourg outstanding players such as the national player François Bracci and the top scorer Carlos Bianchi, who, however, did not meet the tactical requirements of the coach. This climate of conflict at the top of the club, known as the Affaire Gress-Bord, also affected the performance of the team, which, with a center forward incompatible with Gress's tactics based on the collective, failed to defend the title and, as compensation, reached the quarterfinals of the European Cup, where they were eliminated by Ajax.

The tensions between Gress and Bord reached a climax at the beginning of the 1980-81 season: after a very bad start in the championship, the fans, siding with Gress, began to harshly challenge the club, demanding the resignation of Bord, who, supported also by prominent politicians such as Jacques Chirac, remained at the helm of the club and fired the coach. This event marked the end of Strasbourg's golden era, which saw the loss of almost all the players who had contributed to the 1979 championship within a few years, replaced by important names (Didier Six, Jean-François Larios, Éric Pécout and Olivier Rouyer) who were never able to live up to expectations. This was also reflected in the team's results, which stagnated in the lower mid-table positions during the first half of the 1980s until the 1985-86 season, which ended with Strasbourg's relegation to Division 2 and the resignation of Bord, who left Daniel Hechter a team in the midst of corporate chaos, which remained entangled in the lower parts of the second division and then finished in ninth place. The team's new president, formerly the leading man of Paris Saint-Germain in the 1970s, had plans to rebuild a winning team, but his ambitions clashed with a disastrous economic situation that reached such a level in 1990 (a debt of 90 million francs was discovered) that he was forced to resign under pressure from the city's mayor.

The team, which had reached the top flight the previous two years only to drop back to the second division, was entrusted to industrialist Jacky Kientz. Failure to win promotion in the 1990-91 season prompted the management to recall Gress to the bench: relying on young prospects such as Frank Leboeuf and Martin Djetou, the coach led the team back to Division 1 after a close battle with Bordeaux and a 4-0 victory over Stade Rennais in the promotion/relegation playoff. Back in the top flight, Strasbourg made their debut by finishing close to the UEFA qualification spots. At the end of the following season, in which the team avoided relegation, there was a change at the top of the club, with Roland Weller taking over as president. Despite offers to extend his contract, Gress, who had come into conflict with some players during the championship over his training methods, decided to leave the team, causing discontent among the fans.

Such events did not initially destabilize the team's performance, which, entrusted to former player Daniel Jeandupeux, was in third place at the beginning of the 1994-95 season. A decline over the winter favored the replacement of Jeandupeux with former player Jacky Duguépéroux, who led the team to the French Cup final (lost 1-0 to Paris Saint-Germain) and tenth place in the league, which qualified the team for the newly created Intertoto Cup. By winning the competition, Strasbourg gained access to the UEFA Cup, returning to the European stage after a sixteen-year absence: their progress in the competition was interrupted by AC Milan in the round of 16. In the following two seasons, despite the departures of key players compensated by the introduction of youth players into the first team (including Olivier Dacourt, who made his debut as a striker), the team continued to achieve results that helped them qualify for European competitions, This culminated in the 1996-97 season, when the team finished ninth in the league after spending much of the season in mid-table positions, but qualified directly for the UEFA Cup thanks to winning the League Cup, which they did after narrowly defeating Bordeaux in the final.

That season also saw another change at the top of the club, which was taken over on March 21, 1997 by the IMG group, headed by former tennis player Patrick Proisy: the new ownership sparked a wave of optimism among the team's supporters, but they played a championship far below expectations and struggled to avoid relegation until the last day. The same season will also be remembered for the team's journey in the UEFA Cup: after eliminating Rangers, Strasbourg faced Liverpool in the second round, winning 3-0 at home to effectively secure qualification, as the 2-0 defeat at Anfield did not affect the aggregate score. The Alsatians' adventure came to an end in the third round against Inter Milan, who bounced back from a first-leg defeat.

The departure of Duguépéroux, who was in conflict with the management, opened a new dark period for the team, which had some bad seasons with unimpressive results both in the league and in the national cups. The worst moment seemed to materialize in the 2000-01 season, at the end of which the team was relegated to Division 2, having finished last without ever being able to fight to avoid relegation. However, the negative result was compensated by winning the third French Cup, which came after defeating Amiens in the final: the match, which ended 0-0 after extra time, was decided by penalty kicks, with the Alsatians winning 5-4. Thanks to this result, Strasbourg, who had been coached by Ivan Hašek during the summer, qualified for the UEFA Cup, from which they were eliminated in the first round by Standard Liège. This allowed the team to focus on the league, where they made a comeback to finish second and return to the newly formed Ligue 1.

The 2002-2003 season, which ended with the team avoiding relegation, saw a change in the club's top management, which had already been shaken by legal vicissitudes regarding the use of the club's name: the IMG group was replaced by a group of entrepreneurs led by German businessman Egon Gindorf. With the legal problems resolved, Strasbourg (with Antoine Kombouaré and Jacky Duguépéroux on the bench) battled through two mid-table seasons, culminating in the 2004-05 season with victory in the second League Cup against Caen (2-1). After qualifying for the UEFA Cup again, Strasbourg seemed to be on their way to a second golden period, but Philippe Ginestet's ascension to the club's presidency caused dissension in the management, which also affected the team's performance in the 2005-06 season, which ended in early relegation, with the first win not coming until the third-last day of the first half of the season. This negative result was offset by Strasbourg's performance in the UEFA Cup, where they were eliminated by Roma in the round of 16.

After winning promotion to Ligue 1 at the end of the 2006-07 season thanks to Jean-Pierre Papin (who knew how to get the most out of a team made up of players from lower leagues), Strasbourg started the 2007-08 season with Jean-Marc Furlan on the bench. The team seemed to be struggling on a par with the other relegation contenders, navigating mid-table positions until midway through the season, but from March onward, they suffered a steep decline that saw them drop positions until they finished second-last. In this context, a 2-1 defeat against Lyon, thanks to a goal scored by Fabio Grosso, who was heavily insulted by Furlan at the end of the game, is noteworthy; despite the controversy and the result, the club confirmed Furlan at the helm of the team that failed to gain promotion to Ligue 1 in the 2008-09 season, losing to Boulogne on the final day of the season.

At the end of the season, there was a reshuffle at the top of the club, bringing in former player Léonard Specht who, after trying to sign Gernot Rohr, hired Gress, who then returned to lead the team for the third time. However, the beginning of the 2009-10 season was marked by a confusing situation at the top of the club, with Gress (opposed by Ginestet who remained in the company as majority shareholder) being replaced after two defeats in the first two matches. Due to this result, Spécht also resigned, which favored the return of Ginestet as president, who called Pascal Janin, formerly Gress's assistant, to the bench. In November 2009, negotiations began for the transfer of Strasbourg's ownership to the English company FC Football Capital Limited, which took control of the club on December 5 with Julien Fournier as president. The vicissitudes at the corporate level were reflected in the team's results: six points clear of the relegation zone with six days to go, Strasbourg collapsed with only two points, and were overtaken by the other relegation contenders on the final day, dropping to the third division.

At the end of the 2010-2011 Third Division season, Strasbourg finished fourth and missed out on promotion to Ligue 2, but failed and restarted from the fifth division, the Championnat de France Amateur 2 Group C.

In 2011-2012, the team immediately returned to the Championnat de France Amateur, the fourth division, winning Group C of the Championnat de France Amateur 2 with 100 points. In 2012, the team changed its name to Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace and also changed its logo. After winning the fourth division championship in 2012-2013, the club returned to the Championnat National, the third division, within two years. For the 2014-2015 season, Jacky Duguépéroux took over after François Keller had managed the club for three years. In 2015-2016, Strasbourg won the National and returned to Ligue 2 after six years. In 2016-2017, they completed the climb, winning the second division as a newly promoted team and landing in the top flight. In Ligue 1 in 2017-18, the team finished in 15th place, saving themselves on the penultimate day thanks to a win at Décines-Charpieu against Olympique Lyonnais in a comeback with a free kick goal by Dimitri Liénard in the final minutes. In 2018-2019, the team won the French League Cup for the third time, defeating Guingamp 4-1 on penalties in the final.

• List of RC Strasbourg Alsace seasons

• Various authors (2002). 100 ans de football en Alsace (tome 2) [100 years of soccer in Alsace (tome 2)] (in French). Strasbourg: LAFA. ISBN 2-911219-13-9.
• Wahl, Alfred (1989). Les archives du football [Soccer archives] (in French). Paris: Gallimard. ISBN 2-07-071603-1.
• Bitzer, Dirk; Wilting, Bernd (2003). Stürmen für Deutschland: Die Geschichte des deutschen Fußballs von 1933 bis 1954 [Storming for Germany: The History of German Football from 1933 to 1954] (in German). Campus Verlag GmbH. ISBN 978-3-593-37191-7.
• Descamps, Pierre-Marie; Ejnès, Gérard; Hennaux, Jacques (2007). Coupe de France: La folle épopée [Coupe de France: An epic journey] (in French). L'Équipe. ISBN 978-2-915535-62-4.
• Gauthey, Gilles (1961). Le football professionnel français [French professional soccer] (in French). Paris.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Various authors (1991). Il était une fois le Racing, toute l'histoire du club omnisport strasbourgeois [Once upon a time, Racing, the history of Strasbourg's sports club] (in French). Ronald Hirlé, Berger-Levrault.
• Fuchs, Claude; Kieny, Gérard; Muller, Alphonse (2002). Les quatre vérités de Roland Weller [Roland Weller's four truths] (in French). Editions Coprur. ISBN 2-84208-103-X.