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{{Fs player|no=--|nat=France|name=[[Grégory Vignal]]|pos=D|other=at [[Southampton FC]]}}
{{Fs player|no=--|nat=France|name=[[Grégory Vignal]]|pos=D|other=at [[Southampton FC]]}}
{{Fs player|no=--|nat=Tunisia|name=[[Issam Jemâa]]|pos=FW|other=at [[SM Caen]]}}
{{Fs player|no=--|nat=Tunisia|name=[[Issam Jemâa]]|pos=FW|other=at [[SM Caen]]}}
{{Fs player|no=--|nat=Côte d'Ivoire|name=[[Kanga Akalé|Kanga Gauthier Akalé]]|pos=FW|other=at [[Olympique de Marseille]]}}
{{Fs player|no=--|nat=Côte d'Ioire|name=[[Kanga Akalé|Kanga Gauthier Akalé]]|pos=FW|other=at [[Olympique de Marseille]]}}
{{Fs player|no=--|nat=Morocco|name=[[Adil Hermach]]|pos=D|other=at [[K.S.V. Roeselare]]}}
{{Fs player|no=--|nat=Morocco|name=[[Adil Hermach]]|pos=D|other=at [[K.S.V. Roeselare]]}}
{{Fs player|no=--|nat=France|name=[[Lucien Aubey]]|pos=D|other=at [[Portsmouth FC]]}}
{{Fs player|no=--|nat=France|name=[[Lucien Aubey]]|pos=D|other=at [[Portsmouth FC]]}}

Revision as of 15:20, 26 January 2008

Lens
logo
Full nameRacing Club de Lens
Nickname(s)Les Sang et Or
Founded1906
GroundStade Félix Bollaert,
Lens
Capacity41,233
ChairmanGervais Martel
ManagerFrance Jean-Pierre Papin
LeagueLigue 1
2006-2007Ligue 1, 5th

Racing Club de Lens is a French football club which plays in the northern city of Lens, in the Pas-de-Calais département. Its nickname, sang et or (literally, 'blood and gold'), comes from its traditional colours of red and gold.

Honours

Records

History

The birth of a club

1905, Lens. On the place Verte (the actual place de la République), students are playing football. They do not yet know that they are writing the first lines of the history of the Racing Club de Lens. Why this name? Football was invented in England, so it was good to have a club with an Anglo-Saxon name. Moreover, the youth of that time were following the Racing Club de Roubaix and the Racing Club de France.

The first board was formed by the parents of those teenagers under the name of Racing club lensois, before the club would officially be registered under the name Racing Club de Lens in 1906. The club originally played in green, as the club was born on the place Verte, and the black, for the omnipresence of coal mining in the region.

Between 1907 and 1912, the players were forced to change sports grounds a couple of times, before settling at the actual parc des Glissoires, between Avion and Lens.

During World War I, the club’s activities were silenced, before restarting in 1919 with the help of the Americans. Lens was then playing in sky blue.

Of blood and gold

It is in 1924 that the red and gold colours appeared. The legend says that Mr Moglia, president of the club from 1923 to 1930, chose the colours of the Spanish flag after someone from the club remarked that the ruins of the Saint-Léger church they happened to be walking by that night were the last remains of the Spanish occupation in 1648. People also say that the colours come from the coal mines. The red for the blood of the miners and the gold for the coal which was valuable at the time.

Still in 1924, the club was authorized to play at the newly built municipal stadium Raoul Briquet (nowadays Léo Lagrange). The first match with the new colours was played for the inauguration of the stadium.

In 1926, the British Kid Fenton is the first star who plays for Lens. He will stay there 8 seasons. Moreover, the first fan club is created, and finally Lens won for the first time the Championnat d’Artois.

In 1929, Lens wins the North championship and wins access for the first time to the Division d’Honneur of the Ligue du Nord with the clubs of the Olympique Lillois, RC Roubaix, Excelsior Athlétic Club de Roubaix and the AC Amiens.

In the Artois League, the club is more and more known and in 1932, the club inaugurates the stade Félix Bollaert.

The first victories

In 1937 gains access to the first division by finishing first of the second with players such as Stanis and Spechtl. Lens even managed to reach the last 16 of the French Cup, but the team is knocked out by the Red Star (final score, 3-2).

In 1943, the RC Lens won the first division of the Northern Zone, thanks to Stanis who scored 43 goals in 30 games. A year earlier, in a French Cup match he scored 17 goals, which is still today the world record.

After World War II, Lens finished 6th in the 1945/46 season, but they are relegated the following year. In 1948, the club played its first French Cup final, which was lost 3-2 against the LOSC.

Then, Lens is promoted to the 1st division and Maryan Wisnieski is recruited (in 1953). But problems with the board made him quit the club to join the UC Sampdoria Genoa without much success.

In 1962, the mines are shut down and the club is at stake as most of the players were miners. Between 1956 and 1968, survival is hard. Nevertheless, in 1964, Lens finished third and the best goal scorer was Ahmed Oudjani with 30 goals. Another famous player joins Lens: Georges Lech. However, Lens is relegated in 1968.

The following year, the mine’s administrators let go of Lens, and it is the end of professional football at the Stade Bollaert. Lens is once again an amateur club, one year after its relegation.

Henry Trannin, the managing director, and Arnold Sowinski stay faithful to the club, waiting for better days…

The good years and the fall

And the better days arrive in 1960: the town council bets on the Racing Club de Lens. Lens’ mayor, André Delelis, wants to see the club continue thrilling the fans. With the future president, Jean Bondoux, the mayor brings together volunteers and subscriptions in order to make the club survive. Moreover the city recovers the stadium from the closing mine industry.

In 1972, Lens reaches the semi-finals of the French Cup and the arrival of 2 Polish players helps the club to the 1st division. In 1975, Lens reaches once more the final of the French Cup against the AS Saint Etienne. But “les Verts” win the game 2-0, with an anthology goal by Jean-Michel Larqué.

As finalist of the French Cup, Lens has the opportunity to participate in its first UEFA Cup Winners' Cup , but the team is knocked out quickly by the Dutch club ADO Den Haag.

Stade Félix Bollaert


Lens’ progresses continue and after finishing 2nd in the League behind Nantes, they qualify themselves to the UEFA Cup. They knock out Malmö FF, and above all, the Lazio Roma, after an away defeat (2-0), they won 6-0 at the Stade Félix Bollaert after extra-time. Unfortunately, after this rare exploit for a French club, they are eliminated by the East German side Magdeburg. Worse, the club goes back to the 2nd division in 1978.

The return among the elite will be in 1979 with Roger Lemerre as head coach. During the 1980’s, Gérard Houllier and Joachim Marx will succeed him.

But the club doesn’t have enough means to keep players such as Didier Sénac, Gaëtan Huard orPhilippe Vercruysse.

Martel’s takeover

In 1988, a local businessman takes over the club, with the help of Serge Doré. Little by little, the club will transform itself into an enterprise and it will open itself to investors.

During the same year, Arnaud Dos Santos will be named head coach of the club, and it will be promoted back in 1st division in 1991.

In 1993 and 1994, the RC Lens plays in the top of the League and the team qualifies for the UEFA Cup twice in a row. Lens even reaches the semi final of the French Cup after knocking out the Paris Saint Germain at the Parc des Princes, but the team fails against Montpellier.

In 1998, “les Sang et Or” will write their best page of their history under Daniel Leclercq (“the Druid”): French Champions, League Cup semi-finalist and finalist of the French Cup against the PSG (2-1 defeat). Like a symbol, it is a player who started his career in Lens, Yoann Lachor, who scored in Auxerre the goal which gave Lens the title, in front of Metz. Still under the “Druid”, Lens will win its 2nd major title in 1999 with the League Cup against Metz, with a goal from Daniel Moreira. That year, in the Champions League, Lens will also become the only club to have beaten Arsenal at Wembley (1-0, with a goal from Mickaël Debève), but they were knocked out.

The next season, Daniel Leclercq is fired, but Lens will still reach the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup. François Brisson’s men were eliminated by Arsenal, but they had before beaten Kaiserslautern (4-1 win in Germany), Atlético Madrid and the Celta Vigo. For the 2002/2003 season, Joël Muller was named head coach. Lens finished second that season and qualified for its 2nd Champions League campaing. However, the club finished 8th the next two years.

Muller will be replace during his 4th season by Francis Gillot, who managed to qualify Lens for the Intertoto Cup, which was won, which meant qualification for the UEFA Cup.

During the 2006/2007, the Sang et Or finish the first part of the season 2nd, behind Lyon. But due to chaotic 2nd part, they only finished 5th.

A few days later, Francis Gillot resigned, probably due to the fact that the club didn’t qualify for the Champions League. The 5th of June 2007, Guy Roux made his come back, which would only last 3 months, as he resigned during the game RC Strasbourg-RC Lens (lost 2-1).

Jean-Pierre Papin took over, but half way through the season, Lens is 18th.

Presidents

Managers

Former coaches include two ex France coaches: Gérard Houllier (1982-85) managed France between July 1992 and November 1993, and Roger Lemerre (second half of the 1996-97 season, then as assistant coach 1997-98), who managed France between July 1998 and July 2002.

Current squad

As of January 20, 2008.

Goal Keepers

N° Name Position Date and Place of Birth Nationality National Team
1 Vedran Runje GK 9 february 1976 in Split Croatia Croatia A
16 Ronan Le Crom GK 13 july 1974 in Lorient France
40 Arnaud Brocard GK 19 august 1986 in Dijon France

Defenders

N° Name Position Date and Place of Birth Nationality National Team
2 Marco Ramos LB 26 April 1983 in Levallois-Perret Portugal Portugal Under-19
3 Vitorino Hilton CB 13 September 1977 in Brasilia Brazil
4 Adama Coulibaly CB 9 October 1980 in Bamako Mali Mali A
11 Nadir Belhadj LB 18 June 1982 in Saint-Claude Algeria Algeria A
15 Fabien Laurenti RB 6 January 1983 in Marseille France France Under-21
19 Lucien Aubey LB 24 April 1984 in Brazzaville France France Under-21
25 Milan Biševac CB/RB 31 August 1983 in Mitrovica Serbia Serbia A
26 Yohan Demont (cap) RB/RM 15 may 1978 in Valenciennes France

Midfielders

N° Name Position Date and Place of Birth Nationality National Team
5 Mounir Diane AM 16 may 1982 in Oulad Abbou Morocco Morocco A
6 Abdou Kader Mangane DM 23 march 1983 in Thiès Senegal Senegal A
7 Abdoulrazak Boukari AM 25 april 1987 in Lomé (Togo) France France Under-21
10 Éric Carrière AM 24 may 1973 in Foix (09) France France A
18 Olivier Monterrubio LM/LW 8 august 1976 in Gaillac France France A'
21 Sidi Yaya Keita DM 20 march 1985 in Bamako Mali Mali A
22 Jonathan Lacourt DM/AM 17 august 1986 in Avignon France France Under-21
23 Nenad Kovačević DM 11 november 1980 in Kraljevo Serbia Serbia A
24 Bedsenté Gomis AM 14 april 1988 in Mont-Saint-Aignan France
28 Julien Sablé DM/AM 11 september 1980 in Marseille France France Under-21

Forwards

N° Name Position Date and Place of Birth Nationality National Team
8 Toifilou Maoulida FW 8 june 1979 in Dzaoudzi France France Under-21
9 Luigi Pieroni FW 8 september 1980 in Liège Belgium Belgium A
14 Kévin Monnet-Paquet FW 19 august 1988 in Bourgoin-Jallieu France France Under-19
27 Aruna Dindane FW/RW 26 november 1980 in Abidjan Ivory Coast Côte d'Ivoire A
29 Seïd Khiter FW 19 january 1985 in Roubaix France France Under-19
41 David Pollet FW 21 august 1988 in La Bassée Belgium Belgium Under-21

Players 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
-- D France FRA Grégory Vignal (at Southampton FC)
-- FW Tunisia TUN Issam Jemâa (at SM Caen)
-- FW Template:Country data Côte d'Ioire Kanga Gauthier Akalé (at Olympique de Marseille)
-- D Morocco MAR Adil Hermach (at K.S.V. Roeselare)
-- D France FRA Lucien Aubey (at Portsmouth FC)

Current Staff (2007-2008)

Name Position Date of Birth Place of Birth Nationality
Jean-Pierre Papin Head Coach 1963-11-05 Boulogne-sur-Mer France
Colbert Marlot Assistant 1963-03-04 Liévin France
Cyril Moine Assistant 1972-01-02 Dijon France
Sébastien Migné Assistant 1972-08-30 La Roche-sur-Yon France
Jean-Pierre Lauricella Assistant (goal keepers) 1965-02-04 Charbonnier-les-Mines France

Former great players

Three Lens players won the gold medal in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games: defender Didier Sénac, as well as strikers François Brisson and Daniel Xuereb who scored a goal apiece in France's triumph over Brazil 2-0 in the final at the Pasadena Rose Bowl in front of a 103,000 crowd.

For a complete list of RC Lens players, see Category:RC Lens players

French Internationals

Name Position Caps with Lens Total Caps
1 Maryan Wisnieski Forward 33 33
2 Georges Lech Forward 16 35
3 Xercès Louis Midfielder 12 12
4 Didier Six Forward 11 52
5 Alou Diarra * Midfielder 11 12
6 Guillaume Bieganski Defender 5 9
7 Philippe Vercruysse Midfielder 4 12
8 Ladislas Siklo 4 4
9 Tony Vairelles * Forward 3 8
10 Daniel Xuereb Forward 3 8
11 Pierre Laigle Midfielder 2 8
12 Daniel Moreira * Forward 2 3
13 Didier Sénac Defender 2 3
14 François Brisson Forward 2 2
15 Edmond Novicki Forward 2 2
16 Michel Stievenard 2 2
17 Frédéric Déhu * Défenseur 1 5
18 Farès Bousdira Midfielder 1 1
19 Paul Courtin Forward 1 1
20 Jean Desgranges 1 1
21 Raymond François Midfielder 1 1
22 Richard Krawczyk Midfielder 1 1
23 Marcel Ourdouillié Midfielder 1 1

* Still playing.

French players

Foreign players

See also

External links

Template:Fb start

Template:UEFA Cup 2007-08 Template:Intertoto Cup 2007 Template:Fb end

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