FC Grenoble

FC Grenoble
Full name	Football Club de ; Grenoble Rugby
Nickname (s)	FCG
Founded	1892
Stadion	Stade des Alpes
Places	20,068
president	Marc Cherèque
Trainer	Fabrice Landreau ; Sylvain Bégon ; Franck Corrihons
Homepage	www.fcgrugby.com
league	Pro D2
2018/19	13th place (Top 14)
home	Away

old logo

The Football Club de Grenoble Rugby ( FC Grenoble or FCG for short ) is a rugby union club from the French city of Grenoble in the Isère department . He was promoted from the Pro D2 at the end of the 2011/12 season and is now represented in the top 14 league . The home games are played in the Stade des Alpes . The greatest success of FC Grenoble is winning the championship title in 1954.

history

The association was founded in 1892 under the name Association Athlétique du Lycée . It was followed by several other clubs that also played rugby; Cercle Sportif (1896), Stade Grenoblois (1897) and Union Athlétique Grenobloise (1906). In 1911 these merged to form the Football Club de Grenoble . Rugby was simply considered a different twist on football at the time, hence the name.

The first success in the club's history was winning the Alpine Championship in 1912. In 1918, the FCG reached the final of the Coupe de l'Espérance . This was held during the First World War as a replacement for the championship; FCG lost 9:22 against Racing Club de France . Winning the Alpine Championship again in 1919 confirmed the regional supremacy.

Grenoble regularly took part in the final stages of the championship, but without any significant success. In 1931, the FCG was one of those twelve (later fourteen) teams that left the Fédération Française de Rugby (FFR) and founded the rival union Union Française de Rugby Amateur (UFRA). The aim was to set an example against the creeping professionalism and increasing violence on the field. Only one year later the association broke up and the FCG rejoined the FFR.

After the end of the Second World War, the FCG rose to the second division, but managed to rise again in 1950. In 1954 the first team celebrated the greatest success in the club's history, winning the French championship. In the final, US Cognac was narrowly defeated 5: 3. Until 1968 the FCG regularly qualified for the round of 16 of the championship. From 1975 to 1978 the FCG played again in the second division. In 1986 the prestigious Challenge Yves du Manoir was won. In 1989, 1990 and 1996 they reached the quarter-finals of the championship, in 1992 and 1994 the semi-finals. In 1993 the FCG was in the final for the second time, but lost 11:14 against Castres Olympique ; The coach at the time was Jacques Fouroux .

Grenoble remained one of the top teams in the country: semi-finals in 1994, quarter-finals in 1996, semi-finals in 1999. In the 1999/2000 season, FCG had to settle for 19th place, but also took part in the European Heineken Cup and even beat the then defending champions Northampton Saints . A downsizing of the first division this year meant that the FCG had to fight a barrage to maintain the league against Section Paloise , which was lost.

In 2002 they were promoted to the top 14 and the FCG reached the playoffs rather surprisingly in the following season. But in the 2003/04 seasons, the relegation could only just be prevented, which then became a fact in 2005. The club had a deficit of 3.64 million euros, which is why the Ligue Nationale de Rugby refused the license for the Pro D2 . The FCG then had to play in Fédérale 1 for one season . In 2012 they were promoted back to the top 14. By the end of the 2013/14 season, FC Grenoble played their home games at the Stade Lesdiguières and then moved to the Stade des Alpes .