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Toulouse FC

Coordinates: 43°34′59″N 1°26′3″E / 43.58306°N 1.43417°E / 43.58306; 1.43417
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Toulouse
Full nameToulouse Football Club
Nickname(s)Le Téfécé
Les Violets
Le Tef
Les Pitchouns[1]
Short nameTFC
Founded1970; 54 years ago (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
2023–24Ligue 1, 11th of 18
Websitehttps://www.toulousefc.com
Current season

Toulouse Football Club (Occitan: Tolosa Fotbòl 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 Violets won the Coupe de France in 2023, and have won the second tier Ligue 2 on three occasions.[2] Toulouse have participated in European competition six times, including in 2007 when they qualified for the UEFA Champions League for the first time.[3]

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, Martin Braithwaite and Wissam Ben Yedder.

History

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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 France 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

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

Stadium

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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

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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

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Derby de la Garonne

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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

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Current squad

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As of 31 August 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
2 DF Denmark DEN Rasmus Nicolaisen (vice-captain)
3 DF United States USA Mark McKenzie
4 DF England ENG Charlie Cresswell
5 MF Australia AUS Denis Genreau
6 DF Romania ROU Ümit Akdağ (on loan from Alanyaspor)
7 FW Morocco MAR Zakaria Aboukhlal
8 MF Switzerland SUI Vincent Sierro (captain)
9 FW Cameroon CMR Frank Magri
10 MF France FRA Yann Gboho
12 DF Norway NOR Warren Kamanzi
13 FW Norway NOR Joshua King
15 FW Norway NOR Aron Dønnum
No. Pos. Nation Player
17 DF Chile CHI Gabriel Suazo
19 DF France FRA Djibril Sidibé
20 MF Germany GER Niklas Schmidt
21 MF Slovenia SVN Miha Zajc (on loan from Fenerbahçe)
23 MF Venezuela VEN Cristian Cásseres Jr.
26 DF France FRA Ylies Aradj
30 GK Spain ESP Álex Domínguez
34 MF France FRA Noah Lahmadi
35 FW France FRA Noah Edjouma
40 GK France FRA Justin Lacombe
50 GK France FRA Guillaume Restes
80 FW Gabon GAB Shavy Babicka

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
10 FW Netherlands NED Ibrahim Cissoko (on loan at Plymouth Argyle until 30 June 2025)
11 MF Spain ESP César Gelabert (on loan at Sporting Gijón until 30 June 2025)
GK Norway NOR Kjetil Haug (on loan at Odds BK until 31 December 2024)
No. Pos. Nation Player
FW Bosnia and Herzegovina BIH Said Hamulić (on loan at Widzew Łódź until 30 June 2025)
DF Sweden SWE Oliver Zandén (on loan at Randers FC until 31 December 2024)

Honours

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

Domestic

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Toulouse in European football

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Matches

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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 (a)
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 0–0 1–2 1–2

Club officials

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President Damien Comolli
Association President José Da Silva
Manager Carles Martínez Novell
Assistant Manager Jordan Galtier
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

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "#434 – Toulouse FC : les Pitchouns" (in French). Footnickname. 21 February 2021. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Toulouse football club". LFP. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  3. ^ a b c "Toulouse FC". UEFA. 18 February 2011. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  4. ^ a b "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. ^ a b "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

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  • 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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