Valenciennes

Valenciennes is a professional football club founded in 1913 by three young friends Colson, Joly and Bouly. In the early days of the team it played in the amateur leagues and managed to obtain professional status only in 1933. The same year Valenciennes started competing in Division Two. The team did not stay at that level long and two years later after finishing 2nd was promoted to Division One.

After war years saw the team playing in Division 1 again, moreover, in 1951 the club played in the final of the Coupe de France but was beaten 3-0 by Strasbourg. Eight years later Valenciennes played in the Coupe Drago but lost in the decisive match by 3-2 to Lens. During the 1970s and 1980s the team was floating between Division 1 and Division 2 and it was the year of 1991 that the club granted itself promotion to the top league.

The team competed successfully in the Ligue 1 but after the season 1993/1993 several Valenciennes’ players were alleged in taking bribes from Marseille president Bernard Tapie. In the aftermath of the scandal the players decided to leave the club, furthermore bad media coverage and sanctions from the Federation caused the club’s crisis that resulted in the dropping to the fourth division and even bankruptcy after the season 1996/1997.

In the 2004/2005 campaign the team came back to Division 2 and after a season under the leadership of Antoine Kombouaré received promotion to the Ligue 1.

The home ground of the club is newly-built Stade du Hainaut that has a capacity of 25,000 seats.