Rivals | None |
Club Profile | Nickname: La Paillade |
Stadium | Montpellier played their first home games in Parc à Ballons and Champ de Manœuvres, two grounds lent to them by the Army. In 1920 they found a new home in the Stade des Aubes, a venue which had just been built by an association of sport aficionados, the Association Générale Sportive Montpelliéraine. However, in 1922 the club stopped renting that venue and resumed using the army grounds. The reason behind the change in approach was that the AGSM had run out of money and essential maintenance at the Stade des Aubes had not been finished. In 1923, they moved to the Parc des sports de l’Avenue du Pont Juvénal, which could host 18,000. This became their home for the following 45 years. In 1971 the club took residence at more modern Stade Richter. The move was unpopular with fans given the distance from the city centre. The end result was limited support for Montpellier. Between 1974 and 1976 the club played their biggest games at the Stade Richter whilst hosting smaller opponents in the more central Stade de la Mosson. The latter was renovated several times over the years reaching a capacity of 32,900. A new stadium is in the pipeline with a capacity of 25,000-30,000. It should be completed in 2021-2022 and will be named Stade Louis Nicollin, the name of the late long-serving President of the club. |
Recent History | Founded in 1919 as Stade Olympique Montpelliérain, they won their first Coupe de France in 1929 and were part of the 20 pioneer clubs that participated in the first national professional championship ever in 1932. They earned yoyo status between then and the early 1970s, when they eventually fell all the way down to the amateur leagues. The club, which had in the meantime changed name, having been merged with another club, AS Paillade, was eventually acquired by Louis Nicollin, who initiated an 8-year march which brought them back to the top flight in French football. It was in the early 1990s that Montpellier, now Montpellier HSC, hit the news again winning the Coupe de France. They also started to appear in European competitions with some regularity. In 1999 they won the Intertoto Cup, but dropped back to Ligue 2 the following season and risked a further relegation to the Championnat National. By 2008 they were back in Ligue 1 and with coach René Girard at the helm they returned to European competition. They won their first French title in 2011-2012, but in the following seasons would find themselves battling relegation. After the death of President Nicollin in 2017 Montpellier succeeded in finishing in the top 10 in Ligue 1 once more. |
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