Sochaux may be a modest Ligue 1 outfit that survives the financial strains of modern day football by discovering, nurturing and then selling young talent, but the club can legitimately lay claim to being France’s first fully professional club.
Founded in 1928 by Jean-Pierre Peugeot – the car manufacturer – the Football Club de Sochaux set about building a team littered with the best French and foreign players going, and even hired an Englishman, Victor Gibson, as Coach. In 1931, the club organised the first ever national cup competition – the Coupe Peugeot – which prompted the French Football Federation to create a fully professional League in 1932.
In 1935, Sochaux won the League at a gallop, scoring 94 goals in the process. Two seasons later they beat Strasbourg in the final of the Coupe de France and in 1938 they confirmed their status as France’s premier club, defeating Marseille on their way to a second domestic crown.
However, deprived of their legion of foreign stars by the outbreak of war, the club survived the Second World War and the years that followed thanks largely to an ability to uncover new, young talent. In 1974, the club decided to turn its salvation into its future success and opened a centre of excellence, focusing on producing future professionals.
Despite several high-placed League finishes and a UEFA Cup semi-final in 1981, Sochaux had to wait until the 2004 Coupe de la Ligue penalty win over Nantes to lift another piece of silverware.
