Founded in 1906 under the name of FC Neudorf, the future Racing Club de Strasbourg was essentially a club for the young students of the area. In 1914, playing predominantly in German Alsace, the FC Neudorf hired a rectangular piece of grass which would later be transformed into the current-day Stade de la Meinau.
After the First World War, FC Neudorf became the Racing Club de Strasbourg-Neudorf, before dropping the Neudorf completely. And they won their first piece of silverware with the 1921 Alsace League crown.
The club turned professional in 1933 and were almost immediately accepted into France’s first division, where they performed admirably until the outbreak of the Second World War and Alsace’s annexation by Nazi Germany. As a result, the club were forced to return to their amateur status and were renamed Rasensport Club Strassburg.
Accepted back into the French top flight following liberation, Strasbourg won the first of three Coupes de France in 1951. The second would follow 15 years later in 1966, but it wasn’t until the 1978-79 season, under the leadership of current Coach Jacky Duguépéroux, that Strasbourg reached the pinnacle of the French game with their only League triumph to date.
The team failed to confirm their new status in the eighties and, despite a Coupe de la Ligue in 1997 and another Coupe de France victory in 2001, it wasn’t until the return of Duguépéroux to the helm and victory in the 2005 Coupe de la Ligue that Strasbourg were reinstated as eastern France’s biggest club.
