‪Lille OSC‬
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 11/2014

Full name:
Lille Olympique Sporting Club

Nicknames:
Les Dogues (The Great Danes)

Founded:
23 September 1944

Ground:
Stade Pierre-Mauroy
 
Capacity:
50,186

Chairman:
Michel Seydoux

Manager:
René Girard

League:
Ligue 1

2013-14:
Ligue 1, 3rd

LOSC Lille (Lille Olympique Sporting Club; commonly referred to as Le LOSC, Lille OSC or simply Lille) is a French association football club based in Lille. 

The club was founded in 1944 as a result of a merger and currently play in Ligue 1, the first division of French football. 

Lille previously played its home matches at the Stade Lille-Metropole in nearby Villeneuve-d'Ascq. 

In 2012, the club moved into its new facility, the Grand Stade Lille Métropole. 

The team is managed by French football figure René Girard and captained by French international Rio Mavuba.

Lille was founded as a result of a merger between Olympique Lillois and SC Fives. 

Both clubs were founding members of the French Division 1 and Lillois was the league's inaugural champions. 

Under the Lille emblem, the club has won three league titles in 1946, 1954, and 2011 and six Coupe de France titles, which is tied for fourth-best among clubs. 

Lille and Red Star FC are the only French clubs in the competition's history to win the Coupe de France in three consecutive seasons. 

Lille's most successful period was the decade from 1946 to 1956 when the team was led by managers George Berry and André Cheuva.

Lille have a long-standing rivalry with its neighbours RC Lens. 

The two clubs regularly contest the Derby du Nord.

Lille is presided over by Michel Seydoux, a French businessman and movie producer. 

Seydoux initially purchased shares of the club in January 2002 and, subsequently, gained majority control two years later.

HISTORY

1944-1955: THE FIRST DECADE

Before the Second World War, the city of Lille had two clubs in Ligue 1 - Olympique Lillois and Sporting Club Fivois. 

Weakened by the conflict, the two clubs decided to merge after the Liberation and gave birth to LOSC (Lille Olympique Sporting Club) in the autumn 1944. 

Within its first decade of existence, the new club won two league titles and reached second place in the French Championship for four consecutive seasons. 

In the Coupe de France the club accumulated five wins in seven finals, including five successive finals. 

The final of the Latin Cup, the forerunner of the European Cup, was also reached.

1956-1980: LILLE LOSES THE WAY

LOSC was relegated for the first time in 1956. 

The club became a mid-table side and in the late 1960s, after a long period of anonymity, and weighed down by a lack of facilities and resources, LOSC abandoned its professional status. It was feared that the club might disappear. 

However, some young leaders, such as Max Pommerolle, came and gave new impetus to the club. 

Nevertheless, the results remained erratic and the only titles that ignited the fans' passions were won in the Second Division.

1980-2000: LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS FOR FUTURE SUCCESS

In July 1980, LOSC was the first French Club to opt for the status of a Mixed Economy Company, of which the City of Lille became the majority shareholder. 

The teams of presidents Amyot, Deschot and Dewailly all struggled to compete with the top teams in the country. 

Jacques Amyot's resignation in 1990 led to three more difficult years for the club which compromised its very existence. 

It took Bernard Lecomte's arrival in 1993 to set the club finances on the road to recovery. 

After a final relegation in 1997, the team trained by Bosnian coach Vahid Halilhodžić was soon promoted back to the elite, in the same year that French Football League was privatised.

2000-PRESENT: A STEADY CLIMB TO THE TOP

In just its first season back in the top flight 2000-01 French Division 1, the LOSC qualified for Europe for the first time in the club's history, booking its place in the 2000-01 Champions League. 

On the back of the club's new status, the LOSC entered into a decisive new era under the guidance of chairman and Chief executive officer Michel Seydoux and coach Claude Puel. 

The club left the historical Stade Grimonprez-Jooris to join the Stadium Lille Métropole and became a regular on the European scene. 

Amongst its most emphatic results was the 1:0 victory over Manchester United at the Stade de France in 2005, the 2:0 triumph over Milan in San Siro in 2006 and the 1:0 home win over Liverpool in 2010. 

A steady development off the pitch (inauguration of the Domaine de Luchin training complex in 2007, opening of the Grand Stade in 2012), coupled with the sporting progression under the expert hand of coach Rudi Garcia, took the LOSC back to the summit of the French game with the League and Cup double in 2011 (56 years after the club's last trophy). 

In 2012, the LOSC confirmed its place at the top table of the domestic game with another qualification for Europe's most prestigious club competition, the Champions League in 2012-13. 

With the club finishing just outside the UCL places that season, Rudi Garcia left for A.S Roma, while former Montpellier coach René Girard was appointed the new LOSC manager.

STADIUMS 

Stade Pierre-Mauroy was inaugurated in 2012.

Originally named the Centre Olympique de Lille Est, the club's sporting venue is spread over five hectares and features three natural grass football pitches and one synthetic pitch, as well as a number of buildings including a medical centre and gymnasium. 

These attributes had seen the club house part of the LOSC Youth Academy here, before all the club's operations were moved to the Domaine de Luchin in Camphin-en-Pé.

CLUB RIVALRIES

The Derby du Nord is a football match contested between French clubs RC Lens and Lille OSC, two of region's most successful clubs. 

The derby has the name despite Lille being the only club of the two situated in the department of Nord. 

Lens are situated in the western department of Pas-de-Calais. 

The name can also refer to matches involving Lille and Valenciennes as both clubs are located within Nord, however, the match historically refers to matches involving Lille and Lens. 

As a result, the Lille-Valenciennes match is sometimes referred to as Le Petit Derby du Nord. 

The two clubs first met in 1937 when Lille were playing under the Olympique Lillois emblem. 

Due to each club's close proximity towards each other being separated by only 40 kilometres (25 mi) and sociological differences between each club's supporters, a fierce rivalry developed. 

The Derby du Nord is underpinned by social and economic differences, since the city of Lens is known as an old, working-class, industrial city and Lille as a middle-class, modern, internationally oriented one. 

Nowadays the matches, which can spark intense feelings on both sides, have gained prominence as they may determine berths in continental competitions.

Players