Foussballclub Differdange 03 is a
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
club based in
Differdange
Differdange ( lb, Déifferdeng or (locally) ; german: Differdingen) is a commune with town status in south-western Luxembourg, west from the country's capital. It lies near the borders with Belgium and France and it is located in the canton of ...
,
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
.
History
Differdange 03 was formed in 2003 as an amalgam of two clubs from the
city
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
of Differdange:
FA Red Boys Differdange
Football Association Red Boys Differdange was a football club, based in Differdange, in south-western Luxembourg. It is now a part of FC Differdange 03.
History
Red Boys was founded as ''SC Differdange'' in 1907, the year after Luxembourg's firs ...
and AS Differdange. When the clubs merged, in time for the 2003–04 season, Red Boys was languishing in the bottom half of the
Division of Honour, while AS was in mid-table position in the third tier of Luxembourgian football. The new club took Red Boys league position, and was promoted back into the
National Division in the 2005–06 season, when the top division was expanded from twelve clubs to fourteen.
Red Boys Differdange had previously been one of the largest and most successful teams in Luxembourgian football, having won the
Luxembourg Cup
The Luxembourg Cup () is the national knockout cup competition in Luxembourgian football. It was first held in 1922, and has been held annually since, with the exception of the four seasons during the German occupation during Second World War.
W ...
more times than any other team (15). During the 1920s and 1930s, Red Boys competed with
Spora Luxembourg for dominance of Luxembourgian football. Red Boys was the more successful of the two, and won thirteen trophies in as many years between 1923 and 1936. Despite the staunch competition (Spora won 8 trophies in the same period), this record has never been matched.
In the
2011–12 UEFA Europa League
The 2011–12 UEFA Europa League was the third season of the UEFA Europa League, Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 41st edition overall including its predecessor, the UEFA Cup. It began on 30 June 2011 with t ...
Differdange 03 progressed to the 3rd qualifying round of the competition after they eliminated
Levadia Tallinn
Football Club Infonet Levadia Tallinn, commonly known as FCI Levadia, or simply as Levadia, is a professional football club based in Tallinn, Estonia, that competes in the Meistriliiga, the top flight of Estonian football. The club's home grou ...
1–0 on aggregate, one of the club's most famous European victories and one of the most historic victories for a club from
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
has ever had in European Competitions. In the 3rd qualifying round they met
Olympiakos Volou
Olympiacos Volos Football Club ( el, Π.Α.Ε. Α.Σ. Ολυμπιακός Βόλου 1937) is a Greek professional football club based in the city of Volos, Greece. They currently participating in the Gamma Ethniki.
History
In 1938 Olympiacos a ...
and lost 3–0 in both legs, 6–0 on aggregate. However, as Olympiakos Volou was presumably involved in a corruption case, UEFA decided on 11 August 2011 that Differdange would progress to the play-off round and meet
Paris Saint-Germain
Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...
, the furthest a club from Luxembourg has reached in European competitions.
In June 2012, after a poor season in
BGL League in which they placed 4th, FCD03 changed coach and
Paolo Amodio was exempted. Michel Leflochmoan was appointed as new coach as he is familiar in BGL League: with the
F91 Dudelange
F91 Dudelange (; lb, F91 Diddeleng, italic=no, ) is a Luxembourger professional football club based in Dudelange which plays in the Luxembourg National Division.
It was formed in 1991 as a merger between three teams in the town: Alliance Dudel ...
and with
Jeunesse Esch
Jeunesse Esch (full name ''Association Sportive la Jeunesse d'Esch/Alzette'') is a football club, based in Esch-sur-Alzette, in south-western Luxembourg. The side play in the National Division, the highest league in the country, and have won th ...
he won multiple championships in Luxembourg.
On 5 and 12 July 2012, FCD03 won against
NSÍ Runavík
NSÍ Runavík is a Faroese football club, playing in Runavík on the island of Eysturoy. It was founded 24 March 1957. In 2003 NSÍ participated for the first time on a European stage.
In 2007, the club won the Faroe Islands Premier League for t ...
for the first round of qualifying for Europe League with 3–0 and 0–3, with a total of 6 goals in two games. In the second round, FC Differdange 03 faced Belgian club
Gent
Gent is a shortened form of the word gentleman. It may also refer to:
* Ghent (Dutch: Gent), a Belgian city
** K.A.A. Gent, a football club from Ghent
** K.R.C. Gent, a football club from Ghent
** Gent RFC, a rugby club in Ghent
** .gent, a ...
, but were eliminated with an aggregate of 2–4.
On 18 July 2013, they defeated the Dutch club
Utrecht
Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...
in the first leg of 2nd qualifying round of the
UEFA Europa League
The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...
for 2–1. Omar Er Rafik scored both goals. And on 25 July 2013 the made a 3–3 draw against
Utrecht
Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...
in the return, eliminating the Dutch club, which is significantly larger than Differdange, in the
UEFA Europa League
The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...
Honours
As Red Boys Differdange
*
National Division
:''Winners (6):'' 1922–23, 1925–26, 1930–31, 1931–32, 1932–33, 1978–79
:''Runners-up (14):'' 1910–11*, 1926–27, 1933–34, 1934–35, 1957–58, 1973–74, 1975–76, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1983–84, 1984–85, 2008–09**, 2014–15**, 2016–17
*
Luxembourg Cup
The Luxembourg Cup () is the national knockout cup competition in Luxembourgian football. It was first held in 1922, and has been held annually since, with the exception of the four seasons during the German occupation during Second World War.
W ...
:''Winners (19, record):'' 1924–25, 1925–26, 1926–27, 1928–29, 1929–30, 1930–31, 1933–34, 1935–36, 1951–52, 1952–53, 1957–58, 1971–72, 1978–79, 1981–82, 1984–85, 2009–10**, 2010–11**, 2013–14**, 2014–15**
:''Runners-up (11):'' 1923–24, 1931–32, 1934–35, 1947–48, 1949–50, 1954–55, 1969–70, 1976–77, 1985–86, 1989–90***, 2012–13**
: *as Sporting Club Differdange
: **as FC Differdange 03
: ***as AS Differdange
European competitions
As Red Boys Differdange
Red Boys Differdange qualified for
UEFA
Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...
European competition ten times.
*
UEFA European Cup
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competiti ...
:''First round (1):'' 1979–80
*
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...
:''First round (3):'' 1972–73, 1982–83, 1985–86
*
UEFA Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...
:''First round (6):'' 1974–75, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1984–85
Red Boys never progressed past the first tie in any European competition. They won one match in Europe, winning their 1979
UEFA European Cup
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competiti ...
first leg 2–1 against
Omonia Nicosia
Athletic Club Omonia Nicosia ( el, Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Oμόνοιας Λευκωσίας, ΑΣΟΛ; ''Athlitikos Sillogos Omonias Lefkosias'', ''ASOL''), commonly known as Omonia Nicosia, or simply Omonia (" Harmony"; also tran ...
before losing 6–1 in
Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
. In the 1984
UEFA Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...
, Red Boys managed a surprise goalless draw with
Ajax
Ajax may refer to:
Greek mythology and tragedy
* Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea
* Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris
* ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...
, but were crushed 14–0 in the return, which remains a UEFA Cup record.
As FC Differdange 03
In the
2013–14 UEFA Europa League
The 2013–14 UEFA Europa League was the 43rd season of Europe's secondary club association football, football tournament organised by UEFA, and the fifth season under its current title.
The 2014 UEFA Europa League Final was played between Sevil ...
Differdange progressed to the 3rd qualifying round of the competition after they eliminated
Utrecht
Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...
5–4 on aggregate.
Overall, Differdange's record in European competition reads:
''Updated 26 July 2013''
;Notes
*Note: Olympiakos Volou disqualified by involvement in
match-fixing
In organized sports, match fixing is the act of playing or officiating a match with the intention of achieving a pre-determined result, violating the rules of the game and often the law. There are many reasons why match fixing might take place, ...
. UEFA replaced them with Differdange.
Current squad
''Updated 9 July, 2022.''
Equipe
nbsp;– FC Differdange 03
Out on loan
Staff
*Head Coach: Paolo Amodio
*Assistant Coach: Emilio Lobo
*Goalkeeper Coach: Patrick Worré
Former coaches
* Dan Theis (20 Nov 2003 – 30 June 2006)
* Roland Schaack (1 July 2008 – 30 June 2009)
* Dan Theis (1 July 2009 – 10 April 2011)
* Maurice Spitoni ''(caretaker)'' (10 April 2011 – 30 June 2011)
* Paolo Amodio (1 July 2011 – 30 June 2012)
* Michel Le Flochmoan (1 July 2012 – 30 June 2014)
* Marc Thomé (1 July 2014 – 30 June 2016)
* Pascal Carzaniga (1 July 2016 – )
References
External links
FC Differdange 03 official website
{{Luxembourg National Division clubs
Differdange 03
Differdange 03
Association football clubs established in 2003
2003 establishments in Luxembourg