Montpellier Hérault Sport Club (), commonly referred to as Montpellier HSC or simply Montpellier, is a French professional
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 the city of
Montpellier
Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...
in
Occitanie Occitanie may refer to:
*Occitania, a region in southern France called ''Occitanie'' in French
*Occitania (administrative region)
Occitania ( ; french: Occitanie ; oc, Occitània ; ca, Occitània ) is the southernmost administrative region of ...
. The original club was founded in 1919, while the current incarnation was founded through a merger in 1974. Montpellier currently plays in
Ligue 1
Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...
, the top level of
French football
Association football is the most popular sport in France. The French Football Federation (FFF, Fédération Française de Football) is the national governing body and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of association football in the cou ...
and plays its home matches at the
Stade de la Mosson
The Stade de la Mosson () is a football stadium in Montpellier, France. It is the home of Ligue 1 club Montpellier HSC, and has a capacity of 32,900. Formerly a 16,000-seater stadium, it was entirely rebuilt in 1998 to host 6 games of the 1998 ...
, located within the city. The first team is managed by
Olivier Dall'Oglio and
captained by
Teji Savanier.
Montpellier is owned by Laurent Nicollin, the son of the late Louis Nicollin, a French entrepreneur, who had been owner since 1974. The club have produced several famous players in its history, most notably
Laurent Blanc
Laurent Robert Blanc (born 19 November 1965) is a French professional football manager and former player who played as a centre-back, and is currently the manager of Ligue 1 club Lyon. He has the nickname ''Le Président'', which was given to him ...
, who has served as manager of the
France national team. Blanc is also the club's all-time leading goalscorer.
Eric Cantona
Eric Daniel Pierre Cantona (; ; born 24 May 1966) is a French actor, director, producer, and former professional footballer. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation, Cantona is credited as having made Manchester United a d ...
,
Roger Milla
Albert Roger Miller (born 20 May 1952), known as Roger Milla, is a Cameroonian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He was one of the first African players to be a major star on the international stage. He played in three Wor ...
,
Carlos Valderrama
Carlos Alberto Valderrama Palacio (Colombian Spanish: ; born 2 September 1961), also known as ''El Pibe'' ("The Kid"), is a Colombian former professional footballer and sports commentator for Fútbol de Primera, who played as an attacking mid ...
and
Olivier Giroud
Olivier Jonathan Giroud (born 30 September 1986) is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker for club AC Milan and the France national team. Regarded for his work-rate, strength, acrobatic strikes, shot power, consistent goal-s ...
are other players who have played in Montpellier's colours. In 2001, Montpellier introduced a
women's team.
History
Montpellier was founded under the name Stade Olympique Montpelliérain (SOM) and played under the name for most of its existence. In 1989, after playing under various names, the club changed its name to its current form. Montpellier is one of the
founding members of the first division of French football. Along with
Marseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...
,
Rennes
Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...
and
Nice
Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...
, Montpellier is one of only a few clubs to have played in the inaugural 1932–33 season and is still playing in the first division. The club won Ligue 1 for the first time in the
2011–12 season. Montpellier's other honours to date include winning the
Coupe de France
The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...
in
1929 and
1990
File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...
, and the
UEFA Intertoto Cup in
1999.
In the 2011–12 season, Montpellier won its first Ligue 1 title, finishing the season with 82 points, three points ahead of runners-up
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 ...
. On 20 May 2012, in a game marred by stoppages for crowd violence,
John Utaka
John Chukwudi Utaka (born 8 January 1982) is a Nigerian former footballer who played as a striker and is currently a youth coach at Montpellier HSC. He is the older brother of fellow professional footballer Peter Utaka.
Utaka has played for se ...
scored a brace to secure a 2–1 victory over
Auxerre
Auxerre ( , ) is the capital of the Yonne department and the fourth-largest city in Burgundy. Auxerre's population today is about 35,000; the urban area (''aire d'attraction'') comprises roughly 113,000 inhabitants. Residents of Auxerre are r ...
and win the Ligue 1 title for Montpellier.
Olivier Giroud
Olivier Jonathan Giroud (born 30 September 1986) is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker for club AC Milan and the France national team. Regarded for his work-rate, strength, acrobatic strikes, shot power, consistent goal-s ...
, who finished the season with 21 goals and 9 assists, was the league's top goal scorer. Despite being tied on goals with Paris Saint-Germain attacker
Nenê
Nenê (; born Maybyner Rodney Hilário; September 13, 1982) is a Brazilian former professional basketball player. Known previously as Nenê Hilario, he legally changed his name to simply Nenê in 2003.
Early life
Born Maybyner Rodney Hilário i ...
, he was named the league's top scorer by the Ligue de Football Professionnel due to finishing with more goals in open play.
Players
Current squad
Out on loan
Records
Most appearances
Top scorers
Management and staff
Club officials
;Senior club staff
*President: Laurent Nicollin
*Association chairman: Gilbert Varlot
*Sporting Director:
Bruno Carotti
Bruno Carotti (born 30 September 1972 in Palma de Mallorca, Spain) is a retired French football player. He is currently the sporting director of Montpellier.
Honours
Montpellier
*Coupe de la Ligue: 1991–92
Paris Saint-Germain
*Trophée des C ...
*Head of Youth:
Francis De Taddeo
;Coaching and medical staff
*Manager: Vacant
*Assistant Manager:
Ghislain Printant
Ghislain Printant (born 13 May 1961) is a French football manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of ma ...
*First-Team Coach: Franck Rizzetto
*Goalkeeper Coach: Dominique Deplagne
*Goalkeeper Coach:
Teddy Richert
Teddy Richert (born 21 September 1974) is a French goalkeeper coach, currently working for Montpellier, and former football goalkeeper.
Richert spent the most of his career at Sochaux-Montbéliard and was considered to be one of the most consis ...
*Fitness Coach: Stéphane Paganelli
*Scout: Serge Delmas
Coaching history
Honours
Domestic
*
Ligue 1
Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...
**''Champions'' (1):
2011–12
*
Ligue 2
Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...
**''Champions'' (3):
1945–46,
1960–61,
1986–87
*
Coupe de France
The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...
**''Champions'' (2):
1928—29,
1989–90
**''Runners-up'' (2):
1930—31,
1993–94
*
Coupe de la Ligue
The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Football in France, French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was est ...
**''Champions'' (1):
1992
File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...
**''Runners-up'' (2):
1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...
,
2010–11
*Division d'Honneur (Languedoc-Roussillon)
**''Champions'' (2): 1981, 1992
[The two DH titles won were achieved by the club's reserve team.]
Europe
*
UEFA Intertoto Cup
**''Winners'' (1):
1999
Other
*Division d'Honneur (Sud-Est)
**''Champions'' (3): 1928, 1932, 1976
U19
*
Coupe Gambardella
The Coupe Gambardella is a French football cup competition held between the under-18s of the French football clubs, organized by the French Football Federation (FFF).
The cup is regarded as an opportunity for young hopefuls to showcase their s ...
**''Champions'' (3): 1996, 2009, 2017
**''Runners-up'' (3): 1984, 1985, 1997
References
External links
*
{{UEFA Intertoto Cup winners
Association football clubs established in 1919
Sport in Montpellier
1919 establishments in France
UEFA Intertoto Cup winning clubs
Football clubs in Occitania (administrative region)
Ligue 1 clubs