Sainte-Livrade XIII are a French

Rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

club based in

Sainte-Livrade Sainte-Livrade (; oc, Senta Liurada) is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France. Population See also *Bernard Jarre Bernard Jarre (or Garves) (died 1328) was a French Cardinal (Catholicism), Cardinal in the period ...

in the region of

Lot-et-Garonne Lot-et-Garonne (, oc, Òlt e Garona) is a department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Southwestern France. Named after the rivers Lot and Garonne, it had a population of 331,271 in 2019.France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The club was founded in 1939. They currently play in the

National Division 2 National Division 2 is the fourth tier of rugby league in France, below the National Division 1. The season runs from September to April. The Division is split into 5 regional leagues, Languedoc-Roussillon, Midi-Pyrenees, Aquitaine, Ile de France ...

Aquitaine regional league.

History

Founded in 1939 just prior to the outbreak of ''World War II'' as SSL XIII Les Aigles Livradois, the club due to the

Vichy Government Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its terr ...

was forced to close down almost immediately due to the banning of the sport of Rugby League. It wasn't until season 77/78 that they reached a major final, where they lost out narrowly to Realmont XIII in the National 2, now called the

National Division 1 The National Division 1 is the third tier of rugby league in France, below the Elite Two Championship and above the National Division 2. The season runs from September to April. From season 2012–13 the league was split into regions ''East'' a ...

, final 13-14. The

Coupe Falcou The Albert Falcou Cup (french: Coupe Albert-Falcou), also called Albert Falcou French Cup (french: Coupe de France Albert-Falcou), is an annual knock-out competition organised by the Fédération Française de Rugby à XIII for amateur rugby leagu ...

would bring success as they lifted the cup on no fewer than 4 occasions, 87, 94, 2000 and 2002. Promotion at the start of the new millennium, following a league re-structure, took them into the 2nd tier

Elite Two Championship Elite 2 (formerly the Elite Two Championship) is the second tier semi-professional rugby league competition in France below Elite 1, but above the National Division 1. The season runs from September to April. The clubs play each other home ...

and in season 2002/03 they won the competition when they beat heavy favourites

UTC 2 UTC+02:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +02:00. In ISO 8601, the associated time would be written as 2020-11-08T23:41:45+02:00. This time is used in: As standard time (year-round) ''Principal cities: Cairo, Pretoria, Cape ...

25-15. Despite winning the league the club didn't get promoted due to their size and slowly the better players left which eventually cost the club their 2nd tier status. The steady decline continued resulting in another relegation to the 4th and bottom tier. Season 2013/14 saw them top the regional ''Aquitaine League''.http://www.comitie47rugbyjimbo

France International Players

* Christian Clar * Christian Sabatie

Notable players

* Pascal Baratie * Alain Delpech *

Michel Delpech Jean-Michel Delpech (French pronunciation: �ɑ̃ miʃɛl dɛlpɛʃ 26 January 19462 January 2016), known as Michel Delpech, was a French singer-songwriter and actor. Family Jean-Michel Bertrand Delpech was born the 26th january of 1946 in ...

* Jules Favaretto * Antoni Maria

Club honours

* Elite Two Championship (1): 2002-03 * Coupe Falcou (4): 1987, 1994, 2000, 2002

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sainte-Livrade XIII Rugby league teams in France 1939 establishments in France Rugby clubs established in 1939