Union Sportive Luxembourg, usually known as Union Luxembourg, was a
football club
A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an all- ...
, based in
Luxembourg City
Luxembourg ( lb, Lëtzebuerg; french: Luxembourg; german: Luxemburg), also known as Luxembourg City ( lb, Stad Lëtzebuerg, link=no or ; french: Ville de Luxembourg, link=no; german: Stadt Luxemburg, link=no or ), is the capital city of the Lu ...
, in southern
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 ...
. It is now a part of
Racing FC Union Luxembourg
Racing Fussball Club Union Luxembourg ( lb, Racing Fussball Club Union Lëtzebuerg), usually abbreviated to Racing-Union, is a football (soccer), football club based in Luxembourg City in southern Luxembourg.
The etymology of the name originate ...
.
History
Union Luxembourg was formed in 1925 as an amalgam of
US Hollerich Bonnevoie
US Hollerich Bonnevoie is a defunct football team which was merged with Jeunesse Sportive Verlorenkost to create Union Sportive Luxembourg
Union Sportive Luxembourg, usually known as Union Luxembourg, was a football club, based in Luxembour ...
and
Jeunesse Sportive Verlorenkost. Although US Hollerich had been one of the top clubs in Luxembourg, winning five titles consecutively, by 1925, its success had dried up. From the merger until the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the club would win only one trophy: the
championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
in 1927.
In 1940, the
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
s renamed Union, along with all other clubs as part of the process of
Germanisation
Germanisation, or Germanization, is the spread of the German language, German people, people and German culture, culture. It was a central idea of German conservative thought in the 19th and the 20th centuries, when conservatism and ethnic nationa ...
. Between 1940 and 1944, Union's name would be ''Verein für Rasenspiele 08 Luxemburg''. The end of occupation and reversion of moniker did little to change Union's success (or lack thereof); a solitary
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 ...
was all that Union had to show for the first fifteen years of freedom after the war.
However, that all changed very swiftly, as Union hit its stride, beginning with another cup victory in 1959. Between 1959 and 1971, Union won two league titles and the Luxembourg Cup five times. Another barren spell followed; the 1970s and 1980s saw Luxembourg finish consistently in the top four in the league, but, in seventeen years, Luxembourg reached only two cup finals and finished in the two top just once.
Another sudden spike of success came at the end of the 1980s. Luxembourg won three National Division titles back-to-back between 1990 and 1992 and returned to the habit of European qualification. Nonetheless, as with so many clubs in Luxembourg during the 1990s and 2000s, Union could not withstand the pressure to consolidate. Union arranged a merger with
CA Spora Luxembourg
CA Spora Luxembourg was a football club, based in Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg. It is now a part of Racing FC Union Luxembourg.
History
Spora was founded in 1923 as an amalgam of Racing Club Luxembourg and Sporting Club Luxembourg, tw ...
and
CS Alliance 01 to form its modern form,
Racing FC Union Luxembourg
Racing Fussball Club Union Luxembourg ( lb, Racing Fussball Club Union Lëtzebuerg), usually abbreviated to Racing-Union, is a football (soccer), football club based in Luxembourg City in southern Luxembourg.
The etymology of the name originate ...
, to take effect after the
2004–05 season. As it happens, Union was relegated in 2004–05 (as was Spora), marking an unfitting end to one of Luxembourg's most successful clubs.
Honours
*
National Division
:Winners (6):
1926–27,
1961–62,
1970–71,
1989–90,
1990–91,
1991–92
:Runners-up (9): 1921–22, 1947–48, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1972–73, 1992–93,
1997–98
*
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 (10): 1946–47, 1958–59, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1985–86, 1988–89, 1990–91, 1995–96
:Runners-up (10): 1922–23, 1925–26, 1932–33, 1936–37, 1960–61, 1961–62, 1966–67, 1977–78, 1982–83, 1996–97
As US Hollerich Bonnevoie
*
National Division
:Winners (5): 1911–12, 1913–14, 1914–15, 1915–16, 1916–17
:Runners-up (2): 1909–10, 1917–18
European Competition
Union Luxembourg qualified for UEFA European competition 21 times.
*
UEFA Champions League
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 competit ...
:Qualifying round (1): 1971–72
:First round (4): 1962–63, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93
*
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 ...
:Qualifying round (2): 1996–97, 1997–98
:First round (8): 1963–64, 1964–65, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1978–79, 1984–85, 1986–87, 1989–90
*
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 ...
:Qualifying round (1): 1998–99
:First round (5): 1965–66, 1966–67, 1973–74, 1988–89, 1993–94
Without having won a tie, Union won two matches against European opponents. The first came in 1970–71, against
Turkish side
Göztepe in the Cup Winners' Cup. Göztepe had won the first leg 5–0, but Union managed a 1–0 victory in the home leg (this was very limited revenge, as Göztepe had knocked Union out the previous year, too). Their second victory was over
Bodø/Glimt of
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
, by one goal to nil, having losing the first leg 4–1. Union also managed draws against
Botev Plovdiv
Profesionalen Futbolen Klub Botev, commonly referred to as Botev Plovdiv ( bg, „Ботев“ Пловдив, ) or simply Botev (within its associated city), is a Bulgarian professional football club based in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, that competes ...
and
Djurgårdens IF
Djurgårdens Idrottsförening, commonly known simply as Djurgårdens IF, Djurgården (), and (especially locally) Djurgår'n (), Dif or DIF – is a Swedish sports association with several sections, located in Stockholm.
Name
The club is named ...
in 1984–85 and 1989–90 respectively.
Managers
*
Hugo Fenichel (1937–38)
*
Bill Berry
William Thomas Berry (born July 31, 1958) is an American musician who was the drummer for the alternative rock band R.E.M. Although best known for his economical drumming style, Berry also played other instruments, including guitar, bass guitar ...
(1961–65)
* René Noerdinger (1973–79)
* Alex Pecqueur (1989–92)
* Roland Schnit (1992–93)
* Heinz Maas (1993)
* Alex Pecqueur (1994–95)
*
Rachid Belhout
Rachid Belhout ( ar, رشيد بلحوت; June 14, 1944 – August 9, 2020) was an Algerian football manager and player. At the time of his death, he was managing Al-Ahly Benghazi in the Libyan Premier League.
Personal
Belhout was born on June 1 ...
(2001–03)
*
Jeannot Reiter
Jeannot Reiter (born 14 October 1958) is a retired football striker.
During his club career, Reiter played for FC Etzella Ettelbruck, FC Chalon, Guingamp, FC Montceau Bourgogne
Football Club Montceau Bourgogne is a French association footba ...
(2003–05)
References
{{Authority control
Association football clubs established in 1925
Association football clubs disestablished in 2005
1925 establishments in Luxembourg
2005 disestablishments in Luxembourg