Association sportive de Béziers Hérault (; ), often referred to by rugby media simply by its location of

Béziers Béziers (; ) is a city in southern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Hérault Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region. Every August Béziers ho ...

, is a French

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

club currently playing in the second level of the country's professional rugby system,

Pro D2 The Pro D2 is the second tier of rugby union club competition division in France. It is operated by Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) which also runs the division directly above, the first division Top 14. Rugby Pro D2 was introduced in 2000. It ...

. They earned their most recent promotion as the 2011 Fédérale 1 champions, but the club also won 11

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the National Rugby League (France), France National Rugby League, also ...

titles since its establishment in 1911. Béziers was a major force in French rugby throughout the 1970s and 1980s; however, at the end of 2004–05 season they were relegated to Pro D2. After some years playing in the French second division, they finished bottom of the table in 2008–09 and were relegated to amateur

Fédérale 1 The championnat de France de rugby à XV de 1re division fédérale (), a.k.a. Fédérale 1 (), is a French rugby union club competition, it is the elite of amateur rugby in France. The competition has been organised by the Fédération Français ...

, before returning to Pro D2 after their 2011 title. They are based in

in the Hérault department of

Occitania Occitania is the historical region in Southern Europe where the Occitan language was historically spoken and where it is sometimes used as a second language. This cultural area roughly encompasses much of the southern third of France (except ...

, and play at the Stade Raoul-Barrière (capacity 18,555). The club colors are red and blue.

History

The club was established in 1911. Their first notable honour was being runners-up in the

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

. However it would not be until the 1960s when the club began its rise to prominence. Béziers made their first championship appearance in the 1960 season. On 22 May they faced FC Lourdes in the final, losing 14 points to 11 in

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

. Béziers found mixed success during the 1960s following their first championship loss to Lourdes. The next season they won their first championship, defeating US Dax 6 points to 3 in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

. They were also runners-up in the Challenge Yves du Manoir that season. They also contested the domestic championship in 1962, though they lost to

SU Agen Sporting Union Agen Lot-et-Garonne (), commonly referred to as SU Agen, Agen () or SUALG, is a French professional rugby union club based in Agen, Lot-et-Garonne that competes in the Pro D2, France's second division of rugby. Founded in 1908, ...

14 to 11 in the final. Béziers performed well in the 1964 season as well; losing the championship final to Section Paloise, and winning the Challenge Yves du Manoir. After the success during the early 1960s Béziers became a powerful club in the 1970s. In 1971 Béziers made it to the final of the domestic championship; defeating

RC Toulon Rugby Club Toulonnais (), also referred to as Rugby Club Toulon or simply Toulon, is a French professional rugby union club based in Toulon and competing in the Top 14. Located on the French Riviera, in the Provence region, the club plays its h ...

15 points to 9 in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

. The following season Béziers captured the championship, defeating Brive 9 points to nil in Lyon, and winning the Challenge Yves du Manoir as well. The club won championships in 1974 and 1975, defeating RC Narbonne and Brive respectively, both times at

Parc des Princes The Parc des Princes (, ) is an all-seater stadium, all-seater football stadium in Paris, France. It is located in the south-west of the French capital, inside the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th arrondissement, near the Stade Jean-Bouin (P ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. They were also involved in the 1976 final, though they lost to Agen, 13 to 10. The following season they won the championship again, defeating

Perpignan Perpignan (, , ; ; ) is the prefectures in France, prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales departments of France, department in Southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the Me ...

12 to 4 in the final. They also won the Challenge Yves du Manoir as well. The next season they successfully defended their domestic title; defeating ASM Clermont Auvergne 31 points to 9 in the championship game in Paris. They however did not win back-to-back Challenge Yves du Manoir titles; though they came close, being runners-up. The success continued in the early 1980s as well, winning the championship of the 1980 season, defeating

10 to 6 in the final, as well as being Challenge Yves du Manoir runners-up that season. Béziers repeated this again the next season; actually defeating Toulouse in the championship final again, and were runners-up in the Challenge Yves du Manoir. They were champions again in 1983 and 1984, defeating RC Nice and Agen in the finals respectively. They also won the

in the 1986 season. Béziers returned to the professional ranks in 2011–12 following their 13–6 win over

Périgueux Périgueux (, ; or ) is a commune in the Dordogne department, in the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. Périgueux is the prefecture of Dordogne, and the capital city of Périgord. It is also the seat of ...

in the 2011 Fédérale 1 final on 26 June. Both finalists were assured of promotion to Pro D2. They struggled in their return season in Pro D2, finishing next-to last on the league table and well out of the safety zone. However, when ninth-place Bourgoin were forcibly relegated to Fédérale 1 for financial reasons, Béziers remained in Pro D2 for 2012–13. In October 2024, it was reported that a consortium made up of Irish businessman and TV personality Eddie Jordan alongside former New Zealand and South Africa internationals Andrew Mehrtens and Bobby Skinstad respectively, were forming a consortium to buy the club as part of a wider project to emulate the success of the

City Football Group City Football Group Limited (CFG) is a British-based holding company that administers association football clubs. The group is owned by three organisations, of which 81% is majority-owned by Abu Dhabi United Group, 18% by the American firm Silve ...

Honours

* French championship Top 14 ** Champions (11):

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

** Runners-up (4):

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

* Challenge Yves du Manoir ** Champions (4): 1964, 1972, 1975, 1977 ** Runners-up (6): 1960, 1961, 1973, 1978, 1980, 1981 * French Cup ** Champions (1): 1986 ** Runners-up (1): 1950 *

** Champions: 2011 * Elite 2 ** Champions: 2000 * coupe d'europe Fira ** Champions: 1962

Finals results

French championship

Challenge Yves du Manoir

French Cup

Current standings

Current squad

The Béziers squad for the 2024–25 season is:

Espoirs squad

Notable former players

* Santiago González Bonorino * Federico Todeschini *

Gonzalo Quesada Gonzalo Quesada (born 2 May 1974) is an Argentine rugby football, rugby coach and former player, who presently works as head coach for the Italy national rugby union team. Playing career Quesada was born May 2, 1974, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. ...

* Santiago Iglesias Valdez * Matias Viazzo * Rodney Iona * Jye Mullane * Josh Valentine * Warwick Waugh * Tyrone Viiga * Anthony Hill * Marc Andrieu * Richard Astre * Yoan Audrin * Marc Baget * David Banquet * Raoul Barrière * Lionel Beauxis * Pierre Bérard * Mohamed Boughanmi *

Terry Bouhraoua Terry Bouhraoua (born 29 August 1987) is a French rugby union and rugby union sevens player who plays for the France national rugby sevens team. His position is Scrum half (rugby union), scrum-half. Bouhraoua was born in Châteaudun, France. H ...

* André Buonomo * Yvan Buonomo * Adolphe Bousquet * Sébastien Bruno * Henri Cabrol * Didier Camberabero * Gilles Camberabero * Jack Cantoni * Alain Carminati * Romain Carmignani * Richard Castel * Frédéric Cermeno * Olivier Chaplain * Arnaud Costes * Pierre Danos * Paul Dedieu * Cédric Desbrosse * Benjamin Desroches * Michel Dieudé * Richard Dourthe * Jean-Frédéric Dubois * Nicolas Durand * Philippe Escande * Alain Estève *

Michel Fabre Marcel Fernández Pérez (January 29, 1884 – February 8, 1929), better known as just Marcel Perez, was an internationally celebrated Spanish-born creator and star of more than 200 silent comedy short subjects. He directed himself in nearly ...

* Patrick Fort * Philippe Gallart * Camille Gérondeau * Kevin Gimeno *

Jean-Philippe Grandclaude Jean-Philippe Grandclaude (born 4 August 1982 in Fréjus, Var (department), Var) is a French rugby union footballer who plays for USA Perpignan. He mainly plays at Centre (rugby union), centre. His professional career started with AS Béziers H� ...

* Steven Hall * Jean-Pierre Hortoland * Alain Hyardet * Pierre Lacans * Thibault Lacroix * Julien Laharrague * Félix Lambey * Brice Mach *

Rémy Martin Rémy Martin () is a French firm that primarily produces and sells cognac. Founded in 1724 and based in the Communes of France, commune of Cognac, France, Cognac, it is among the oldest cognac producers still in existence. and one of the "big f ...

* Jean-Paul Medina * Alexandre Menini * Ludovic Mercier * Pierre Mignoni * Brice Miguel * Hakim Miloudi * Yannick Nyanga * Alain Paco * Michel Palmié * Jean-Pierre Pesteil * Jean-Baptiste Peyras-Loustalet * Jérôme Porical *

Thibaut Privat Thibaut Privat (born 4 February 1979) is a former France, French international rugby union player. He played as a Lock (rugby union), Lock for AS Béziers Hérault, AS Béziers, ASM Clermont Auvergne, Montferrand and Montpellier Hérault RC, Mo ...

* Jean-Luc Rivallo * Olivier Saïsset * Claude Saurel * Jean Sébédio * Cédric Soulette * Dimitri Szarzewski * Armand Vaquerin * Vasil Katsadze * Davit Khinchagishvili * Irakli Machkhaneli * Lasha Malaghuradze * Lasha Lomidze * Goderdzi Shvelidze * Jamie Hagan * Conrad Marais *

Andrew Mehrtens Andrew Philip Mehrtens (born 28 April 1973) is a New Zealand former rugby union player. He was regarded as a top first five-eighth, having played first for Canterbury in 1993, before being selected for the All Blacks (New Zealand's national ...

* Lachie Munro * Elijah Niko * Alin Petrache *

Cristian Petre Cristian Constantin Petre (born 22 March 1979 in Oradea)Cristian Petre player profile
Scrum.co ...

* Augustin Petrechei * Lucian Sîrbu * Steve Fualau * Robert Ebersohn * Dries Swanepoel * Álvar Gimeno * Suka Hufanga * Winston Mafi * Samiu Vahafolau * Salesi Sika * Seta Tuilevuka * Albert Tuipulotu * Andy Powell

References

External links

*
AS Béziers Hérault
Official website {{DEFAULTSORT:As Beziers Herault Beziers Rugby clubs established in 1911 Sport in Béziers AS Béziers 1911 establishments in France