HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Stade Français Paris (known commonly as Stade Français, ) is a French professional
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 based in the 16th arrondissement of
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 ...
. The club plays in the
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 ...
domestic league in France and is one of the most successful French clubs of the modern era. The original Stade Français was founded in 1883. In its current form, the club was founded in 1995 with the merger of the rugby sections of the Stade Français and Club Athlétique des Sports Généraux (CASG). Its traditional home is Stade Jean-Bouin, though the club has recently played some home games at the 80,000-seat
Stade de France Stade de France (, ) is the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the List of football stadiums in France, largest stadium i ...
, taking anywhere from two to five matches to the larger venue each season since 2005–06. From 2010 to 2013, the team played temporarily at the 20,000-capacity
Stade Charléty Stade (; ), officially the Hanseatic City of Stade (, ) is a city in Lower Saxony in northern Germany. First mentioned in records in 934, it is the seat of the district () which bears its name. It is located roughly to the west of Hamburg and b ...
in Paris to allow a new stadium to be built at the Jean-Bouin site. The team participated in the first French championship final in 1892, and went on to win numerous titles during the early 1900s. Stade Français spent about 50 years in the lower divisions of French rugby, until entrepreneur Max Guazzini took over in 1992, overseeing a rise to prominence, which saw the team returning to the elite division in just five seasons, and capture four French championships in seven years. After a financial crisis plagued the club in 2011, Guazzini sold a majority stake and stepped down as club president. From 2009 to 2015, the team struggled, failing to reach the final phases. In 2015 the team not only reached the knock-out stages, they won all three of their games and claimed the Top 14 championship.


History

Stade Français was established in 1883 by a group of students in Paris. On 20 March
1892 In Samoa, this was the only leap year spanned to 367 days as July 4 repeated. This means that the International Date Line was drawn from the east of the country to go west. Events January * January 1 – Ellis Island begins processing imm ...
the
USFSA U.S. Figure Skating is the national Sports governing body, governing body for the sport of figure skating in the United States. It is recognized as such by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) under the Amateur Sports Act of 1 ...
organised the first ever 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 ...
championship, a one-off game between Racing Club de France and Stade Français. The game was refereed by
Pierre de Coubertin Charles Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin (; born Pierre de Frédy; 1 January 1863 – 2 September 1937), also known as Pierre de Coubertin and Baron de Coubertin, was a French educator and historian, co-founder of the International Olympic ...
and saw Racing win 4–3. However the club were able to make up for the loss the next season when the two teams met again in the final, with Stade Français winning 7 points to 3. The team quickly became a powerful side in the competition, featuring in every championship in succession until 1899, successful in 1894, 1895, 1897 and 1898. From 1899 through to the 1908 season Stade Français would contest the championship final on seven occasions against
Stade Bordelais Stade Bordelais are a French rugby union club, based in Bordeaux. The club was established in 1889. Bordelais were a major force in the French championship during the 1900s. Until 2005–06, the senior team competed in the second level of dom ...
, winning in 1901 and again in 1908. Stade Français also defeated SOE Toulouse in the 1903 season in Toulouse. Following a vast amount of success during the early years of the domestic league, after 1908 Stade Français would not make another final appearance until the 1927 season, when they were defeated by Toulouse 19 points to 9 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 ...
. Stade Français would then go onto spend over fifty years in the lower divisions of French rugby. While in the third division of the French leagues, entrepreneur Max Guazzini took over the club in 1992 with the goal of bringing back top class rugby to the city of Paris. Stade Français CASG was born in 1995 through the merger of the existing Stade Français club and another Parisian side, Club Athlétique des Sports Généraux (CASG). The team returned to the top division in 1995 which coincided with the appointment of head coach Bernard Laporte. By 1998 the team had reached the championship final, and captured their first title since 1908, 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 ...
34 points to 7 at
Stade de France Stade de France (, ) is the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the List of football stadiums in France, largest stadium i ...
. Laporte left the club to coach the
national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...
, he was replaced by Georges Coste who was in turn replaced by John Connolly in 2000. Connolly took the club to their first
Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Investec Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...
final in May 2001, where they were defeated by the
Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its home ...
34 points to 30 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 ...
. Connolly left in 2002 and was replaced by South African
Nick Mallet Nicholas Vivian Haward Mallett (born 30 October 1956) is a former South African rugby union player who played for the Springboks, South Africa's national rugby union team, in 1984. He also coached the Springboks between 1997 and 2000 and was th ...
. Stade Français won the domestic league again in both 2003 and 2004. During the 2004–05 season Stade Français went close to winning both the French league and the Heineken Cup, but lost both finals; beaten by
Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; also spelled ; ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. It is a luxu ...
domestically and by Toulouse in the European Heineken Cup after
extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...
in Scotland. Mallett soon returned home to South Africa and former Stade Français player and national captain Fabien Galthié was appointed head coach. Stade won the 2006–07 championship, defeating Clermont 23 points to 18 at Stade de France. The club faced serious financial issues during the 2010–11 season due to the failure of an affiliated advertising company. In early June 2011, Stade Français temporarily avoided an administrative relegation to the 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 ...
league when Guazzini announced a deal by which an unnamed investor, working through a Canada-based foundation, would purchase a majority stake in the club. However, the deal collapsed in scandal, with at least three people linked to the deal arrested. On the deadline set by France's professional league for a resolution of the club's situation, Guazzini announced a new deal, in which Jean-Pierre Savare, chairman of French security systems company Oberthur Technologies, purchased a controlling stake in the club. Guazzini stepped down as president in favour of Savare's son Thomas, remaining with the club as honorary president. After six years of presidency, Thomas Savare officially handed over the position to
Hans-Peter Wild Hans-Peter Wild (born 16 June 1941) is a German-born Swiss businessman and lawyer. Wild is the owner and chairman of Capri-Sun a fruit juice manufacturer based in Zug, Switzerland. Until 2014, he was the majority shareholder in the company Wild ( ...
. The arrival of the Swiss businessman put an end to a long story in Paris marked by the aborted merger with rival Racing 92 in March 2017. Upon his arrival, Dr. Hans-Peter Wild presented a 5-year project to the media, with the training of young French players as a priority.


The modern era: fan support, stadiums and communication


The Max Guazzini era

With the understanding that Parisians are reluctant to show loyalty, Max Guazzini first tried a new pricing approach in order to draw in regular spectators. In 1996, while Stade were still in the Group A2, he opened up Jean-Bouin free of charge. 7,000 people attended matches against
Lourdes Lourdes (, also , ; ) is a market town situated in the Pyrenees. It is part of the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitanie region in southwestern France. Prior to the mid-19th century, the town was best known for its Château fort, a ...
and Valence-d’Agen. After that, women had free entry for some of the matches. At the time, he stated: "In Paris, no club has ever had so many spectators. Even when Racing were French Champions, or about to be. I'd rather have 7,000 happy punters in our stadium than 200 with a fistful of francs. It's a question of philosophy." "Île-de-France is where more than 20% of our rugby fans live, and I think it's abnormal that the stadiums are empty. It can't go on!". At the same time as the question of prices, Guazzini envisaged the match as the main event in a family outing, and worked on activities before, during and after the matches: cheerleaders, music, jingles when points were scored, bells signalling the end of each half, a remote-controlled car bringing the tee to the kicker, the club's anthem, (
I Will Survive "I Will Survive" is a song recorded by American singer Gloria Gaynor, released in October 1978 by Polydor Records as the second single from her sixth album, ''Love Tracks (Gloria Gaynor album), Love Tracks'' (1978). It was written by Freddie Pe ...
by
Gloria Gaynor Gloria Fowles (born September 7, 1943), known professionally as Gloria Gaynor, is an American singer, best known for the disco era hits "I Will Survive" (1978), "I Have a Right, Let Me Know (I Have a Right)" (1979), "I Am What I Am (Broadway mus ...
(long before it was adopted by the
France national football team The France national football team () represents France in men's international Association football, football. It is controlled by the French Football Federation (FFF; ), the governing body for football in France. It is a member of UEFA in Euro ...
)), etc. A professional showman, he enrolled Mathilda May,
Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...
and
Naomi Campbell Naomi Elaine Campbell (born 22 May 1970) is a British supermodel. Beginning her career at the age of eight, Campbell was one of six models of her generation declared supermodels by the fashion industry and the international press. She was th ...
as sponsors. This strategy was openly aimed at women and families, and it worked, with the number of women and children attending the matches increasing. The Dieux du Stade (Gods of the Stadium) calendar, which had famous players posing nude for black-and-white photos, made the news when it first appeared in 2001. The club has promoted the Stade Français brand through a line of clothing and spin-off products. Since 2005, the star of the collection has been the pink jersey, in a colour considered the opposite of rugby virility, somewhat disconcerting the rugby world in September 2005, when the club's first-team players donned it for a league match in
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 ...
. Despite the on-pitch defeat, Stade Français had scored a phenomenal commercial success. 20,000 of the jerseys, manufactured by
Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the ...
, were sold in 2005–06. The following year, two new designs by Adidas were added: one of them pink, the other navy blue decorated with pink lilies (and not fleurs-de-lis, as in heraldry). The lily design was added to a mobile phone case. The club's objective for 2006–07 was to sell a total of 100,000 jerseys. In response to criticism that he was perverting rugby with such "provocation" and against his insistence on communication, including to those who declared they were defending the traditional spirit of the sport, Guazzini replied that if rugby was to become a genuinely popular and national sport, it needed to look beyond its natural audience: "The communication campaign is not aimed at long-time fans. They're not the ones we're chatting up - it's the others. We need to get the attention of everyone who isn't familiar with rugby. Or only knows it a bit… Or not enough… So we need an outside perspective. ..Rugby is no longer an amateur sport. ..We have to be creative. (…) Preaching to the converted doesn't really work for me. ”Speaking of post-match reception, he took a swipe in passing at the keepers of the South West France flame: "The eternal temple, with its fanfare, foie gras and saucisson, is a bit outdated. We can't restrict ourselves to the culture of the South West, which doesn't represent all of France." Guazzini nonetheless remained attached to certain traditions. Thus, from his arrival in 1992, he required players to wear the club's official blazer and tie. "I won't tolerate any sloppiness. Rugby tradition is jacket-tie, and I think that's a good thing."» It took about ten years for the club to finally establish itself with fans. Almost all of Stade's home matches were sold out. Faced with the size limits of Stade Jean-Bouin (room for about 10,000 people), and still wishing to develop the club's popularity until they could find a new, bigger home, Guazzini set his sights higher. In April 2005, he wanted to play the quarter-final match of the European Champions Cup, against
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...
, at Parc des Princes, located across from Stade Jean-Bouin. It was a complete success: the match was sold out (about 48,000 attended). Logically, therefore, Guazzini sought to repeat the success for a league match against Toulouse and a European Champions Cup match against Leicester in the autumn. But this time, the directors of
Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...
were against the idea, fearing the rugby players would damage the pitch. Guazzini, annoyed and shocked by the lack of solidarity on the part of Stade Français's neighbours, stated that he would fill Stade de France. Using an aggressive sales strategy (half of the seats were available for €5 or 10, sponsors were actively approached) and effective communication, he did: on 15 October 2005, Stade Français Paris beat the world attendance record for a regular season rugby union league match (79,502 spectators). He would repeat this feat three times: against
Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; also spelled ; ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. It is a luxu ...
(4 March 2006, 79,604 spectators), then against
Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; also spelled ; ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. It is a luxu ...
again (14 October 2006, 79,619 spectators) and finally against Toulouse (27 January 2007, 79,741 spectators). In addition to the pricing policy, there was additional entertainment on display at Stade de France: thousands of blue and pink flags placed on the seats, famous singers and musicians ( Les Tambours du Bronx 15 October 2005, Michel Delpech 27 January 2007), circus performers, giant karaoke, a parade of children from rugby schools in the Paris region (27 January 2007) each time the ball would arrive in a different and spectacular way, once in a chariot drawn by two horses (15 October 2005), once by Miss France 2006 emerging from a giant egg in the middle of the pitch (27 January 2007), dancers from the
Moulin Rouge Moulin Rouge (, ; ) is a cabaret in Paris, on Boulevard de Clichy, at Place Blanche, the intersection of, and terminus of Rue Blanche. In 1889, the Moulin Rouge was co-founded by Charles Zidler and Joseph Oller, who also owned the Olympia (Par ...
, wrestling bouts, the
Gipsy Kings Gipsy Kings (originally Los Reyes) are a musical group founded in 1979 in Arles, France. The band, whose members have Catalans, Catalan heritage, play a blend of Catalan rumba, flamenco, Salsa music, salsa, and Pop music, pop. They perform mos ...
(13 May 2007), fireworks after the match, etc. Each match was an excuse to come up with new, original ideas. Detractors observed that it isn't hard to fill Stade de France with such low ticket prices. Pierre Blayau, President of
Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...
, which refused to loan out the Parc des Princes in 2005, stated: "I find their communication ..a bit excessive. ..I don't know how many people would have tried to buy tickets if we had sold them for a PSG-Lyon match at three, five or seven Euros. Maybe 400,000". The new
Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...
management nonetheless agreed to welcome Stade Français again, for a European Champions Cup match against the
Sale Sharks Sale Sharks are a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England, United Kingdom. Its team play in Premiership Rugby, and have been in England's top division of rugby union continuously since 1995. Originally founded in 1861 as ...
, on 10 December 2006 (44,112 spectators). And in the end, the European Champions Cup match against Leicester was played at
Stade Charléty Stade (; ), officially the Hanseatic City of Stade (, ) is a city in Lower Saxony in northern Germany. First mentioned in records in 934, it is the seat of the district () which bears its name. It is located roughly to the west of Hamburg and b ...
. Stade Roi-Baudouin in
Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
and Stade Félix-Bollaert in
Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device that focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements'') ...
had offered their services, but the Mayor of Paris Bertrand Delanoë, a close friend of Guazzini and one of the club's financial backers, vetoed the idea, stating that Stade Français was a Parisian club and therefore should play in Paris. Since 2004–2005, Stade Français Paris played ten league matches outside of Jean-Bouin, including five times at Stade de France and four times at Parc des Princes, in addition to the 2010–2011 season, almost entirely played at
Stade Charléty Stade (; ), officially the Hanseatic City of Stade (, ) is a city in Lower Saxony in northern Germany. First mentioned in records in 934, it is the seat of the district () which bears its name. It is located roughly to the west of Hamburg and b ...
. Three more matches were to be played at Stade de France during the 2007–2008 season against Clermont,
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 ...
and
Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; also spelled ; ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. It is a luxu ...
. Nonetheless, these gala matches could only be organised two or three times per year and couldn't hide what Max Guazzini considers to be Stade Français Paris's main problem: the absence of a real stadium entirely devoted to rugby, which was indispensable if the club was to develop in a serious way; a stadium capable of receiving the public with reasonably comfortable conditions was needed. For years, Guazzini canvassed the city of Paris with this goal in mind, asserting that the club risked dropping down to the Pro D2 again and threatening to resign if the city didn't agree. After repeated discussions and submissions, the planned new stadium was finally accepted by Paris City Hall on 29 March 2010. The building permit was granted on 12 May and demolition of the former stadium began as soon as the 2009/2010 season came to an end. With a 20,000 seat capacity, the new Jean Bouin was inaugurated on 30 August 2013, hosting a comfortable victory (38–3) over
Biarritz Olympique Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque (; ), usually known simply as Biarritz, is a French professional rugby union team based in the Iparralde, Basque city of Biarritz in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Pyrénées-Atlantiques department of Nouvelle-Aquitaine ...
. In April 2011, the magazine Le 10 Sport announced that the owner, Max Guazzin, had put the club up for sale. The club was suffering from serious financial difficulty, in particular due to the liquidation of Sportys, its advertising manager and minority shareholder.


The Thomas Savare era

At this time, Thomas Savare, managing director of the new shareholder, the Oberthur Fiduciaire group, took over as President of the club, replacing Max Guazzini. He invested 11 million Euros in the club, saying goodbye to Bernard Laporte and choosing the former third row of the Paris club, Richard Pool-Jones, as vice-president. During the European campaign of the 2012–13 season, Stade Français increased the number of matches it played elsewhere for the European Challenge Cup matches, playing at the Stade Océane in
Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...
, the MMArena in
Le Mans Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...
and the Stade du Hainaut in
Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; ; or ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced ...
. Furthermore, on 30 March 2013, they played a league match against
Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...
at the
Stade Pierre-Mauroy The Stade Pierre-Mauroy (), also known as the Decathlon Arena – Stade Pierre-Mauroy for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-use retractable roof stadium in Villeneuve-d'Ascq (Métropole Européenne de Lille) in Northern France, that opened in Augus ...
in
Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...
. The next few financial years saw Stade Français remain in the red, leading its main shareholder to re-inject cash. This situation led to significant tension within the Oberthur Fiduciaire shareholding family. In September 2014, Thomas Savare sisters, Marie and Emmanuelle, who were also shareholders in the Oberthur Fiduciaire group and who opposed the investment, decided to publicise their opposition to the investment, which they considered economically pointless and a bottomless pit. For his part, Thomas Savare spoke of an "investment out of passion" and stated that he would continue to work towards the club becoming financially self-sufficient12.


Abortive merger with Racing 92

On Monday, 13 March 2017, the club President, Thomas Savare, announced the planned merger of the club with its neighbour,
Racing 92 Racing 92 () is a French professional rugby union club based in the Hauts-de-Seine department, Paris' western inner Banlieue, suburbs that competes in Top 14. The club plays its home matches at the 30,681-capacity Stadium#Types, domed stadium Pa ...
for the 2017-2018 season13. The next day, the Stade Français players held a team meeting and decided to give provisional notice of a strike to last an undetermined period of time, in order to demand the cancellation of the merger. They refused to take part in either training or matches. Faced with such strong opposition, the two Presidents decided to cancel the planned merger a few days later. On 19 March, Jacky Lorenzetti and Thomas Savare issued a press release in which each explained their decision15,16.


The Hans-Peter Wild era

On 14 May 2017, Thomas Savare announced he had selected the German-Swiss entrepreneur,
Hans-Peter Wild Hans-Peter Wild (born 16 June 1941) is a German-born Swiss businessman and lawyer. Wild is the owner and chairman of Capri-Sun a fruit juice manufacturer based in Zug, Switzerland. Until 2014, he was the majority shareholder in the company Wild ( ...
, to take charge of the French capital's club, and handed over the keys. Savare preferred the business magnate's offer to that made by a group of former players and investors. Dr. Wild, the founder of Capri-Sun, was a big fan of both rugby and Paris, and he announced his desire to remain at the head of the Parisian club in the long term. He is seeking to develop the club both nationally and internationally. To do so, he appointed Hubert Patricot, the former President of the European division of Coca-Cola Enterprises, as club President, and Fabien Grobon as managing director.


The re-build

As soon as the purchase of the club was complete, Dr. Wild asked Robert Mohr to lead the new re-build. From the middle of the 2017–2018 season, starting with the teams and players already in place or available on the transfer market, many changes were instituted: starting in April, the new sport project was developed around Heyneke Meyer, former manager of the South African national team. He initiated an influx of acknowledged technical skills ( Pieter de Villiers, Mike Prendergast and Paul O'Connell, the Irish second row player who had earned 108 caps with the Irish team). He also reinforced the professional staff, with the arrival of new recruits for 2018–2019, including internationals Gaël Fickou, Yoann Maestri and Nicolás Sánchez. Under the guidance of Pascal Papé, a former player with Stade Français Paris and former captain of the France national team, the club adopted a cross-team approach to youth and professional development (from 14 years of age to career change: a cross-club approach with the teams, feedback, long-term monitoring). Players' career development was re-analysed in the search for systematic performance, with more discipline and more expected on a daily basis. Preparation for the 2018–2019 season marked a clear-cut change, especially in players' physical preparation and the implementation of a new game plan.


Brand repositioning and new logo

Another one of Dr. Wild's priorities was to reposition the brand and redesign the club logo to mark the transition and open up a new chapter in the club's history. To crystallise the 135-year old love story with Paris, Stade Français Paris added "Paris" to its crest, while keeping the shape. The colour pink was kept, as a symbol of the difference between the club and its creativity; the lightning bolts, representing the club's roots, were changed, and now symbolise dynamism and reconquest. The new sport project and the new logo were both an homage to the club's prestigious past and a call for new ambition: the (R)evolution was presented at Stade Jean-Bouin on 16 May 2018, the anniversary of the first Top 14 title win in the Guazzini era (in 1998, versus Perpignan). During the event, which brought together several thousand people, former Stade Français Paris players were honoured and the club's new goals for the coming 5 years were presented.


Name, logo and colours

In the 1880s, many emerging sports clubs were modelled after English institutions and took on English names (Racing Club, Standard, Sporting, Daring, etc.). The name ''Stade'' was chosen by the young students as a reminder of Ancient Greece, for the ''Stadium'' (Stade) was where the athletes performed their feats. ''Français'' came later. Ironically, it was probably given by British players, against whom the ''Stadistes'' played early on, to differentiate them from their own Paris associations as rugby was very much an expatriates' game in the late 1880s. In those years, France also lived with the memory of the war lost to Germany in 1871. The patriotic appeal of ''la revanche'' (''the revenge'') is probably behind the choice of the blue, white and red colours of the French national flag, and of the name Stade Français (written with a lower-case "f" in French: ''Stade français''). Blue and red are also the colours of the city of Paris, which has provided support since 1994 ( Bertrand Delanoë, mayor of Paris from 2001 to 2014, is a loyal supporter and a close friend of former Stade chairman Max Guazzini, who served as Delanoë's legal counsel in the late 1970s and early 1980s). The traditional colours of Stade Français are royal blue jerseys, red shorts and white stockings. The club's old logo featured the letters S and F (the club's initials) in white on a red and blue halved shield. The twelve blue stars represent the twelve championship wins. The team's current colours are dark blue and pink. The current logo is a blue shield with the letters S and F and three flashes of lightning in pink. President Guazzini wanted to create identifiable jerseys. He first decided to include three flashes of lightning, which are now the club's emblem, and to have a new shirt every year. In 2005, Guazzini went further and chose to shock the "macho" world of rugby by introducing a pink away jersey, pink being one of the rarest colours used by sports teams. Stade Français played their first match in the new colours at
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 ...
in September 2005 and lost (12–16). They then used it regularly. On 15 April 2006, SF played at
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 ...
and asked permission to don their pink jersey. The referee refused because, he said, pink would clash with Toulouse's red. The club sold 20,000 pink replica jerseys in 2005–06. Guazzini also had more than 10,000 pink flags manufactured, which were scattered on the seats at the Stade de France for the two games against Toulouse and
Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; also spelled ; ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. It is a luxu ...
. Two new jerseys were introduced at the beginning of the 2006–07 season. A pink one, designed by fashion designer Kenzo, was used for Stade's home debut against
Montpellier Montpellier (; ) 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 France, department of ...
on 19 August 2006. A new navy blue one was used for the second home game against
Bayonne Bayonne () is a city in southwestern France near the France–Spain border, Spanish border. It is a communes of France, commune and one of two subprefectures in France, subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques departments of France, departm ...
on 9 September 2006, and has raised questions as it sports big pink lilies, green flashes and green numbers in the back (green is not a club colour). It had been officially presented to the players a few minutes before the game and received by them with cheers and claps. Only wing Christophe Dominici had been allowed to see it beforehand. The radio-controlled car used to bring the tee to the kicker was painted in pink for the 2006–07 season.


Home grounds

The team's home stadium is Stade Jean-Bouin which has a capacity of 20,000. Before expansion in 2011, the capacity was 12,000, seen as too small for some major European games during the first decade of the new millennium. Then Club President Guazzini made a decision to take a European quarter final match against Newcastle to the significantly larger
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 ...
, which is literally across the street from Stade Jean-Bouin. Guazzini booked the national stadium of France, the 80,000
Stade de France Stade de France (, ) is the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the List of football stadiums in France, largest stadium i ...
for a Top 14 fixture against Toulouse. The move was successful, with 79,502 officially turning up for the game, smashing the regular season attendance record in France. At the end of the match, Guazzini announced that he had booked the venue for the Biarritz match – a rematch of the 2004–05 final. Stade Français drew an even larger crowd to the game (79,604), toppling the previous record set that same season. After a period of much speculation, the match was taken to the
Stade Charléty Stade (; ), officially the Hanseatic City of Stade (, ) is a city in Lower Saxony in northern Germany. First mentioned in records in 934, it is the seat of the district () which bears its name. It is located roughly to the west of Hamburg and b ...
, remaining in Paris. On 14 October 2006, the record was broken for the third time in a row (79,619) for a championship tie against Biarritz. Stade Français booked Parc des Princes for a Heineken Cup showdown with the
Sale Sharks Sale Sharks are a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England, United Kingdom. Its team play in Premiership Rugby, and have been in England's top division of rugby union continuously since 1995. Originally founded in 1861 as ...
on 10 December 2006 and drew 44,100 to see Stade win 27–16. On 27 January 2007, Stade Français set yet another French attendance record by drawing 79,741 to Stade de France for their 22–20 win over Toulouse. Stade Français played their opening match of the 2007–08 season at Stade de France against Clermont; they failed to set a national attendance record this time, but still drew 75,620. On 22 March 2008, they played their home match against Toulouse at Stade de France for the third straight season, and set yet another record with 79,779 in attendance. The 2007–08 season marked the first time that Stade Français played a third regular-season match at Stade de France, as they booked the venue for their 7 June match with Biarritz; they drew 79,544 for that match. In 2008–09, they played four home matches at Stade de France—their
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 ...
home fixtures against Toulouse,
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 ...
and Clermont, plus a
Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Investec Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...
pool match against Harlequins. They scheduled five Top 14 matches at Stade de France in 2009–10—Perpignan,
Bayonne Bayonne () is a city in southwestern France near the France–Spain border, Spanish border. It is a communes of France, commune and one of two subprefectures in France, subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques departments of France, departm ...
, Biarritz, Toulouse, and Clermont. In the upcoming 2010–11 season, the number of Top 14 matches at Stade de France will return to three, namely
Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...
, Toulouse, and Clermont. In the 2000s Stade Français has also taken some matches to another Paris ground,
Stade Charléty Stade (; ), officially the Hanseatic City of Stade (, ) is a city in Lower Saxony in northern Germany. First mentioned in records in 934, it is the seat of the district () which bears its name. It is located roughly to the west of Hamburg and b ...
, whose capacity of 20,000 was larger than that of Jean-Bouin at the time. In 2009–10, they played their home leg of the Paris derby with Racing Métro there, and made that stadium their regular home for the 2010–11 season while Jean-Bouin was being renovated. Stade Français also planned to take their home 2009–10 Heineken Cup pool match against
Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...
to Belgium at King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, but heavy snowfall on the intended matchday forced the fixture to be moved to Stade Jean-Bouin.


Image

Max Guazzini, a media man, wanted to develop the club as a modern business and use marketing methods. He never hesitates when it comes to promoting his club and creating a buzz. As a result, the club has been attracting an equal number of cheers and criticisms. The first objective was to offer a nice show to people who would then become regular paying fans. Guazzini also introduced female cheerleaders, music before kick-off, the sound of bells to mark the end of each half (instead of a more traditional siren), fireworks at the end of evening matches and a radio-controlled car to bring the tee to the kicker when he takes a penalty or a conversion kick. His successful radio station
NRJ Nouvelle Radio Jeune, (Acronym: NRJ, , ) is a private France, French radio station created by Jean-Paul Baudecroux and Max Guazzini in June 1981 in France, 1981. Widely popularized by its "godmother", singer Dalida, who prevented it from closi ...
(he helped develop it when he joined it in 1982, a year after it was founded) was a generous sponsor too. His contacts in show business allowed him to bring superstars
Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...
and
Naomi Campbell Naomi Elaine Campbell (born 22 May 1970) is a British supermodel. Beginning her career at the age of eight, Campbell was one of six models of her generation declared supermodels by the fashion industry and the international press. She was th ...
to some games, making them the official club's "godmothers". The club's official anthem was
Gloria Gaynor Gloria Fowles (born September 7, 1943), known professionally as Gloria Gaynor, is an American singer, best known for the disco era hits "I Will Survive" (1978), "I Have a Right, Let Me Know (I Have a Right)" (1979), "I Am What I Am (Broadway mus ...
's "
I Will Survive "I Will Survive" is a song recorded by American singer Gloria Gaynor, released in October 1978 by Polydor Records as the second single from her sixth album, ''Love Tracks (Gloria Gaynor album), Love Tracks'' (1978). It was written by Freddie Pe ...
", long before France used it as theirs in the
1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...
. Guazzini's latest moves include renting the Parc des Princes, Stade de France, and most recently King Baudouin Stadium for big games, and using pink jerseys. Stade Français are heavily criticised by old-timers, especially in France's rugby bastions in the south, for their innovative spirit which tends to hurt traditional image and values of rugby such as humility and seriousness. Some people are wary of the club's relation to the world of media and show business (players are regularly invited as TV show guests). The critiques can also be explained by the historic ''Paris vs provinces'' divide and some form of acrimony in the rest of the country for everything that comes from the capital. Others consider it is good for rugby in its quest to maintain itself as France's second most popular sport after Association football and shed its image as a gross rural south-western form of fistfight.


Dieux du Stade

In 2001, Guazzini initiated a calendar called Dieux du Stade', i.e. ''The Gods of Stade (Français)'', a play on the word ''stade'' which also means ''stadium''. In French, ''The Gods of the Stadium'' is a metaphor for athletes in general, especially those who perform in athletics. It includes black-and-white pictures of the team's players, naked, adopting postures of athletes of the classical Greco-Roman athletes and hiding their private parts. A new one has been made every year since, with guest stars on several occasions, such as Frédéric Michalak and Olivier Magne in 2003. Profits partly go to charities. A DVD covering the making of the calendar has been released each year since the 2004 edition. All have been extremely successful with women and the gay community.


Rivalries

Today, Stade Français has no established local rival, although Racing 92 may fill that role if it consolidates its current top-flight status. The "Paris versus the provinces" rhetoric is alive and kicking so that wherever Stade goes, it is met with traditional jeers people in the provinces throw at Parisians. Since its 1990s revival, its traditional foes have thus been all clubs not playing in Paris.


Racing 92

Paris was the cradle of French rugby union. Stade Français and Racing Club de France, two Paris-based outfits, played the first ever club match in France in May 1891, won by Stade 3–0, and were the only two clubs to take part in the first ever championship the following year. In fact, the first seven championships were fought exclusively between Parisian teams. Though they played Olympique de Paris in two finals, Stade's main foe became Racing Club de France whom they came up against in the first two finals, in play-off matches in the following years, as well as in several Championnat de Paris matches. Racing was a more aristocratic club and Stade a more popular one. The Stade-Racing rivalry will be renewed in 2009–10 with the promotion of Racing Club's successor, Racing Métro, to the Top 14.


Bordeaux

Another rivalry, with
Stade Bordelais Stade Bordelais are a French rugby union club, based in Bordeaux. The club was established in 1889. Bordelais were a major force in the French championship during the 1900s. Until 2005–06, the senior team competed in the second level of dom ...
, took its place, when clubs from outside Paris were finally allowed to play in 1899. The teams were going to meet in 7 of the next 10 finals, with Bordeaux winning 5 of them. Yet the most heated one was the first Stade won in 1901. Bordeaux won the match 3–0 on a hotly debated try. Afterwards, Stade accused Bordeaux of fielding three ineligible players: earlier in the year, Stade Bordelais had merged with Bordeaux Université Club to become Stade Bordelais Université Club, but three of those new players had not been with the club for at least three months as the rules dictated. The
USFSA U.S. Figure Skating is the national Sports governing body, governing body for the sport of figure skating in the United States. It is recognized as such by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) under the Amateur Sports Act of 1 ...
ordered a replay, but Bordeaux claimed their honour and honesty were at stake and refused it. Stade Français were declared the winners and this was how their sixth title was won. Bordeaux had to wait three years to get their revenge in one of the dirtiest finals, in which the whistle was held by a very quiet and ''blasé'' Englishman, Billy Williams (who, four years later was to get the English RFU to buy some land for
Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...
). Kicks in the shins succeeded blows in the face. Spectators joined in and booed the kickers in a very poor and sad match. A reporter appalled at what he saw commented: "I’ve never seen thug fights in the seediest parts of town, but that is probably what it looks like." Bordeaux won the next three finals, all against Stade. The rivalry was enhanced by the huge number of France players on the pitch. When France battled New Zealand for its first ever international match in 1906, it had 5 Stade Français and 4 Stade Bordelais players, the highest tallies for any club. The First World War put an end to the rivalry as neither of the two Stades regained their past glory.


Toulouse

Naturally the fight for the top spots means that the most significant rivalries are with the other Top 14 big guns, Toulouse and Biarritz Olympique. Stade Français has been seen as the rising threat by the all-powerful Toulousains who had won four consecutive titles (1994–97), before Paris won the next one. The clubs alternated for four years, winning two titles each until 2001, though they never met in the final. When they finally did, Stade Français walked over Toulouse for a victory (32–18) in 2003. Toulouse got their revenge in 2005, when they won a tight Heineken Cup final in overtime (18–12 a.e.t.) at
Murrayfield Murrayfield is an area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen, Saughtonhall and Roseburn. The A8 road (Scotland), A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murra ...
. The clubs often fight it out in the press, but there have never been any real tensions on the pitch, largely because many players have been playing together for France. Regular season games are rarely spectacular. In October 2005, Toulouse was the guest for the first ever regular season match at the
Stade de France Stade de France (, ) is the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the List of football stadiums in France, largest stadium i ...
, but coach Guy Novès chose to leave key regular starters at home, so the Stade Français 29–15 victory was maybe not as significant.


Biarritz

Stade Français games against Biarritz are another notable rivalry. The Red and White established themselves as another powerhouse in 2002 when they won the title, their first since 1939. Stade's Heineken Cup semi-final victory in April 2005 probably did a lot to create tension between the two clubs, as Christophe Dominici scored the winning try after nine minutes of injury time at the Parc des Princes. Biarritz felt it had been done an injustice. A month later, the two clubs fought it out in the Top 14 final, which went down as the most physical and the most tense ever. Biarritz's overtime victory in the highest scoring final ever (37–34) crowned a final on the "edge". Five months later, the two met again in Biarritz in a regular season match. A massive fistfight, in which almost all players were involved broke out after just 5 minutes, after a scrum went up and the first rows exploded. The referee handed two yellows and two reds to Stade's Arnaud Marchois and BO's Imanol Harinordoquy. The rest was extremely rough, full of scuffles and insults. Stade went on to win 14–7. As can be expected, everyone condemned the other camp after the match. Biarritz coach Patrice Lagisquet assured Paris had assaulted his players to destabilise them, while the Parisians acknowledged that the overtime loss in the Top 14 final had been hard to swallow, especially as they had the impression that Biarritz had overemphasised the physical side. Ever since, the matches between the two teams have been relatively quiet.


Honours

* French championship Top 14 **Champions (14): 1893, 1894, 1895,
1897 Events January * January 2 – The International Alpha Omicron Pi sorority is founded, in New York City. * January 4 – A British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosere, son-in-law of the ruler. This leads to a punitive expedit ...
,
1898 Events January * January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queen ...
, 1901, 1903, 1908,
1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...
,
2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
,
2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...
,
2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
,
2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...
,
2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
**''Runners-up (9)'':
1892 In Samoa, this was the only leap year spanned to 367 days as July 4 repeated. This means that the International Date Line was drawn from the east of the country to go west. Events January * January 1 – Ellis Island begins processing imm ...
, 1896,
1899 Events January * January 1 ** Spanish rule formally ends in Cuba with the cession of Spanish sovereignty to the U.S., concluding 400 years of the Spanish Empire in the Americas.''The American Monthly Review of Reviews'' (February 1899), p ...
,
1904 Events January * January 7 – The distress signal ''CQD'' is established, only to be replaced 2 years later by ''SOS''. * January 8 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library system. * ...
, 1905,
1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...
,
1907 Events January * January 14 – 1907 Kingston earthquake: A 6.5 Moment magnitude scale, Mw earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica, kills between 800 and 1,000. February * February 9 – The "Mud March (suffragists), Mud March", the ...
,
1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the BBC, British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith, 1st Baron Reith, John Reith becomes the first ...
,
2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...
*
Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Investec Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...
/ European Rugby Champions Cup **''Runners-up (2)'':
2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...
,
2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...
*
European Rugby Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception i ...
** Champions (1):
2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...
**''Runners-up (2)'':
2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
,
2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
* French Cup ** Champions (1): 1999 ** ''Runners-up (1)'': 1998 * Coupe de l'Espérance ** ''Runners-up (1)'': 1916


Finals results


Heineken Cup and European Rugby Champions Cup


European Rugby Challenge Cup


Current standings


Current squad

The Stade Français squad for the 2024–25 season is:


Espoirs squad

#


Notable former players


French

* Alexandre Albouy * Géo André * Benoît August * David Auradou *
Édouard Bader Édouard Bader (26 July 1899 – 21 April 1983) was a French rugby union player who competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (; ; ), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (; ; ) and commonly known as Ant ...
* Mathieu Bastareaud * Lionel Beauxis * Nicolas Bézy * Mathieu Blin * Hugo Bonneval * Fernand Bouisson * Guillaume Boussès * Olivier Brouzet *
Jacques Chaban-Delmas Jacques Chaban-Delmas (; 7 March 1915 – 10 November 2000) was a French Gaullist politician. He served as Prime Minister under Georges Pompidou from 1969 to 1972. He was the Mayor of Bordeaux from 1947 to 1995 and a deputy for the Gironde ''d ...
* Denis Charvet * Jean Chastanié * Arthur Chollon * Franck Comba *
Marcel Communeau Marcel Communeau (11 September 1885 – 26 June 1971) was a French rugby union player, who represented the France national rugby union team. Communeau was the leading French player prior to World War I, representing his country a record 21 times ...
* Christophe Dominici * Geoffrey Doumayrou * Julien Dupuy * Pierre Failliot * Jerome Fillol * Fabien Galthié * Roland Garros * Pierre Gaudermen * Jean-Guy Gautier * Philippe Gimbert * Auguste Giroux * Stéphane Glas * Arthur Gomes * Adolphe Jauréguy * Nicolas Jeanjean * Christophe Juillet * Benjamin Kayser * Jean-Baptiste Lafond * Raphaël Lakafia * Fabrice Landreau * Christophe Laussucq * Marcel Legrain * Émile Lesieur * Robert Levasseur * Brian Liebenberg * Marc Lièvremont * Thomas Lombard * Arnaud Marchois * Sylvain Marconnet *
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 ...
* Geoffroy Messina * Olivier Milloud * Christophe Moni * Vincent Moscato * Joseph Olivier * Raoul Paoli * Pascal Papé * Alain Penaud * Pierre Rabadan * Olivier Roumat * Julien Saubade * Serge Simon * Jeremy Sinzelle * David Skrela * Rabah Slimani * Dimitri Szarzewski * Patrick Tabacco * Jean Vaysse * Pierre Vigouroux * Pieter de Villiers


Internationals

* Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro * Felipe Contepomi * Ignacio Corleto * Juan Martín Hernández * Juan Manuel Leguizamón * Agustín Pichot *
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. ...
* Martín Rodríguez * Rodrigo Roncero * Gonzalo Tiesi * Patricio Noriega * Francis Fainifo * Mark Gasnier * Will Genia * Digby Ioane * Richard Kingi * David Lyons * Radike Samo * George Smith *
Morgan Turinui Morgan Turinui (born 5 January 1982 in Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Au ...
* Paul Warwick * Paulo do Rio Branco * Robins Tchale-Watchou * Mike James * Morgan Williams * Stan Wright * James Haskell * Tom Palmer * Ollie Phillips * Richard Pool-Jones * Paul Sackey * Alex Rokobaro * Davit Kubriashvili * Zurab Zhvania * Constantin Henriquez * Mauro Bergamasco * Mirco Bergamasco *
Sergio Parisse Sergio Francesco Parisse (; born 12 September 1983) is an Italian-Argentine former rugby union player. He is currently the lineout coach for French club Toulon. He played for the Italy national team from 2002 until the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Pari ...
* Diego Domínguez * John Akurangi * Byron Kelleher * Regan King * Nae Mărăscu * Constantin Cratunescu * Teodorin Tudose * Brian Lima * Gavin Williams * Krisnan Inu * Hugo Southwell * Simon Taylor * Falie Oelschig * Jono Ross * Shaun Sowerby * Pablo Lemoine * Scott LaValla


Head coaches

* Bernard Laporte (1995 – 1999) * Georges Coste (1999 – 2000) * John Connolly (2000 – 2002) * Nick Mallett (2002 – 2004) * Fabien Galthié (2004 – 2008) *
Ewen McKenzie Ewen James Andrew McKenzie (born 21 June 1965) is an Australian professional rugby union coach and a former international rugby player. He played for Australia national rugby union team, Australia's World Cup winning team in 1991 and earned 51 ...
(2008 – 2009) * Jacques Delmas (2009 – 2010) * Didier Faugeron (2009 – 2010) *
Michael Cheika Michael Cheika (born 4 March 1967) is an Australian professional rugby union and rugby league coach, and former rugby union player. He is head coach of Leicester Tigers in England's Premiership Rugby. Cheika was the coach of the Australia r ...
(2010 – 2012) * Richard Pool-Jones (2012 – 2013) *
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. ...
(2013 – 2017) * Greg Cooper (2017 – 2018) * Heyneke Meyer (2018 – 2020) *
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. ...
(2020 – 2023)


See also

*
List of rugby union clubs in France Contents : A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z By League __NOTOC__ The oldest rugby club in France is Le Havre AC, founded in 1872 making it the oldest association football and rugby club registered in ...
* Rugby union in France


Notes


References


External links

*
Overview
on itsrugby.co.uk

on Rugby15
Stade Français Paris
on ERCrugby.com
Virage des Dieux





Les Amis du Stade Français Paris Rugby

Blog photo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stade Francais Paris
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 ...
Rugby clubs established in 1883 16th arrondissement of Paris Rugby union clubs in Paris 1883 establishments in France