Red Star FC history

Rimet quickly succeeded him and, by 1904, Red Star were playing in the first division of the USFSA league.

In 1907, Red Star changed its name to Red Star Amical Club after merging with Amical Football Club.

On 25 October 1909, the stadium was inaugurated following a match between Red Star and English club Old Westminsters.

Home initially for the Red Star was a stadium by the Champ de Mars, in Paris, but with the development of the suburban railway network, a site at Meudon was to be home until 1910.

In 1912, the club earned its first honour after winning the association's Ligue Nationale.

1913 saw the first ever French home win over Italy, at Saint-Ouen.

In 1919, the French Football Federation was created and months later, the Coupe de France.

From 1920–34, Red Star embarked on a remarkable uprising in which the club won four Coupe de France titles, achieved professional status, and were founding members of the French Division 1.

The club's first Coupe de France victory came in 1921, when the club, led by French internationals Pierre Chayriguès, Paul Nicolas, Juste Brouzes, Lucien Gamblin and Maurice Meyer, defeated Olympique de Paris 2–1, courtesy of goals from Marcel Naudin and Robert Clavel.

In 1926, Red Star completed a second merger, this time with its local rivals Olympique de Paris whom it had defeated just five years ago in a Coupe de France final.

1928 saw a fourth cup victory then the fifth and final cup win came fourteen years later as part of the wartime competition.

In July 1930, the National Council of the French Football Federation voted 128–20 in support of professionalism in French football.

Red Star won the league and returned to the first division for the 1934–35 season.

Red Star was founded in 1945.

In 1946 they merged with another Paris club to form Red Star Olympique Audonien, then Stade Français to become Stade Red Star.

1952 saw another change of name to Red Star Olympique Audonien.

The first final of the European Championship (then known as the European Nations’ Cup) took place in 1960 after two years of preliminary contests between 17 national football clubs.

The team plays in Rajko Mitić Stadium (named for a former Red Star great), which opened in 1963 and is nicknamed “the Marakana,” after Rio de Janiero’s famed Maracanã Stadium.

In 1967, they merged with Toulouse FC (not the current club) out of the latter club's financial reasons and bought Toulouse's place in the top division.

The merged club last played in first division in the 1974–75 season.

In broader European competition, the club’s greatest victory came in 1991, when Red Star beat Olympique de Marseille to win the European Cup (now the Champions League), becoming only the second team from eastern Europe (after Romania’s Steaua Bucharest) to do so.

Following the building of the 80,000 all-seated Stade de France for the 1998 World Cup Finals, the directors of the club prepared a plan of action to have Red Star installed as resident club at the new stadium.

1999 saw the return of former coach Pierre Repellini and closer links with the first division club Saint-Etienne.

In March 2000, Red Star celebrate 100 years with a gala at the Stade de France, then in April, Red Star reached the league-cup semi-finals.

Indeed in January 2003 the club sat proud on top of the division, following impressive wins over their nearest rivals Lille reserves and Valenciennes.

However there is to be drama on a Sunday afternoon in March 2007 in Saint-Germain.

After a long spell in the lower leagues, following a successful 2014–15 campaign, the team won promotion to Ligue 2, the second tier of French football.

In the 2016–17 Ligue 2 season, Red Star finished 19th and were relegated back to the third division of French football.

In 2018, Red Star were promoted back to Ligue 2 as champions of the Championnat National.