Le Mans FC
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Le Mans Football Club (Script error: No such module "IPA".; commonly referred to as Le Mans FC) is a French professional football club based in Le Mans. The club set to compete in Ligue 2 from 2025–26, the second tier of French football after promotion from Championnat National in 2024–25. The club was founded in 1985 as a result of a merger under the name Le Mans Union Club 72 (abbreviated as MUC 72). In 2010, Le Mans changed its name to Le Mans FC to coincide with the re-modeling of the club, which includes moving into a new stadium, the Stade Marie-Marvingt, which opened in January 2011.[1] The stadium is based in the interior of the Circuit de la Sarthe, a famous circuit in the city.
The club were controversially relegated from 2019–20 Ligue 2 when the season was terminated early due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
History
Le Mans Sports Club were founded in 1900, but it was not until 1908 that a football club existed within it. Le Mans qualified for the Championnat de la France in 1910, but were heavily overturned by Saint-Servan. Gaining a huge reputation up to World War I, Le Mans SC plunged into obscurity by World War II before joining the war league in 1942.
The football section of Union Sportive du Mans was founded in 1903.
The current club was formed as a result of a merger between Union Sportive du Mans and Le Mans Sports Club, on 12 June 1985. Upon its foundation, former football player Bernard Deferrez was installed as manager. Le Mans UC spent the majority of its infancy in Ligue 2. In the 2003–04 season, the club achieved promotion to Ligue 1 for the first time, but were immediately relegated. Le Mans returned to the first division for the 2005–06 season and successfully remained in the league for the next four seasons. The club suffered relegation back to Ligue 2 in the 2009–10 season. Midway through the campaign, on 2 December 2009, Le Mans announced that it was changing its name from Le Mans Union Club 72 to Le Mans FC.
Le Mans moved to the MMArena midway through the 2010–11 season, comfortably in the promotion spots for a return to Ligue 1, but a bad run sees them finish 4th, missing promotion on goal difference. The failure to achieve promotion is costly, as the club sees its payroll limited by the DNCG. Many players left, and relegation was only narrowly avoided. The club survived by appeal an attempt by DNCG to relegate them to Championnat National. The following season they were relegated on the field, and a long summer of legal battles saw them liquidated and reforming in Maine (province) Division d'Honneur as an amateur club.[2]
Promotion to Championnat de France Amateur 2 was achieved on the first attempt, and promotion from that division was only narrowly missed in 2014–15 and 2015–16. On the third attempt, promotion to the new Championnat National 2 was obtained in 2016–17, when Le Mans finished as one of the best runners up in the competition. Le Mans was promoted for the second season in a row winning Group D and being promoted to the 2018–19 Championnat National, the club would achieve a third consecutive promotion after successfully overcoming Gazélec Ajaccio in the Ligue 2 relegation play-off final with a 3-2 aggregate score, swapping places with the Corsican club who, only three years before had been members of the top-flight themselves.[3]
The club were in 19th place in Ligue 2 when the season was terminated early due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the club supporting an LFP proposal which would have seen Ligue 2 operate temporarily with 22 clubs, meaning they would stay in the division, the FFF ruled on 27 May 2020 that they were to be relegated to Championnat National.[4]
On 17 May 2025, Le Mans secured promotion to Ligue 2 from next season after win against FC Versailles 2–0 in Final matchweek and return to second tier after five years absence.
Players
Current squad
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Notable players
Below are the notable former players who have represented Le Mans and its predecessors in league and international competition since the club's foundation in 1985. To appear in the section below, a player must have played in at least 100 official matches for the club.
For a complete list of Le Mans players, see Category:Le Mans FC players
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- Template:Flagicon Arnaud Denis
- Template:Flagicon Ludovic Baal
- Template:Flagicon Dagui Bakari
- Template:Flagicon Ismaël Bangoura
- Template:Flagicon Marko Baša
- Template:Flagicon Régis Beunardeau
- Template:Flagicon Willy Bolivard
- Template:Flagicon Laurent Bonnart
- Template:Flagicon Grégory Cerdan
- Template:Flagicon Sébastien Corchia
- Template:Flagicon Daniel Cousin
- Template:Flagicon Mathieu Coutadeur
- Template:Flagicon Vincent Créhin
- Template:Flagicon Joffrey Cuffaut
- Template:Flagicon Thomas Dasquet
- Template:Flagicon Tulio De Melo
- Template:Flagicon Stéphane Diarra
- Template:Flagicon Moussa Doumbia
- Template:Flagicon Didier Drogba
- Template:Flagicon Tom Duponchelle
- Template:Flagicon Romain Dupont
- Template:Flagicon Dan Eggen
- Template:Flagicon Patrick Ekeng Ekeng
- Template:Flagicon James Fanchone
- Template:Flagicon Thibault Ferrand
- Template:Flagicon Yannick Fischer
- Template:Flagicon Thierry Froger
- Template:Flagicon Eric Garcin
- Template:Flagicon Antônio Géder
- Template:Flagicon Gervinho
- Template:Flagicon Grafite
- Template:Flagicon Hamza Hafidi
- Template:Flagicon Yohan Hautcoeur
- Template:Flagicon Thorstein Helstad
- Template:Flagicon Roland Lamah
- Template:Flagicon Pierre Lemonnier
- Template:Flagicon Anthony Le Tallec
- Template:Flagicon Cyriaque Louvion
- Template:Flagicon Modibo Maïga
- Template:Flagicon Daisuke Matsui
- Template:Flagicon Didier Ovono
- Template:Flagicon Fabrice Pancrate
- Template:Flagicon Pierre Patron
- Template:Flagicon Olivier Pédémas
- Template:Flagicon Yohann Pelé
- Template:Flagicon Christian Penaud
- Template:Flagicon Laurent Peyrelade
- Template:Flagicon Yoann Poulard
- Template:Flagicon Réginald Ray
- Template:Flagicon Romaric
- Template:Flagicon Stéphane Samson
- Template:Flagicon Morgan Sanson
- Template:Flagicon Stéphane Sessègnon
- Template:Flagicon Jacques Songo'o
- Template:Flagicon Mamadou Soro
- Template:Flagicon Fredrik Strømstad
- Template:Flagicon Frédéric Thomas
- Template:Flagicon Olivier Thomas
- Template:Flagicon Olivier Thomert
- Template:Flagicon Patrick Van Kets
- Template:Flagicon Alexandre Vardin
- Template:Flagicon Stéphen Vincent
- Template:Flagicon Hassan Yebda
- Template:Flagicon Zito
Former managers
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Honours
- Division d'Honneur Ouest
- Winners: 1961, 1965
- Division d'Honneur Maine
- Winners: 2014
- Coupe Gambardella
- Winners: 2004
References
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- ↑ Le MUC 72 devient LEMANS FC. Template:Webarchive.
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