CS Fola Esch

Sporting Circle Fola Esch (French: Cercle sportif Fola Esch), usually abbreviated to Fola Esch or simply Fola, is a football club, based in Esch-sur-Alzette, in south-western Luxembourg. They play their home games at Stade Émile Mayrisch, in the south of the city, which they share with their sister athletics club CA Fola Esch.

Fola Esch
Full nameCercle sportif Fola Esch
Founded1906 (117 years ago)
GroundStade Émile Mayrisch
Capacity7,826
ChairmanGérard López
ManagerStefano Bensi
LeagueLuxembourg National Division
2021–223rd of 16
WebsiteClub website

History

Founded in 1906 by the English language teacher Jean Roeder, Fola was the first football club in Luxembourg. During its heyday, it was the best club in the country, winning four National Division championships and two Luxembourg Cups between 1918 and 1924. Fola won another championship in 1930 and the Luxembourg Cup in 1955, but had since this time lost its place in Luxembourg's top flight.

Fola stubbornly rejected a merger with its larger neighbours, Jeunesse Esch, during the wave of consolidation in the 1990s. In 2004–05, Fola were relegated to the third tier of Luxembourgish football, but were promoted the following season. In 2006–07 they finished third, qualifying for a promotion play-off, which they lost to Victoria Rosport. In August 2007, Fola pulled off a transfer coup by signing former Morocco midfielder Mustapha Hadji.

In 2008, the club managed to secure second place in the championship, granting them promotion to the Fortis League (National Division, the top league in the country, renamed BGL League in March 2009 due to the financial crisis).[1]

In May 2013, CS Fola Esch won the championship in the BGL Ligue with a historic 5–1 win against their rivals, Jeunesse Esch in the 25th match of the season. The club had a gap of 83 years since their last championship. Stefano Bensi scored 20 goals during this season.

Fola participated in the second qualifying round of the Champions League 2013–14, but lost to Dinamo Zagreb 0–5 in the first leg (at home) and 0–1 in the second leg (away). In 2015, Fola won the championship again, after finishing second in 2014. In 2016 they again finished second with an equal number of points with the champions, F91 Dudelange.

In 2016 CS Fola Esch, celebrated their 110th birthday, and also became a member of the exclusive Club of Pioneers, as the oldest football club of Luxembourg.

History

  • 1906: Club founded as Football and Lawn Tennis Club Esch
  • 1907: Adopts current colours of red and white stripes
  • 1910: Absorbs FC Nerva, becoming Cercle sportif Fola Esch
  • 1918: Wins first championship title
  • 1924: Wins the Double
  • 1930: Wins last championship title for the next 83 years
  • 1935: Moves to current stadium, Stade Émile Mayrisch
  • 1955: Wins Luxembourg Cup, last title before a long lean period
  • 1973: First participation in European competition (season 1973–74)
  • 2013: Wins first championship since 83 years, followed by another champion title in 2015
  • 2017: First qualification to the second round and to the third round in European competition

Honours

National Division

Luxembourg Cup

  • Winners: 1922–23, 1923–24, 1954–55
  • Runners-up: 1972–73, 2016–17

European competition

As of 11 July 2017[2]
Rank Country Team Points
317 Montenegro FK Mladost Podgorica 3.550
318 Bosnia and Herzegovina NK Široki Brijeg 3.550
319 Kazakhstan FC Irtysh Pavlodar 3.550
320 Luxembourg CS Fola Esch 3.475
321 Luxembourg FC Differdange 03 3.475
322 Bulgaria PFC Slavia Sofia 3.425
As of match played 26 August 2021
Competition Pld W D L GF GA
UEFA Champions League 7 0 2 5 3 19
UEFA Europa League 19 3 5 11 17 34
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 2 0 0 2 1 11
UEFA Europa Conference League 7 4 0 3 9 11
Total 35 7 7 21 30 75

Matches

Season Competition Round Club Home Away Aggregate
1973–74 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1R Bulgaria Beroe Stara Zagora 0–7 1–4 1–11
2011–12 UEFA Europa League 1Q Sweden Elfsborg 1–1 0–4 1–5
2013–14 UEFA Champions League 2Q Croatia Dinamo Zagreb 0–5 0–1 0–6
2014–15 UEFA Europa League 1Q Sweden Göteborg 0–2 0–0 0–2
2015–16 UEFA Champions League 2Q Croatia Dinamo Zagreb 0–3 1–1 1–4
2016–17 UEFA Europa League 1Q Scotland Aberdeen 1–0 1–3 2–3
2017–18 UEFA Europa League 1Q Moldova Milsami Orhei 2–1 1–1 3–2
2Q Azerbaijan Inter Baku 4–1 0–1 4–2
3Q Sweden Östersund 1–2 0–1 1–3
2018–19 UEFA Europa League 1Q Kosovo Prishtina 0–0 0–0 0–0 (5–4p)
2Q Belgium Genk 1–4 0–5 1–9
2019–20 UEFA Europa League 1Q Georgia (country) Chikhura Sachkhere 1–2 1–2 2–4
2020–21 UEFA Champions League 1Q Moldova Sheriff Tiraspol 0–2
UEFA Europa League 2Q Armenia Ararat-Armenia 3–4 (aet)
2021–22 UEFA Champions League 1Q Gibraltar Lincoln Red Imps 2–2 0–5 2–7
UEFA Europa Conference League 2Q Belarus Shahktyor Soligorsk 1–0 2–1 3–1
3Q Northern Ireland Linfield 2–1 2–1 4–2
PO Kazakhstan Kairat 1–4 1–3 2–7
2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League 1Q San Marino Tre Fiori 0–1 1–3 1–4

Current squad

As of 28 July, 2023[3]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Luxembourg LUX Emanuel Cabral
2 MF Luxembourg LUX Yann Balance
3 MF Luxembourg LUX Malik Pinheiro
6 DF Democratic Republic of the Congo COD Mohamed Camara
7 MF Belgium BEL Yuanis Temdieu
8 MF Luxembourg LUX Fabio Martins
9 FW Belgium BEL Yanis Lahrach
10 MF Luxembourg LUX Issam El Alami
11 FW France FRA Jules Diallo
12 DF Luxembourg LUX Vasco Silva Pinto
13 MF Portugal POR Brandon Lima
14 MF Luxembourg LUX Luca Labalestra
15 FW Luxembourg LUX Rui Sousa
16 FW Luxembourg LUX Idney Melo Có
17 FW Luxembourg LUX Oskar Ekeberg
18 MF France FRA Ilyess Jeridi
19 MF Luxembourg LUX Mattia Bartoletti
20 DF France FRA Jordan Tawaba
21 DF Luxembourg LUX Gianluca Tortaro
22 GK Luxembourg LUX Evan Da Costa
No. Pos. Nation Player
23 MF Luxembourg LUX Daniel Silva
24 MF Luxembourg LUX Fred Paulus
26 MF Luxembourg LUX Tom Flick
27 DF Netherlands NED Joey Tshitoku
28 DF France FRA Julien Klein
29 DF Luxembourg LUX Nathan Rooms
30 GK Luxembourg LUX Noah Kipper
31 DF Luxembourg LUX Leonel Amou Taylan
33 GK Luxembourg LUX Jordi Cabral
37 DF France FRA Hénoc Isamene
44 GK Luxembourg LUX Daniel Matos
70 FW Luxembourg LUX Michael Omosanya
72 FW Luxembourg LUX André Ferreira
78 MF Luxembourg LUX Diego Colonato
79 MF Luxembourg LUX Tiago Marques Coimbra
88 MF Spain ESP Ricky Bea Ecke
90 FW Luxembourg LUX Lenny Liénafa
95 DF Belgium BEL Wesley Orville
97 FW France FRA Kévin Quinol

Former coaches

ManagerAppointedDimsissed
Luxembourg Henri Bossi1 July 198830 June 1989
Luxembourg Henri Bossi23 September 199330 June 1994
Luxembourg Pascal Welter19 February 20005 November 2002
Belgium Philippe Guérard10 November 200525 March 2006
Germany Michael Lofy1 July 200823 March 2009
Luxembourg Pascal Welter13 April 200916 October 2009
Belgium Philippe Guérard26 October 200931 October 2010
Luxembourg Jeff Strasser2 November 201022 December 2010
France Cyril Serredszum22 December 201030 January 2012
Luxembourg Jeff Strasser1 July 201226 September 2017
France Cyril Serredszum27 September 20174 February 2018
Germany Thomas Klasen5 February 201816 August 2018
Luxembourg Jeff Strasser16 August 2018[4]18 May 2020[5]
Belgium Sébastien Grandjean18 May 2020[6]present

References

  1. Luxembourg 2007/08 – RSSSF
  2. "UEFA coefficients". UEFA.com. UEFA.
  3. "CS Fola Esch – Roster". CS Fola Esch Roster. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  4. "Official Communication". CS Fola Esch. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  5. "Offiziell: Strasser wird Hesperinger Trainer" [Official: Strasser becomes Hesperinger trainer]. Luxembourger Wort (in German). 19 May 2020. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  6. "OSébastien Grandjean prend les commandes du Fola" [Sébastien Grandjean takes control of Fola]. Luxembourger Wort (in French). 18 May 2020. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
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