Toulouse FC

The city was left without a big side in 1967 when Toulouse FC sold its players and place in the French top flight to Paris outfit Red Star, but three years later a new club, Union Sportive Toulouse, rose from the ashes. Adopting red and yellow jerseys, the club started out in Ligue 2 and in 1979 reclaimed the name Toulouse FC. Now wearing purple and white, Les Pitchouns gained top-flight promotion in 1982. A side containing Jacques Santini and Swiss forward Daniel Jeandupeux earned a penalty shoot-out victory against Diego Maradona's Napoli in the 1986–87 UEFA Cup, Toulouse's maiden European campaign.

Toulouse fans celebrate qualifying for the 2007–08 UEFA Champions League

After goalkeeper Fabien Barthez made his breakthrough and moved on, Toulouse were relegated in 1994. They subsequently bounced back and forth between Ligues 1 and 2 before slipping to the third flight in 2001 after financial problems. Toulouse were back in the top flight two seasons later, and in 2007 they finished third to earn a place in the 2007–08 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round. There, Liverpool overpowered them 5–0 on aggregate.[3]

In 2008–09, Toulouse finished fourth in the Ligue 1 table with 64 points, and secured a spot in the new Europa League, while André-Pierre Gignac led all scorers in Ligue 1 with 24 goals and was awarded a call-up to the French national team.[4]

In the 2015–16 Ligue 1 season, Toulouse avoided relegation to Ligue 2 in the last game of the season. With 12 minutes to go, Toulouse were behind to Angers 2–1 and needed a win to survive, and scored two late goals and won the match 3–2.[5] Two years later, they finished 18th and won the promotion/relegation playoff 4–0 on aggregate against Ligue 2's AC Ajaccio.[6]

On 6 January 2020, Toulouse dismissed manager Antoine Kombouaré following the club's 1–0 loss to Championnat National 2 side Saint-Pryvé Saint-Hilaire in the Coupe de France. Under Kombouaré the club had lost ten matches in a row, leading him to be dismissed and replaced by Denis Zanko.[7] On 30 April that year, Toulouse were relegated to Ligue 2 after the LFP elected to end the season early due to the coronavirus pandemic.[8]

On 21 July 2020, RedBird Capital Partners acquired an 85% stake in Toulouse FC.[9] The club achieved promotion back to Ligue 1 by winning the second tier, Ligue 2, in 2022.[10] On 29 April 2023, Toulouse won its first-ever Coupe de France title, defeating Kombouaré's Nantes in the final by a score of 5–1.[11] It was the city's second title, however, as the former Toulouse FC had won it back in 1957.[12][13]

• Union Sportive Toulouse (1970–79)
• Toulouse Football Club (1979–current)

Stadium de Toulouse

Toulouse play their home matches at the Stadium de Toulouse. Built in 1937, the stadium presently has a capacity of 33,150. The stadium was used as a venue for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, 2007 Rugby Union World Cup and UEFA Euro 2016.

The violet is a reference to one of two Toulouse nicknames: la Cité des violettes (the City of Violets), the second one being la Ville rose (the Pink City), which explains the colour of former alternate jerseys.[3] The team's logo displays the gold and blood-red Occitan cross, the symbol of Occitania, of which Toulouse is a historical capital.[4]

The 2022-23 French Cup on display at the Capitole in Toulouse.

As of 11 May 2023.[2]

Source: LFP.fr

• Toulouse FC (women)

• Toulouse Football Club, de 1937 à nos jours, de Jean-Louis Berho et Didier Pitorre, avec la collaboration de Jean-Paul Cazeneuve et Jérôme Leclerc (Éditions Universelles)
• La Grande Histoire du TFC, de Nicolas Bernard (Éditions Universelles)
• TouFoulCan, la Bande-dessinée qui supporte le Toulouse Football Club.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Toulouse Football Club.

• Official website (in French)
• Toulouse Football Club at Ligue 1 (in French)
• Toulouse FC at UEFA