Stade Toulousain

Stade Toulousain, also referred to as Toulouse, is a French rugby union club from Toulouse in Midi-Pyrénées. Toulouse is one of the finest rugby clubs in Europe, having won the Heineken Cup four times (record) – in 1996, 2003, 2005 and 2010. They were also runners-up in 2004 and 2008 against London Wasps and Munster, respectively. Stade Toulousain have also won a record 19 French Championship titles. It is traditionally one of the main providers for the French national team. Their home ground is the Stade Ernest-Wallon. However, big Top 14 matches along with Heineken Cup games are often played at the Stadium Municipal de Toulouse. The club's colours are red, black and white.

The Birth
Before 1907 rugby in Toulouse was only played in schools or universities. In 1893, students of secondary school "Lycée de Toulouse" got together in "les Sans Soucis". Once attending university the same students founded "l'Olympique Toulousain", which became "Stade Olympien des Etudiants de Toulouse" (SOET) a few years later in 1896. In the same period, 'non-students' grouped in "le Sport Atléthique Toulousain" (SAT) while students of the veterinary school created "l'Union Sportive de l'Ecole Vétérinaire" (USEV). Both entities merged in 1905 and called themselves "Véto-Sport". Finally in 1907, Stade Toulousain was founded resulting from a union between the SOET and Véto-Sport.

Early years
Stade Toulousain played its first final of the national title French Championship in 1909 and lost it to Stade Bordelais Université Club (17–0) in Toulouse. In 1912 Stade Toulousain won its first national title. It had to wait until 1922 before it won its second. However the 1920s were a golden era for the club. Their first final action in the 1920s was in 1921, when they were defeated by USA Perpignan. Despite losing in 1921, the side went on to win the 1922, 1923, 1924, 1926 and 1927 championships.

1930s to 1950s
The following decades were relatively quiet after such a dominant era during the 1920s. Stade Toulousain would not make it to any grand finals during the 1930s, and it would not be until the late 1940s when they would return. However they did contest the Challenge Yves du Manoir with RC Toulon in 1934, though it ended in a nil-all tie and both teams were winners. The club made it to the final of the 1947 championship, and claimed the premiership, beating SU Agen, 10 to 3. However, no such championships followed, the club was again relatively quiet on the championship. It was 22 years in the waiting; Toulouse made it to the final, but were defeated by the CA Bègles club.

1970s to 1980s
In 1971 Toulouse contested the Challenge Yves du Manoir against US Dax, losing 18 to 8. Eleven years after the CA Bègles defeat, the club was again disappointed in the final, being defeated by AS Béziers in the championship game of 1980. The latter end of the decade was however, reminiscent of the 1920s sides. Toulouse were again contesting the Challenge Yves du Manoir for the 1984 season, though they lost to RC Narbonne 17 to 3. They did however claim their first championship since 1947, defeating RC Toulon in the 1985 final. The following season saw them successfully defend their championship, defeating SU Agen in the final. After a number of defeats in the Challenge Yves du Manoir finals, Toulouse defeated US Dax to win the 1988 competition. Both Toulon and Agen won the following premierships (1987 and 1988) but Toulouse won another championship in 1989.

thumb|Stade Français vs Stade toulousain which took place in Stade de France, Paris, 27/01/2007

thumb|Against the Racing club de France, 1912

1990s to present


The dominance continued in the 1990s, starting with a grand final loss in 1991, and a Challenge Yves du Manoir championship in 1993, defeating Castres 13 to 8 in the final. The mid-1990s saw Stade Toulousain become a major force yet again, as the club claimed four premierships in a row, winning the championship in 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1997, as well as the Challenge Yves du Manoir in 1995. The club emmulated its success in the European Rugby Cup, becoming the first ever champions in the 1995–96 season.

The late 1990s and the 2000s saw the club again reach great heights. The club won the Challenge Yves du Manoir in 1998, defeating Stade Français Paris, and the 1999 championship as well as the 2001 championship and were runners-up in the 2003 season, losing to Stade Français in the final. As the club had done in the mid 1990s, Stade Toulousain replicated this success in the European Rugby Cup, winning the 2002–03 championship and the 2004–05 championship. The club made it to the final of the 2005-06 Top 14, and despite only trailing Biarritz 9–6 at half time, Toulouse could not prevent a second-half whitewash, eventually going down 40–13. They ended their seven year title drought with a 26–20 win over ASM Clermont Auvergne on 28 June 2008. In 2008 they narrowly lost a Heineken Cup Final to Munster by 3 points. In 2010 Toulouse defeated Leinster to reach the final where they faced Biarritz Olympique at Stade de France in Paris on Saturday 22 May 2010. Toulouse won the game by 21–19 to claim their fourth Heineken Cup title, making them the only club to ever win the title four times. Stade Toulousain is also the only French club to have taken part in all the editions of Heineken Cup since its creation (17, with the 2011–2012 season). They won the French championship in 2011 against Montpellier (15-10) and 2012 against Toulon (18-12). Stade Toulousain reached the semi-finals of the French championship 19 consecutive years (from 1994 to 2012).

Stadium
Toulouse play their home games at the Stade Ernest-Wallon, which was built in the late 1980s and was recently renovated. Stade Toulousain is one of the three teams (all sports included) that own its stadium. It has a capacity of 19,500. The stadium however cannot always accommodate all the fans of the Toulouse club. For the larger fixtures, such as championship or Heineken Cup games or play-offs, the fixture may be moved to Stadium Municipal, which has double capacity, 38,000. The stadium has been used for numerous matches at the 2007 Rugby World Cup

Honours
see also: Stade Toulousain in Cup Finals

Rugby Union

 * Heineken Cup:


 * Champions: 1996, 2003, 2005, ￼￼2010, 2021


 * Runners-up: 2004, ￼￼2008￼￼


 * French Champions:


 * Champions: 1912, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1926, 1927, 1947, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2008, 2011, ￼￼2012￼￼,2019


 * Runners-up: 1903, 1909, 1921, 1969, 1980, 1991, 2003, 2006


 * Coupe de l'Espérance:


 * Champions: 1916


 * Runners-up: 1917


 * Challenge Yves du Manoir:


 * Champions: 1934, 1988, 1993, 1995, 1998


 * Runners-up: 1971 1984


 * French Cup:


 * Champions: 1946, 1947, 1984


 * Runners-up: 1949, 1985


 * World Club Championship:


 * Champions: 1986

Football

 * Champions of Midi:


 * Champions: 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1914

European record
Toulouse has the best European competition record. Since the European Rugby Cups were inaugurated for the 1995–96 season, Toulouse has qualified for the Heineken Cup in every season. The club has the best competition record in the Heineken Cup, more so than any other club in Europe, having won the competition five times.

Players In

 * 🇫🇷 Gaël Fickou from 🇫🇷 Toulon


 * 🇫🇷 Antoine Guillamon from 🇫🇷 Lyon


 * 🇫🇷 Yoann Huget from 🇫🇷 Bayonne


 * Vasil Kakovin from 🇫🇷 Brive

Players Out

 * 🇫🇷 Nicolas Bézy to 🇫🇷 Stade Français


 * 🇫🇷 Yassine Boutemane to 🇫🇷 Bordeaux-Bègles


 * 🇫🇯 Rupeni Caucaunibuca to 🇫🇷 Carcassonne


 * 🇫🇷 Benjamin Collet to 🇫🇷 Tarbes


 * 🇳🇿 Johnson Falefa to 🇫🇷 Agen


 * 🇫🇷 Jérémie Falip to 🇫🇷 Carcassonne


 * Shaun Sowerby to 🇫🇷 Grenoble


 * 🇫🇷 Nekolo Tolofua to 🇫🇷 La Rochelle


 * 🇫🇷 Thomas Verdier to 🇫🇷 Perpignan


 * Daan Human Retired


 * 🇫🇷 William Servat Retired

Notable former players
see also 

Selected former coaches

 * 🇦🇺 Tom Richards


 * 🇫🇷 François Borde


 * 🇫🇷 Robert Barran


 * 🇫🇷 Paul Blanc


 * 🇫🇷 Claude Labatut


 * 🇫🇷 Robert Bru


 * 🇫🇷 Pierre Villepreux & Jean-Claude Skrela


 * 🇫🇷 Guy Novès

see also 

Presidents

 * Henri Cazaux : 1954–1957


 * André Brouat : 1964–1966


 * Henri Fourès : 1966–1973


 * Henri Cazaux : 1974–1980


 * Jean Fabre : 1980–1989


 * Jean-René Bouscatel : 1992–

Fans

 * Le Huit (fan club of Stade toulousain)


 * Le Huit Section Aveyron


 * Le Rouge et le Noir (formerly Les ultras), the oldest fan club.


 * Le 16e homme


 * Le 16e homme Toulousains 2 Paris (Stade Toulousain's supporters Club at Paris)


 * L'amicale des Supporters


 * Le Virage Toulousain


 * Tolosa XV


 * Les Rouge et Noir de Picardie

Famous fans
Stade Toulouse is also supported by some famous personalities.

Here is a partial list: Christine Albanel, Benoist Apparu, Cécile Argiolas, Sylvain Augier, Sophie Balmary, Coralie Balmy, Brigitte Barèges, Laetitia Barlerin, Séverine Beltrame, Ellyn Bermejo, Cédric Berrest, Bombes 2 bal, Philippe Bonnecarrère, Vincent Bouchot, Benjamin Boukpeti, Amandine Bourgeois, Yves Camdeborde, Patrice Carmouze, Alexianne Castel, Clémence Castel, Magyd Cherfi, les Chevaliers du Fiel, Christelle Chollet, Pierre Cohen, Julien Courbey, André Daguin, Bernard Debré, Jean-Louis Debré, Mike Di Meglio, Stéphane Diagana, Philippe Douste-Blazy, Sophie Duarte, Émile et Images, Tony Estanguet, Ophélie-Cyrielle Étienne, Fabulous Trobadors, Catherine Falgayrac, Sophie Ferracci, Solenne Figuès, Pierre Galibert, Benoît Hamon, Jade, Laurent Jalabert, KDD, Christophe Kempé, Catherine Lemorton, Cyril Lignac, Jean-Pierre Mader, Frédérique Massat, Émilie Mazoyer, Art Mengo, Romain Mesnil, Malia Metella, Laure Milan, David Moncoutié, Moos, Chloé Mortaud, Jean-Luc Moudenc, Claude Onesta, Jean-Christophe Péraud,  Olivier Pla, Jean-Luc Reichmann, Sam Rouanet, Jean-Luc Roy, Maryline Salvetat, Claude Sicre, Anne-Lise Touya, Christine de Veyrac, Anne-Laure Viard, Doriane Vidal, Mélody Vilbert, Sophie Vouzelaud, Laurent Wolf and Zebda.