Sporting Circle Fola Esch (), usually abbreviated to Fola Esch or simply Fola, is a professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club based in Esch-sur-Alzette, in south-western

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

. 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.

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 Cup The Luxembourg Cup () is the national Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Luxembourgian Association football, football. It was first held in 1922, and has been held annually since, with the exception of the four seasons du ...

s between 1918 and 1924. Fola won another championship in 1930 and the

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 Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

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

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

). 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 *Champions (8): 1917–18, 1919–20, 1921–22, 1923–24, 1929–30, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2020–21 *Runners-up (10): 1916–17, 1918–19, 1920–21, 1928–29, 1948–49, 1953–54, 1954–55, 2010–11, 2013–14, 2018–19

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

European competition

Matches

Current squad

(''on loan from F91 Dudelange'') (''on loan from Wiltz 71'')

Former coaches

References

External links

*
CS Fola Esch
at football-lineups.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Fola Esch Football clubs in Luxembourg Sports clubs and teams in Esch-sur-Alzette Association football clubs established in 1906 1906 establishments in Luxembourg