Toulouse Football Club () is a French 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

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

. The club was founded in 1970 and currently plays in

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

, the first division of French football. Toulouse plays its home matches at the Stadium de Toulouse located within the city. ''Les Violets'' won the

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, and have won the second tier

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship reasons, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Prof ...

on three occasions. Toulouse have participated in European competition six times, including in 2007 when they qualified for the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

for the first time. The president of Toulouse FC is Damien Comolli, who succeeded the French businessman Olivier Sadran who took over the club following its bankruptcy in 2001 which resulted in it being relegated to the

Championnat National The Championnat National (), commonly referred to as simply National or Division 3, is the third division of the French football league system behind Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. Contested by 18 clubs, the Championnat National operates on a system of ...

. The club has served as a springboard for several players, most notably the World Cup-winning goalkeeper Fabien Barthez, international strikers André-Pierre Gignac, Martin Braithwaite and Wissam Ben Yedder.

History

The city was left without a big side in 1967 when

Toulouse FC Toulouse Football Club () is a French professional association football, football club based in Toulouse. The club was founded in 1970 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the first division of Football in France, French football. Toulouse plays it ...

sold its players and place in the French top flight to Paris outfit

Red Star A red star, five-pointed and filled, is a symbol that has often historically been associated with communist ideology, particularly in combination with the hammer and sickle, but is also used as a purely socialist symbol in the 21st century. ...

, 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 Diego Armando Maradona Franco (30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional association football, football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two ...

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

in the 1986–87 UEFA Cup, Toulouse's maiden European campaign. 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 Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

overpowered them 5–0 on aggregate. 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 France national team. In the 2015–16

season, Toulouse avoided relegation to

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. Two years later, they finished 18th and won the promotion/relegation playoff 4–0 on aggregate against Ligue 2's AC Ajaccio. On 6 January 2020, Toulouse dismissed manager Antoine Kombouaré following the club's 1–0 loss to

Championnat National 2 The Championnat National 2, commonly known as National 2 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur (CFA), is a Association football, football league competition. The league serves as the fourth tier of French football league system be ...

side Saint-Pryvé Saint-Hilaire in the

. Under Kombouaré the club had lost ten matches in a row, leading him to be dismissed and replaced by Denis Zanko. 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 The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. On 21 July 2020, RedBird Capital Partners acquired an 85% stake in Toulouse FC. The club achieved promotion back to Ligue 1 by winning the second tier,

, in 2022. On 29 April 2023, Toulouse won its first-ever

title, defeating Kombouaré's

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

in the

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by a score of 5–1. It was the city's second title, however, as the former Toulouse FC had won it back in

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

Name changes

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

Stadium

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 The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...

2007 Rugby Union World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup () was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international rugby union competition organised by the World Rugby, International Rugby Board. Twenty nations competed for the W ...

and

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's association football, football ch ...

Colours

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. The team's logo displays the gold and blood-red Occitan cross, the symbol of

Occitania Occitania is the historical region in Southern Europe where the Occitan language was historically spoken and where it is sometimes used as a second language. This cultural area roughly encompasses much of the southern third of France (except ...

, of which Toulouse is a historical capital.

Club rivalries

Derby de la Garonne

The Derby de la Garonne is a derby match between

Girondins de Bordeaux Football Club des Girondins de Bordeaux (), commonly referred to as Girondins de Bordeaux () or simply Bordeaux, is a French football club based in the city of Bordeaux in Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It competes in the Championnat National 2 ...

and Toulouse. The derby derives from the fact that

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

and Toulouse are the two major cities in south-western France, both of which are situated on the Garonne River. The consistency and competitiveness of the rivalry developed following Toulouse's return to

after being administratively relegated to the

in 2001.

Players

Current squad

Out on loan

Honours

:''.''

Domestic

**Winners (1): 2022–23 *

**Winners (3): 1981–82, 2002–03, 2021–22

Toulouse in European football

Matches

Club officials

Managers

* José Farías (1970–72) * Richard Boucher (1973–74, 1974–75, 1976–77) * Ángel Marcos (1977–78) *

Just Fontaine Just Louis Fontaine (18 August 193328 February 2023) was a French professional footballer who played as a striker. He scored the most goals ever in a single edition of the FIFA World Cup, with thirteen in six matches in the 1958 tournament. In ...

(1978–79) * Pierre Cahuzac (1979–83) * Daniel Jeandupeux (1 July 1983 – 30 June 1985) * Jacques Santini (1 July 1985 – 30 June 1989) * Pierre Mosca (1 July 1989 – 30 June 1991) * Victor Zvunka (1 July 1991 – 1 September 1992) * Serge Delmas (1 July 1992 – 14 January 1994) * Jean-Luc Ruty (14 January 1994 – 30 June 1994) * Rolland Courbis (1 July 1994 – 1 November 1995) *

Alain Giresse Alain Jean Giresse (; born 2 August 1952) is a French association football, football coach and former player who last managed Kosovo national football team, Kosovo. Giresse was French Player of the Year in 1982, 1983 and 1987. Nominally an Midfi ...

(1 November 1995 – 30 June 1998) * Guy Lacombe (1 July 1998 – 25 January 1999) *

(26 January 1999 – 9 October 2000) * Robert Nouzaret (1 October 2000 – 30 June 2001) * Erick Mombaerts (1 July 2001 – 30 June 2006) * Elie Baup (1 July 2006 – 30 May 2008) * Alain Casanova (30 May 2008 – 16 March 2015) * Dominique Arribagé (16 March 2015 – 2 March 2016) * Pascal Dupraz (2 March 2016 – 22 January 2018) * Mickaël Debève (23 January 2018 – 14 June 2018) * Alain Casanova (22 June 2018 – 10 October 2019) * Antoine Kombouaré (14 October 2019 – 6 January 2020) * Denis Zanko (5 January 2020 – 22 June 2020) *

Patrice Garande Patrice Garande (born 27 November 1960) is a French former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker, currently a Manager (association football), manager. Playing career Club Bo ...

(22 June 2020 – 2 June 2021) * Philippe Montanier (23 June 2021 – 14 June 2023) * Carles Martínez Novell (15 June 2023 – present)

References

External links

*
Toulouse Football Club
at

Toulouse FC
at

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

{{Championnat National 2 Group A Association football clubs established in 1937 1937 establishments in France Football clubs in Occitania (administrative region) Ligue 1 clubs Phoenix clubs (association football)