CS Fola Esch


Sporting Circle 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 can benefit from his youth teams, with very talented players at their U19

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.
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 and 0–1 in the second leg. 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.

Name history

RankCountryTeam
317FK Mladost Podgorica3.550
318NK Široki Brijeg3.550
319FC Irtysh Pavlodar3.550
320CS Fola Esch3.475
321FC Differdange 033.475
322PFC Slavia Sofia3.425

CompetitionPldWDLGFGA
UEFA Champions League4013110
UEFA Europa League123361117
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup2002111
Total1834111338

Matches

Current squad

Former coaches

ManagerAppointedDimsissed
Henri Bossi1 July 198830 June 1989
Henri Bossi23 September 199330 June 1994
Pascal Welter19 February 20005 November 2002
Philippe Guérard10 November 200525 March 2006
Michael Lofy1 July 200823 March 2009
Pascal Welter13 April 200916 October 2009
Philippe Guérard26 October 200931 October 2010
Jeff Strasser2 November 201022 December 2010
Cyril Serredszum22 December 201030 January 2012
Jeff Strasser1 July 201226 September 2017
Cyril Serredszum27 September 20174 February 2018
Thomas Klasen5 February 201816 August 2018
Jeff Strasser16 August 201818 May 2020
Sébastien Grandjean18 May 2020present