Toulouse Olympique

Toulouse Olympique
Club information
Full name Toulouse Olympique XIII
Colours
Founded 1937
Website website
Current details
Ground(s)
CEO Cedric Garcia
Coach Sylvain Houles
Competition Championship
2017 season 5th
Current season
Uniforms
Home colours
Away colours

Toulouse Olympique are a professional rugby league club in Toulouse, south-west France.[1] Founded in 1937, two years after the French Rugby League Federation, they are six-time winners of the French Rugby League Championship.

The club played in the Rugby Football League's Championship competition in 2009 and 2010. They returned to the Elite One Championship in 2011, but in 2016 again joined the RFL system, this time in League 1, the third tier of English rugby league, being promoted to the Championship at the end of that season.

History

Toulouse hosted the first ever French rugby league Lord Derby Cup Final in 1935 when Lyon Villeurbanne beat XIII Catalan at the Stade des Minimes. The first rugby league club in the city were Gallia de Toulouse who started the 1935 season but lasted only two matches before dropping down to the amateur level of the newly introduced sport. Toulouse Olympique were formed in 1937 by Jean Galia and played their first league match on 24 October 1937 losing 14-44 at home against RC Albi at their new home the Arnaune Stadium now called the Stade des Minimes. The club finished 8th in that debut season under coach Jean Galia. In their second season, 38/39 they reached the cup final losing 3-7 against XIII Catalan and finished 5th in the league.[2] The clubs last match before the war was against Villefranche de Lauragais winning 62-5. During the war years, like other rugby league clubs in France, the club were forced to play rugby union following the ban on rugby league by the Vichy regime in France.

In 1944, Toulouse reached the Semi-Final of the French Cup in rugby union. In the meantime the Arnauné stadium was confiscated by the State, like most of the assets of the French Federation of rugby league. Following liberation by the Allies and the restoration of the French Championship, the club were on the losing side twice when they met Carcassonne in the finals for the 1944-45 and 1945-46 competitions. After two decades away from the top, another strong team emerged that included Pierre Lacaze and under coach Georges Aillères having finished runner-up in the league in 63/64, they then lifted their first league title the following season beating US Villeneuve in the final 47-15. During the 1960s they also reached four cup finals but lost them all, 1962 against RC Roanne XIII 10-16, 1963 against AS Carcassonne 0-5, 1964 against US Villeneuve 2-10 and 1968 against AS Carcassonne 2-9. During the early 70s they lifted two more league titles, in season 72/73 they beat Marseille XIII 18-0 and in 74/75 they beat AS Saint Esteve 10-9. Their 1976 cup final defeat to XIII Catalan 8-23 would be their last final appearance in either league or cup until the new millennium.

Before that in 1995 the club changed their name to Toulouse Spacers due to their link up with the local aerospace company in the town, keeping this name until 2002. In 2000 the club ended their long silverware draught when they won the championship title with victory over AS Saint Esteve 20-18 and the following season reached the final again but lost out 20-32 against Villeneuve Leopards. Toulouse's ambition to join the European Super League grew but in 2003, despite a stadium upgrade, youth development and becoming a limited company, their application was rejected by the Rugby Football League in favour of Catalans Dragons. After reverting to Toulouse Olympique the club reached two more league championship finals but lost both. In 2004/05 they were convincingly beaten by Union Treiziste Catalane 16-66 and the following season they lost again this time 18-21 against Pia XIII. In 2005 Olympique became the first French club ever to reach the semi-finals of the Rugby League Challenge Cup, when they defeated European Super League side Widnes 40-24. They went on to lose 56-18 to world champions Leeds in the semi-final at the Galpharm Stadium, Huddersfield.

Toulouse players in a Championship match against Gateshead (June 2009).

In 2006, the Rugby Football League decided to introduce licensing for the 2009 Super League season, with the number of clubs being increased from 12 to 14. Toulouse were one of the applicants but failed to win a licence, losing out to the 12 existing Super League clubs, Salford and the Crusaders. After the announcement however, the Rugby Football League invited Toulouse to enter the second tier Championship (previously National League One) for the 2009 season, with a view to applying in the next round of franchising to be accepted to Super League in 2012.[3] Offering no direct route to Super League at the time, Toulouse's spell in the Championship lasted three seasons. In their first campaign, 2009, the season was acclaimed a success with them winning 9 games which included a record 5 match winning run this despite being beaten heavily on the opening round of matches live on television at Widnes Vikings 0-70.[4]

The second season saw improvement and but for an end of season blip which saw the club lose their last 6 games they could have reached the end of season play-offs, beating league leaders Featherstone Rovers live on television was their best result and performance.[5] at the end of 2011 it was announced that the club would be withdrawing from the Championship and returning to the French league from the 2012 season onwards. Toulouse returned to the French Elite One Championship in 2012. They failed to make the Championship Final in the 2012-13 season but won a league and cup double the following season, 2013/14, winning 38-12 against Lezignan Sangliers in the league and beating AS Carcassonne 46-10 in the cup. They then retained their league title when beating AS Carcassonne 20-12.

In 2015, it was announced that Toulouse Olympique would return to the English rugby league system after they were accepted to play in League 1 from the 2016 season in their second bid to be promoted into Super League. A Toulouse presence would remain in the French Elite One league when Toulouse Broncos who were in the 2nd tier were taken over by Olympique and renamed Toulouse Olympique Broncos

Toulouse went unbeaten during the League 1 2016 season but lost in the Promotion Final to Rochdale Hornets. They entered the play-offs as a result and were successful, beating Barrow Raiders to win promotion to the Championship.

2018 squad

2018 Toulouse Olympique Squad
First team squad Coaching staff

Head coach

Assistant coaches

Legend:
  • (c) Captain(s)
  • (vc) Vice captain(s)

Updated: 6 January 2017
Source(s): 2018 Squad Numbers

2018 transfers

Gains

PlayerSigned fromDate
New Zealand Sam RapiraHuddersfield GiantsSeptember 2017[6]
France William BarthauLondon BroncosOctober 2017
United States Eddy PettybourneGold Coast TitansDecember 2017
Italy Chris CentroneWyong RoosMay 2018
England James WorthingtonWigan WarriorsMonth Loan
England Joe BrethertonWigan Warriors2019
France Paul SeguierCatalans Dragonson loan
France Arthur RomanoCatalans Dragonson loan

Losses

PlayerSigned forDate
France Levy NzoungouSalford Red DevilsNovember 2017
France Gregory WhiteRetiredNovember 2017
Tonga Kalausa LehaReleasedNovember 2017
Papua New Guinea Kuni MingaReleasedNovember 2017
France Etienne FerretReleasedNovember 2017

Honours

Title in 1973
  • French Championship (6): 1964–65, 1972–73, 1974–75, 1999–2000, 2013–14, 2014–15
  • Lord Derby Cup (1): 2013–14
  • Championship Shield (1): 2017

References

  1. ↑ "Operational Rules". RFL. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  2. ↑ http://www.to13.com/histoire
  3. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-08-03. Retrieved 2008-07-23.
  4. ↑ Butcher, Tim (2009). Gillette Rugby League Yearbook 2009-2010. League Publications Ltd. p. 85. ISBN 978-1-901347-21-0.
  5. ↑ Butcher, Tim (2010). Gillette Rugby League Yearbook 2010-2011. League Publications Ltd. p. 84. ISBN 978-1-901347-22-7.
  6. ↑ "Sam Rapira: Huddersfield Giants prop to join Toulouse". 5 September 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.