CS Fola Esch

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 (National Division, the top league in the country, renamed BGL League in March 2009 due to the financial crisis).[1]

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.

• National Division

Winners (7): 1917–18, 1919–20, 1921–22, 1923–24, 1929–30, 2012–13, 2014–15

Runners-up (10): 1916–17, 1918–19, 1920–21, 1928–29, 1948–49, 1953–54, 1954–55, 2010–11, 2013–14, 2018–19

• Luxembourg Cup

Winners (3): 1922–23, 1923–24, 1954–55

Runners-up (1): 1972–73

As of 11 July 2017[2]

Rank	Country	Team	Points
317		FK Mladost Podgorica	3.550
318		NK Široki Brijeg	3.550
319		FC Irtysh Pavlodar	3.550
320		CS Fola Esch	3.475
321		FC Differdange 03	3.475
322		PFC Slavia Sofia	3.425

As of match played 3 August 2017

Matches

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
1973–74	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	1R	Beroe Stara Zagora	0–7	1–4	1–11
2011–12	UEFA Europa League	1Q	Elfsborg	1–1	0–4	1–5
2013–14	UEFA Champions League	2Q	Dinamo Zagreb	0–5	0–1	0–6
2014–15	UEFA Europa League	1Q	Göteborg	0–2	0–0	0–2
2015–16	UEFA Champions League	2Q	Dinamo Zagreb	0–3	1–1	1–4
2016–17	UEFA Europa League	1Q	Aberdeen	1–0	1–3	2–3
2017–18	UEFA Europa League	1Q	Milsami Orhei	2–1	1–1	3–2
		2Q	Inter Baku	4–1	0–1	4–2
		3Q	Östersund	1–2	0–1	1–3
2018–19	UEFA Europa League	1Q	Prishtina	0–0	0–0	0–0 (5–4p)
		2Q	Genk	1–4	0–5	1–9
2019–20	UEFA Europa League	1Q	Chikhura Sachkhere	1–2	1–2	2–4
2020–21	UEFA Champions League	1Q

As of 10 March, 2020.[3]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Thomas Hym 2 DF Hugo Domingos 3 DF Christian Ntemo 4 MF Rodrigue Dikaba 5 MF Tiago Semedo 6 DF Billy Bernard 7 FW Ken Corral 8 MF Veldin Muharemović 9 FW Gautier Caron 10 FW Stefano Bensi 11 MF Corentin Koçur 12 MF Bruno Frere 14 DF Cédric Sacras 16 MF Emir Ramcilovic

No. Position Player 17 FW Achraf Drif 18 MF Dejvid Sinani 19 FW Gérard Mersch 20 MF Lucas Correia 21 MF Jean Sylvio Ouassiero 22 GK Evan Da Costa 23 DF Brice Bernard 27 FW Zachary Hadji 28 DF Julien Klein 29 FW Moussa Seydi 33 GK Emanuel Cabral 46 DF Guillaume Mura 99 GK Dylan Perreira DF Amar Omerović

• CS Fola homepage
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