Excelsior AC Roubaix (France)
Founded in
1928, from a merger between Football Club de Roubaix and Excelsior de
Tourcoing, Excelsior Athletic Club de Roubaix was formed. The club adopted the
colours black and white, while playing their home games at the Stade Amedee
Prouvost, in the city of Roubaix. The club didn’t turn professional until the
1932-33 season, in which they finished the season in Group A of the French
Division 1, in 6th place, out of the ten clubs competing. But it
wasn’t there league form that caught the eye that season. It was their run in
the 1933 edition of the Coupe de France that gained the club recognition that
season.
Under the
guidance of their English manager, Charles Griffiths, a man who had coached in
Belgium, France, the Netherlands, and Germany throughout his career. He even
managed Bayern Munich in 1911-1912,
while also managing the Belgium national team in 1920. Their opponents in the
final were city rivals, RC Roubaix, and so the intensity of the game was
heightened. On May 7th, 1933, 38 thousand people paid to enter the
Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir to watch the two sides compete for the chance to
lift the Coupe de France. It only took three minutes for the deadlock to be
broken when Excelsiors’ Marcel Langiller scored. He was the captain of
Excelsior that day, a man who made 30 appearances for the French national team
from 1927-1937.
Their lead was
doubled in the 23th minute by Buge and then the trophy seemed to be
won in only the 26th minute when Van Caeneghem scored the third to
put Excelsior three up and in the driving seat before half time. RC did pull
one back in the second half thanks to a goal from Van Vooren in the 72nd
minute but the damage had been done in the first half and Excelsior went on to
win their first major trophy. In only their first season as a professional
club, they could have been forgiven for thinking that football was an easy
sport and that they would enjoy more success in the future. How wrong they
were.
The club were
brought back down to earth in the next season, finishing 5th in a
now, fourteen club league. It was one place better than the year before,
however, they failed to lift the Coupe de France that season. The club remained
in the First Division until after World War Two, when they decided to merge
with two other clubs. They were US Tourcoing and RC Roubaix, the club they had
defeated to win their only major title. The new club was to be known as CO
Roubaix Tourcoing. They struggled to make any impression in French football and
reverted back to their old name of Excelsior Athletic Club de Roubaix in 1970.
It was then that the club decided to go back to amateur status and played in
the lower leagues, but they still seemed to struggle on and off the pitch. In
1977 the decided to merge with amother club again in an effort to drum up
support and try reach the topflight of French football. This time they merged
with Sporting Club de Roubaix. The new name of the football cub was Roubaix
Football. They did have a very brief revival, competing in the 1983-84 Division
2 but they were ever able to get back to the dizzy heights of Division 1.
The struggles
continued and the football club went looking for another merger to fix it’s
problems, this time turning to Stade Roubaix, formerly known as RC Roubaix and
in 1990 they merged to form a new club named Stade Club Olympique de Roubaix.
Sadly, this merger didn’t last either and the club dissolved in 1995 due to financial
problems. And so, the end of Excelsior AC Roubaix was complete, although one
could argue that happened back in 1977, and really, not people would argue it.
Probably one of
the shortest chapters I have written, as there was not much information about
the club that I could find anywhere. When I went looking for someone to speak
to about Excelsior, nobody came to my rescue. Not one-person, French football
expert, or anybody from that region could tell me about the club. It’s as if
they never existed at all. It is a strange one because in all the clubs I have
ever written about or researched, there are only a handful who are like this.
Excelsior is one of them. A truly forgotten club. It’s the answer I give to
those who ask me why I have included them in this book. We never forget any
football club that has existed, not least one that has won a major trophy in
its lifetime. Excelsior AC Roubaix.