World Football Club Crests

When we talk of France’s greatest and most successful clubs, the names that spring first to mind are giants like Marseille and PSG, historic champions like Saint-Étienne and Nantes and today’s high-fliers like Lyon, Bordeaux and AS Monaco. But the name Stade de Reims does also crop up: this is a club that deserve their place at football’s top table, a club that has much to toast.

There aren’t many French clubs that can boast two appearances in the final of the European Cup, as the Champions League was previously known. Between 1949 and 1962, the club dominated French football and won six league titles, two cups and was the first French team to get to the European Cup final. Once there, Reims lost against Real Madrid, in 1956 and 1959. During this period the team could boast some of the world’s top players such as Just Fontaine and Raymond Kopa. But history tells us that all dynasties must eventually fall, and so it was for Stade de Reims.

In 1979 the club crashed out of the top league after a number of seasons of poor results, and the club needed a long time to recover. Instead of a quick comeback to the top flight, the club faced serious financial problems, declaring bankruptcy in 1991. Thereafter, Stade de Reims, this formerly great club, played football in the country’s lower echelons, even for a time dropping into amateur leagues and playing at grounds more reminiscent of courtyards than the mighty arenas to which the club had long been accustomed.

Reims has a population of just over 200,000, a relatively small town in a footballing context, but was rehabilitated in football terms when the club re-entered Ligue 1 in 2013.

CLUB: Stade de Reims

NICKNAME: Les Rouges et Blancs (the Red and Whites)

FOUNDED: 1931

STADIUM: Stade Auguste-Delaune, Reims (21,628 capacity)

HISTORIC PLAYERS: Robert Jonquet, Just Fontaine, Raymond Kopa, Dominique Colonna and Carlos Bianchi

1931–1991. Reims lies in the northern region of Champagne-Ardenne, the area that produces the world-famous wine, which is reflected in the club’s first crest. The Stade de Reims predecessors, Société sportive du parc Pommery, played in yellow and green to resemble bottles of champagne, something that Stade de Reims never did; they favoured the red and white colour combination. This emblem was abandoned when the club went bankrupt in 1991. The club was subsequently reformed under the name Stade de Reims Champagne, and a new logo was introduced – one that quickly disappeared, however, because a new French law restricted advertising possibilities for both alcohol and tobacco. This meant that Stade de Reims would be without an official crest between 1992 and 1999.

1999–present. At the end of the last century, the club were promoted to the third division and they brought back the original name. This was celebrated with a new emblem, which connected to the club’s glorious history by including the year of their founding. The letters S and R are simply the club’s initials while the symbol between them refers to a famous sculpture in the town: Le Sourire de Reims (the Smiling Angel), on the external wall of Reims Cathedral.

Frederic Bulot in action for Stade de Reims against Monaco in 2015. The latest club crest depicts Le Sourire de Reims (the Smiling Angel), a famous sculpture found on Reims Cathedral.