Montpellier Hérault Sport Club (French: [mɔ̃pəlje eʁo spɔʁ klœb]; Occitan: Montpelhièr Erau Sport Club), commonly referred to as Montpellier HSC or simply Montpellier, is a French professional football club based in the city of Montpellier in Occitanie. The original club was founded in 1919, while the current incarnation was founded through a merger in 1974. Montpellier currently plays in Ligue 1, the top level of French football and plays its home matches at the Stade de la Mosson, located within the city. The first team is managed by Michel Der Zakarian and captained by Teji Savanier.

Montpellier
Full nameMontpellier Hérault Sport Club
Nickname(s)La Paillade[1]
Short nameMHSC
Founded1919; 105 years ago (1919) (as Stade Olympique Montpelliérain)
GroundStade de la Mosson
Capacity32,900
PresidentLaurent Nicollin
ManagerMichel Der Zakarian
LeagueLigue 1
2022–23Ligue 1, 12th of 20
WebsiteClub website
Current season
Montpellier HSC active departments

Football
(men's)

Football
(women's)

Montpellier is owned by Laurent Nicollin, the son of the late Louis Nicollin, a French entrepreneur, who had been owner since 1974. The club have produced several famous players in its history, most notably Laurent Blanc, who has served as manager of the France national team. Blanc is also the club's all-time leading goalscorer. Eric Cantona, Roger Milla, Carlos Valderrama and Olivier Giroud are other players who have played in Montpellier's colours. In 2001, Montpellier introduced a women's team.

History edit

Montpellier was founded under the name Stade Olympique Montpelliérain (SOM) and played under the name for most of its existence.[citation needed] In 1989, after playing under various names, the club changed its name to its current form. Montpellier is one of the founding members of the first division of French football.[citation needed] Along with Marseille, Rennes and Nice, Montpellier is one of only a few clubs to have played in the inaugural 1932–33 season and is still playing in the first division.[citation needed] The club won Ligue 1 for the first time in the 2011–12 season. Montpellier's other honours to date include winning the Coupe de France in 1929 and 1990, and the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 1999.[citation needed]

In the 2011–12 season, Montpellier won its first Ligue 1 title, finishing the season with 82 points, three points ahead of runners-up Paris Saint-Germain.[citation needed] On 20 May 2012, in a game marred by stoppages for crowd violence, John Utaka scored a brace to secure a 2–1 victory over Auxerre and win the Ligue 1 title for Montpellier.[citation needed] Olivier Giroud, who finished the season with 21 goals and 9 assists, was the league's top goal scorer. Despite being tied on goals with Paris Saint-Germain attacker Nenê, he was named the league's top scorer by the Ligue de Football Professionnel due to finishing with more goals in open play.[2]

Players edit

Current squad edit

As of 1 February 2024[3]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK   BIH Belmin Dizdarević
3 DF   GUI Issiaga Sylla
4 DF   MLI Boubakar Kouyaté
5 DF   FRA Modibo Sagnan
6 DF   FRA Christopher Jullien
7 FW   FRA Arnaud Nordin
8 FW   NGA Akor Adams
9 FW   JOR Mousa Al-Tamari
10 FW   TUN Wahbi Khazri
11 MF   FRA Téji Savanier (captain)
12 MF   FRA Jordan Ferri (vice-captain)
13 MF   FRA Joris Chotard
16 GK   COD Dimitry Bertaud
No. Pos. Nation Player
17 DF   FRA Théo Sainte-Luce
18 MF   FRA Léo Leroy
19 MF   FRA Sacha Delaye
22 MF   FRA Khalil Fayad
23 FW   FRA Yann Karamoh (on loan from Torino)
27 DF   SUI Bećir Omeragić
29 DF   CMR Enzo Tchato
35 DF   FRA Lucas Mincarelli Davin
36 DF   SUI Silvan Hefti (on loan from Genoa)
39 FW   FRA Yanis Issoufou
40 GK   FRA Benjamin Lecomte
70 FW   FRA Tanguy Coulibaly
77 DF   MLI Falaye Sacko

Out on loan edit

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
DF   FRA Maxime Estève (at Burnley until 30 June 2024)
No. Pos. Nation Player
MF   SUI Gabriel Barès (at Concarneau until 30 June 2024)

Records edit

Most appearances edit

Rank Player Matches
1   Souleymane Camara 433
2   Pascal Baills 429
3   Bruno Carotti 377
4   Hilton 354
5   Kader Ferhaoui 349

Top scorers edit

Rank Player Goals
1   Laurent Blanc 84
2   Souleymane Camara 76
3   Jean-Marc Valadier 70
4   Christophe Sanchez 50
5   Víctor Montaño 48
6   Andy Delort 47

Management and staff edit

Club officials edit

 
Montpellier HSC headquarters

Senior club staff[4]

Coaching and medical staff[5]

  • Manager: Michel Der Zakarian
  • Assistant manager: Grigor Harutyunyan
  • First-Team coach: Gagik Simonyan
  • Goalkeeper coach: Hovhannes Nazaryan
  • Goalkeeper coach: Gevorg Daghbashyan
  • Fitness coach: Vardan Babloyan
  • Scout: Artak Sargsyan

Coaching history edit

Honours edit

Domestic edit

Europe edit

Other edit

  • Division d'Honneur (Sud-Est)
    • Champions (3): 1928, 1932, 1976

U19 edit

References edit

  1. ^ "#273 – Montpellier HSC : la Paillade" (in French). Footnickname. 11 October 2020. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  2. ^ "Olivier Giroud couronné" (in French). Ligue de Football Professionnel. 20 May 2012. Retrieved 17 June 2012.
  3. ^ "Effectif et staff" [Squad and staff] (in French). Montpellier HSC. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  4. ^ "Organigramme" (in French). Montpellier HSC. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
  5. ^ "Le Staff" (in French). Montpellier HSC. Archived from the original on 25 August 2010. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
  6. ^ "France – Trainers of First and Second Division Clubs on RSSSF". RSSSF. Retrieved 23 July 2007.
  7. ^ The two DH titles won were achieved by the club's reserve team.

External links edit