Girondins de Bordeaux have been one of French football's most consistently successful clubs — ligue1.com puts the six-time Ligue 1 Uber Eats champions under the spotlight.
History
Though the gymnastics club that provided the origins of the club was founded in 1881, the football section came into being only in 1910, lasted a season, and then — for good this time — started up again in 1919.
A 12-0 loss in their first match in 1920 was an inauspicious start for a club that, with six Ligue 1 titles to their name, are among France's most successful. After turning professional in 1937, Les Girondins — named after the Gironde region in which Bordeaux is situated — reached the top flight in 1949, and became the first club to win the L1 title in the season after promotion.
They had to wait until the 1983-84 season to win their next one, but that triumph heralded a glorious run of three top-flight crowns in four years under the presidency of Claude Bez. Bez brought Aimé Jacquet — then an unheralded coach — into the club in 1980 as players such as Alain Giresse, Jean Tigana and Patrick Battiston shone.
In a nine-year reign, Jacquet, who would go on to coach France's 1998 FIFA World Cup win, won not only those three titles, but also two Coupes de France and qualified for European competition every year. They reached the European Cup semi-final in 1985, losing to eventual champions Juventus, and also the last four of the Cup Winners' Cup in 1987.
Relegated to division two due to their budget deficit in 1990, Bordeaux bounced back immediately and — with eventual World Cup winners Zinedine Zidane, Bixente Lizarazu and Christophe Dugarry to the fore — refound a central place in French football.
That trio had left by the time Elie Baup guided them to top spot at the end of the 1998-99 season thanks to Pascal Feindouno's 89th-minute winner against Paris Saint-Germain that saw Bordeaux pip Olympique de Marseille by a point.
Laurent Blanc — with a team starring Yoann Gourcuff — won the Ligue 1 title in 2008-09, and looked set to triumph in the following campaign again but faded when Blanc announced he would be leaving to take charge of the France team, and Bordeaux have never risen as high since.
Club colours
The club's marine blue-and-white shirt comes from Argus Sport, the club that fused with Girondins Guyenne Sport in 1919 to make the current club. In 1939 and in line with fashions at the time, the white was incorporated into the distinctive V they still sport. The V is said to represent the Garonne valley in which the club is situated.
Club icon: Alain Giresse
The UEFA EURO '84 winner is Bordeaux's leading appearance maker and goalscorer. Local born, Giresse played 592 competitive games for Bordeaux over 16 years before playing out the last two years of his career at Marseille, hanging up his boots in 1988. Though he twice coached Garonne derby rivals Toulouse, PSG and a number of national teams, he has never sat in the Bordeeaux dug-out, though he did return to the club as sporting director at the end of his playing career.
Stadium: Matmut Atlantique
Capacity: 42,115
Bordeaux's new home — in the city's Lake district — was opened in May 2015 after being built to stage games at UEFA EURO 2016. It replaced the Stade Chaban-Delmas, which had been the club's home from 1938.
Ten iconic former players
Patrick Battiston, Christophe Dugarry, Alain Giresse, Edouard Kargu, Bixente Lizarazu, Pauleta, Ulrich Ramé, Jean Tigana, Marius Trésor, Zinedine Zidane
Did you know?
The club's offices are at the Chateau du Haillan, which was the scene of a major battle between the English and French during the Hundred Years War.
>> LIGUE 1 PODCAST: Le Beau Jeu - latest episode