What is Toulouse FC? Facts and background

Toulouse Football Club (Occitan: Tolosa Fotbòl Club) is a French professional football club based in Toulouse. The club was founded in 1970 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the first division of French football. Toulouse plays its home matches at the Stadium de Toulouse located within the city.

Les Violets won the Coupe de France in 2023, and have won the second tier Ligue 2 on three occasions. Toulouse have participated in European competition six times, including in 2007 when they qualified for the UEFA Champions League for the first time.

The current president of Toulouse FC is Olivier Cloarec, who was appointed following previous president Damien Comolli's departure in July 2025. Comolli succeeded the French businessman Olivier Sadran, who took over the club following its bankruptcy in 2001 which resulted in it being relegated to the Championnat National.

The club has served as a springboard for several players, most notably the World Cup-winning goalkeeper Fabien Barthez, international strikers André-Pierre Gignac, Martin Braithwaite and Wissam Ben Yedder.

History

Origin (1937-1982)

Toulouse FC was preceded by the identically named Toulouse FC, founded in 1937. This previous iteration of the club dissolved in 1967, selling its players and place in the French top flight to Paris outfit Red Star. Three years later, in 1970, a new club, Union Sportive Toulouse, rose from the ashes. Adopting red and yellow jerseys, the club started out in Ligue 2 and in 1979 reclaimed its current name, Toulouse FC.

Promotion to Division 1 & Europe (1982-1994)

Now wearing purple and white, Les Pitchouns gained top-flight promotion in 1982. A side containing Jacques Santini and Swiss forward Daniel Jeandupeux earned a penalty shoot-out victory against Diego Maradona's Napoli in the 1986–87 UEFA Cup, Toulouse's maiden European campaign.

Relegation from Division 1 to National 1 (1994-2003)

After goalkeeper Fabien Barthez made his breakthrough and moved on, Toulouse were relegated in 1994. They subsequently bounced back and forth between Division 1 and Division 2 before slipping to the third flight in 2001 after financial problems.

Return to Ligue 1 (2003-2020)

Toulouse were back in the top flight two seasons later, and in 2007 they finished third to earn a place in the 2007–08 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round. There, Liverpool overpowered them 5–0 on aggregate.

In 2008–09, Toulouse finished fourth in the Ligue 1 table with 64 points, and secured a spot in the new Europa League, while André-Pierre Gignac led all scorers in Ligue 1 with 24 goals and was awarded a call-up to the France national team.

In the 2015–16 Ligue 1 season, Toulouse avoided relegation to Ligue 2 in the last game of the season. With 12 minutes to go, Toulouse were behind to Angers 2–1 and needed a win to survive, and scored two late goals and won the match 3–2. Two years later, they finished 18th and won the promotion/relegation playoff 4–0 on aggregate against Ligue 2's AC Ajaccio.

Sale of the club & Coupe de France (2020-present)

On 6 January 2020, Toulouse dismissed manager Antoine Kombouaré following the club's 1–0 loss to Championnat National 2 side Saint-Pryvé Saint-Hilaire in the Coupe de France. Under Kombouaré the club had lost ten matches in a row, leading him to be dismissed and replaced by Denis Zanko. On 30 April that year, Toulouse were relegated to Ligue 2 after the LFP elected to end the season early due to the coronavirus pandemic.

On 21 July 2020, RedBird Capital Partners acquired an 85% stake in Toulouse FC. The club achieved promotion back to Ligue 1 by winning the second tier, Ligue 2, in 2022. On 29 April 2023, Toulouse won its first-ever Coupe de France title, defeating Kombouaré's Nantes in the final by a score of 5–1. It was the city's second title as the former Toulouse FC had won it back in 1957.

Name changes

Union Sportive Toulouse (1970–79)
Toulouse Football Club (1979–current)

Stadium

Toulouse play their home matches at the Stadium de Toulouse. Built in 1937, the stadium presently has a capacity of 33,150. The stadium saw further renovation and expansion works in 1949, 1998 and 2016.

The stadium was used as a venue for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, 2007 Rugby Union World Cup and UEFA Euro 2016.

Colours

The club's use of violet is a reference to one of two Toulouse nicknames: la Cité des violettes (the City of Violets), the second one being la Ville rose (the Pink City), which explains the colour of former alternate jerseys. The team's logo displays the gold and blood-red Occitan cross, the symbol of Occitania, of which Toulouse is a historical capital.

Club rivalries

Derby de la Garonne

The Derby de la Garonne is a derby match between Bordeaux and Toulouse. The derby derives from the fact that Bordeaux and Toulouse are the two major cities in south-western France, both of which are situated on the Garonne River. The consistency and competitiveness of the rivalry developed following Toulouse's return to Ligue 1 after being administratively relegated to the third tier in 2001.

This derby has been on hold since Bordeaux were administratively relegated to the fourth tier in 2024 and further administratively relegated to the sixth tier in 2026.

Players

Current squad

As of 4 September 2026

Honours

As of 11 May 2023^[update].

Domestic

Coupe de France
- Winners (1): 2022–23
Ligue 2
- Winners (3): 1981–82, 2002–03, 2021–22

Toulouse in European football

Matches

1986–87 — UEFA Cup — First round — Napoli — 1–0 (a.e.t.) — 0–1 — 1–1 (4–3 p)
1986–87 — UEFA Cup — Second round — Spartak Moscow — 3–1 — 1–5 — 4–6
1987–88 — UEFA Cup — First round — Panionios — 5–1 — 1–0 — 6–1
1987–88 — UEFA Cup — Second round — Bayer Leverkusen — 1–1 — 0–1 — 1–2
2007–08 — UEFA Champions League — Third qualifying round — Liverpool — 0–1 — 0–4 — 0–5
2007–08 — UEFA Cup — Play-off round — CSKA Sofia — 0–0 — 1–1 — 1–1 (a)
2007–08 — UEFA Cup — Group E — Bayer Leverkusen — —.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);clip-path:polygon(0px 0px,0px 0px,0px 0px);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px;white-space:nowrap}N/a — 0–1 — 5th place
2007–08 — UEFA Cup — Group E — Spartak Moscow — 2–1 — —N/a — 5th place
2007–08 — UEFA Cup — Group E — Zürich — —N/a — 0–2 — 5th place
2007–08 — UEFA Cup — Group E — Sparta Prague — 2–3 — —N/a — 5th place
2009–10 — UEFA Europa League — Play-off round — Trabzonspor — 0–1 — 3–1 — 3–2
2009–10 — UEFA Europa League — Group J — Shakhtar Donetsk — 0–2 — 0–4 — 3rd place
2009–10 — UEFA Europa League — Group J — Club Brugge — 2–2 — 0–1 — 3rd place
2009–10 — UEFA Europa League — Group J — Partizan — 1–0 — 3–2 — 3rd place
2023–24 — UEFA Europa League — Group E — Union Saint-Gilloise — 0–0 — 1–1 — 2nd place
2023–24 — UEFA Europa League — Group E — LASK — 1–0 — 2–1 — 2nd place
2023–24 — UEFA Europa League — Group E — Liverpool — 3–2 — 1–5 — 2nd place
2023–24 — UEFA Europa League — Knockout round play-offs — Benfica — 0–0 — 1–2 — 1–2