Stade Toulousain

Stade Toulousain (Estadi Tolosenc), also referred to as Toulouse, is a professional rugby union club based in Toulouse, France. They compete in the Top 14, France's top division of rugby, and the European Rugby Champions Cup.

Toulouse is the most successful club in Europe, having won the Heineken Cup/European Rugby Champions Cup a record six times – in 1996, 2003, 2005, 2010, 2021 and 2024. They were also runners-up in 2004 and 2008 against London Wasps and Munster, respectively. Stade Toulousain have also won a record 23 Boucliers de Brennus, the French domestic league trophy. It is traditionally one of the main providers for the French national team and its youth academy is one of the best in the world. Stade Toulousain also have the biggest fan base in Europe, and the biggest social media and brand presence of any non-national rugby team across both league and union.

Their home ground is the Stade Ernest-Wallon. However, big Top 14 matches along with European games are often played at the Stadium Municipal de Toulouse. The club colours are red, black and white.

Roots and foundation
Before 1907, rugby union in Toulouse was only played in schools or universities. In 1893, students of secondary school "Lycée de Toulouse" got together in a new team "Les Sans-Soucis". Once attending university, the same students founded "l'Olympique Toulousain", which became "Stade Olympien des Étudiants de Toulouse" (SOET) a few years later in 1896. In the same period, 'non-students' grouped in "le Sport Athlétique Toulousain" (SAT) while students of the veterinary school created "l'Union Sportive de l'École Vétérinaire" (USEV). Both entities merged in 1905 and called themselves "Véto-Sport". Finally in 1907, Stade Toulousain was founded resulting from a union between the SOET and Véto-Sport.

Since its creation in 1907, Stade Toulousain drew on the past of the city. The design of Stade Toulousain's crest refers to the initials of Thomas Aquinas ( in French ; S and T, same as the club's name) whose bones rest in the Church of the Jacobins, in Toulouse. The interlaced letters came from a famous tiled floor of the Basilica of Saint-Sernin, where the relics were temporarily moved for almost two centuries after the French Revolution. The historical colours, red and black, are rooted in the ceremonial costume of the capitouls of Toulouse. A municipal body created in 1147, the capitouls were until the French Revolution the consuls of the city. Their traditional costume was red and black (with white bands), as shown in the oldest portraits dating from the 14th century.

Early years
Stade Toulousain played its first final of the national title French Championship in 1909 and lost it to Stade Bordelais Université Club (17–0) in Toulouse. In 1912 Stade Toulousain won its first national title. It had to wait until 1922 before it won its second. However the 1920s were a golden era for the club. Their first final action in the 1920s was in 1921, when they were defeated by USA Perpignan. Despite losing in 1921, the side went on to win the 1922, 1923, 1924, 1926 and 1927 championships.

1930s to 1950s
The following decades were relatively quiet after such a dominant era during the 1920s. Stade Toulousain would not make it to any grand finals during the 1930s, and it would not be until the late 1940s when they would return. However they did contest the Challenge Yves du Manoir with RC Toulon in 1934, though it ended in a nil-all tie and both teams were winners. The club made it to the final of the 1947 championship, and claimed the premiership, beating SU Agen, 10 to 3. However, no such championships followed, the club was again relatively quiet on the championship. It was 22 years in the waiting; Toulouse made it to the final, but were defeated by the CA Bègles club.

1970s to 1980s
In 1971 Toulouse contested the Challenge Yves du Manoir against US Dax, losing 18 to 8. Eleven years after the CA Bègles defeat, the club was again disappointed in the final, being defeated by AS Béziers in the championship game of 1980. The latter end of the decade was however, reminiscent of the 1920s sides. Toulouse were again contesting the Challenge Yves du Manoir for the 1984 season, though they lost to RC Narbonne 17 to 3. They did however claim their first championship since 1947, defeating RC Toulon in the 1985 final. The following season saw them successfully defend their championship, defeating SU Agen in the final. After a number of defeats in the Challenge Yves du Manoir finals, Toulouse defeated US Dax to win the 1988 competition. Both Toulon and Agen won the following premierships (1987 and 1988) but Toulouse won another championship in 1989.

1990s to present
The dominance continued in the 1990s, starting with a grand final loss in 1991, and a Challenge Yves du Manoir championship in 1993, defeating Castres 13 to 8 in the final. The mid-1990s saw Stade Toulousain become a major force yet again, as the club claimed four premierships in a row, winning the championship in 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1997, as well as the Challenge Yves du Manoir in 1995. The club emulated its success in the European Rugby Cup, becoming the first ever champions in the 1995–96 season.

The late 1990s and the 2000s saw the club again reach great heights. The club won the Challenge Yves du Manoir in 1998, defeating Stade Français Paris, the 1999 championship as well as the 2001 championship. They also were runners-up in the 2003 season, losing to Stade Français in the final. As the club had done in the mid-1990s, Stade Toulousain replicated this success in the European Rugby Cup, winning the 2002–03 and the 2004–05 cups. The club made it to the final of the 2005-06 Top 14, and despite only trailing Biarritz 9–6 at half time, Toulouse could not prevent a second-half whitewash, eventually going down 40–13. They ended their seven-year title drought with a 26–20 win over ASM Clermont Auvergne on 28 June 2008. In 2008 they narrowly lost a Heineken Cup Final to Munster by 3 points. In 2010 Toulouse defeated Leinster to reach the final where they faced Biarritz Olympique at Stade de France in Paris on Saturday 22 May 2010. Toulouse won the game by 21–19 to claim their fourth Heineken Cup title, making them the first club to win the title four times. Stade Toulousain is also the only French club to have taken part in all the editions of Heineken Cup since its creation (17, with the 2011–12 season). They won the French championship in 2011 against Montpellier (15–10) and 2012 against Toulon (18–12). Stade Toulousain reached the semi-finals of the French championship 20 consecutive years (from 1994 to 2013). In 2019, Toulouse came back to victory, earning a 20th French Rugby Union Championship title before making an historic double, winning the 2021 Champions Cup and the 2021 Top 14. Their latest title is the 2023 French championship earned against La Rochelle, teams were ranked respectively first and second of the regular season 2023. They won the champions cup for the 6th time after beating Leinster 31-22 at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium and as a result became the highest ranked team in Europe

Stadium
Toulouse play their home games at the Stade Ernest-Wallon, which was built in the late 1980s and was recently renovated. It has a capacity of 19,500. Stade Toulousain is one of the rare teams, in France and especially in rugby union, that own its stadium. Since February 2020, it has also been home to rugby league team Toulouse Olympique, which currently competes in the 2nd tier Championship, following negotiations and an agreement between both executive boards.

The stadium however cannot always accommodate all the fans of the Toulouse club. For the larger fixtures, such as championship or Champions Cup games or play-offs, the fixture may be moved to Stadium de Toulouse, which has more capacity, 33,150. The stadium was used for numerous matches at the 2007 Rugby World Cup and will host the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

Honours



 * Heineken Cup/European Rugby Champions Cup
 * Champions (6): 1996, 2003, 2005, 2010, 2021, 2024
 * Runners-up (2): 2004, 2008
 * French championship Top 14
 * Champions (23): 1912, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1926, 1927, 1947, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2019, 2021, 2023, 2024
 * Runners-up (7): 1903, 1909, 1921, 1969, 1980, 1991, 2003, 2006
 * Challenge Yves du Manoir
 * Champions (4): 1934, 1988, 1993, 1995
 * Runners-up (2): 1971, 1984
 * French Cup
 * Champions (4): 1946, 1947, 1984, 1998
 * Runners-up (2): 1949, 1985
 * Toulouse Masters
 * Champions (2): 1986, 1990

European record

 * Toulouse qualified for the Heineken Cup in every season of that competition's existence (1995–96 to 2013–14), and played in the inaugural season of the replacement competition, the European Rugby Champions Cup.


 * The club have the best competition record in the Heineken Cup/European Rugby Champions Cup, having won the competition six times and having played eight finals, and was the first team to win over 100 games in the history of the competition.


 * Stade toulousain completed "the Double" (Heineken Cup/European Rugby Champions Cup-National Championship) 3 times (1995-1996, 2020-2021 and 2023-2024), a record in Europe.


 * Vincent Clerc is the second all-time top try scorer in Heineken Cup/European Rugby Champions Cup history, having scored 36 units.

Selected presidents

 * Ernest Wallon: 1907–12
 * Charles Audry: 1912–30
 * Louis Puech: 1944–51
 * Jean Fabre: 1980–90
 * René Bouscatel: 1992–2017
 * Didier Lacroix: 2017-

Bouscatel is the most successful president in the history of the club.

Selected former coaches

 * 🇦🇺 Tom "Rusty" Richards: 1913 (as player/manager)
 * 🇫🇷 François Borde: 1928-30, 1934-38
 * 🇫🇷 Roger Piteu: 1945-49
 * 🇫🇷 Claude Labatut: 1971-76, 1976-80
 * 🇫🇷 Robert Bru: 1980-83
 * 🇫🇷 Pierre Villepreux: 1982-89 (coached along with Skrela between 1983 and 1989)
 * 🇫🇷 Jean-Claude Skrela: 1983-92 (coached along with Villepreux between 1983 and 1989)
 * 🇫🇷 Guy Novès: 1988-90 (as assistant coach), 1993-2015
 * 🇫🇷 Ugo Mola: 2015-

Current squad
The Toulouse squad for the 2023–24 season is:

Notable former players


The following are players who have represented their country, players who have won a title with the club, players who have played a sufficient number of games to go down in the club history or players who came from the academy and have made a significant career in another team:


 * 🇦🇷 Patricio Albacete
 * 🇦🇷 Omar Hasan
 * 🇦🇷 Nicolás Vergallo
 * 🇦🇷 Alberto Vernet Basualdo
 * 🇦🇺 Rory Arnold
 * 🇦🇺 Luke Burgess
 * 🇦🇺 Tala Gray
 * 🇦🇺 Tom Richards
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Rob Andrew
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Toby Flood
 * Rupeni Caucaunibuca
 * Vilimoni Delasau
 * Semi Kunatani
 * Maleli Kunavore
 * Timoci Matanavou
 * Akapusi Qera
 * 🇫🇷 David Aucagne
 * 🇫🇷 Benoît Baby
 * 🇫🇷 Jean Bayard
 * 🇫🇷 Lionel Beauxis
 * 🇫🇷 Franck Belot
 * 🇫🇷 Nicolas Bézy
 * 🇫🇷 Sébastien Bézy
 * 🇫🇷 Alexandre Bioussa
 * 🇫🇷 Jean-Marie Bonal
 * 🇫🇷 Eric Bonneval
 * 🇫🇷 Jean Bouilhou
 * 🇫🇷 François Borde
 * 🇫🇷 Guillaume Boussès
 * 🇫🇷 Yannick Bru
 * 🇫🇷 Jean-Marie Cadieu
 * 🇫🇷 Christian Califano
 * 🇫🇷 Yacouba Camara
 * 🇫🇷 Philippe Carbonneau
 * 🇫🇷 Thomas Castaignède
 * 🇫🇷 Richard Castel
 * 🇫🇷 Jérôme Cazalbou
 * 🇫🇷 Denis Charvet
 * 🇫🇷 André Chilo
 * 🇫🇷 Albert Cigagna
 * 🇫🇷 Vincent Clerc
 * 🇫🇷 Didier Codorniou
 * 🇫🇷 Patrice Collazo
 * 🇫🇷 Cédric Desbrosse
 * 🇫🇷 Yann Delaigue
 * 🇫🇷 Yann David
 * 🇫🇷 Christophe Deylaud
 * 🇫🇷 Yves Donguy
 * 🇫🇷 Jean-Marc Doussain
 * 🇫🇷 Sylvain Dupuy
 * 🇫🇷 Thierry Dusautoir
 * 🇫🇷 Jean-Baptiste Élissalde
 * 🇫🇷 Jean Fabre
 * 🇫🇷 Gaël Fickou
 * 🇫🇷 Jérôme Fillol
 * 🇫🇷 Florian Fritz
 * 🇫🇷 Pierre Fouyssac
 * 🇫🇷 Gillian Galan
 * 🇫🇷 Henri Galau
 * 🇫🇷 Xavier Garbajosa
 * 🇫🇷 David Gérard
 * 🇫🇷 Imanol Harinordoquy
 * 🇫🇷 Dominique Harize
 * 🇫🇷 Cédric Heymans
 * 🇫🇷 Yoann Huget
 * 🇫🇷 Adolphe Jauréguy
 * 🇫🇷 Yannick Jauzion
 * 🇫🇷 Nicolas Jeanjean
 * 🇫🇷 Christian Labit
 * 🇫🇷 Virgile Lacombe
 * 🇫🇷 Serge Lairle
 * 🇫🇷 Gregory Lamboley
 * 🇫🇷 Benoît Lecouls
 * 🇫🇷 Julien Le Devedec
 * 🇫🇷 Matthieu Lièvremont
 * 🇫🇷 Marcel-Frédéric Lubin-Lebrère
 * 🇫🇷 Yoann Maestri
 * 🇫🇷 Gérald Martinez
 * 🇫🇷 Alfred Mayssonnié
 * 🇫🇷 Maxime Médard
 * 🇫🇷 Maxime Mermoz
 * 🇫🇷 Frédéric Michalak
 * 🇫🇷 Romain Millo-Chluski
 * 🇫🇷 Hugues Miorin
 * 🇫🇷 Ugo Mola
 * 🇫🇷 Sylvain Nicolas
 * 🇫🇷 Guy Novès
 * 🇫🇷 Émile Ntamack
 * 🇫🇷 Yannick Nyanga
 * 🇫🇷 Alexis Palisson
 * 🇫🇷 Fabien Pelous
 * 🇫🇷 Alain Penaud
 * 🇫🇷 Louis Picamoles
 * 🇫🇷 Lucas Pointud
 * 🇫🇷 Clément Poitrenaud
 * 🇫🇷 Jean-Baptiste Poux
 * 🇫🇷 Jean-Pierre Rives
 * 🇫🇷 Philippe Rougé-Thomas
 * 🇫🇷 Daniel Santamans
 * 🇫🇷 William Servat
 * 🇫🇷 David Skrela
 * 🇫🇷 Jean-Claude Skrela
 * 🇫🇷 Cédric Soulette
 * 🇫🇷 Nicolas Spanghero
 * 🇫🇷 Walter Spanghero
 * 🇫🇷 Christopher Tolofua
 * 🇫🇷 Selevasio Tolofua
 * 🇫🇷 Franck Tournaire
 * 🇫🇷 Pierre Villepreux
 * Jaba Bregvadze
 * Vasil Kakovin
 * 🇮🇹 Leonardo Ghiraldini
 * 🇮🇹 Andrea Lo Cicero
 * 🇮🇹 Salvatore Perugini
 * Trevor Brennan
 * Aidan McCullen
 * 🇳🇿 Corey Flynn
 * 🇳🇿 Hosea Gear
 * 🇳🇿 Jerome Kaino
 * 🇳🇿 Byron Kelleher
 * 🇳🇿 Isitolo Maka
 * 🇳🇿 Luke McAlister
 * 🇳🇿 Lee Stensness
 * 🇳🇿 Neemia Tialata
 * 🇳🇿 Charlie Faumuina
 * 🇷🇴 Dragoș Dima
 * Gaffie du Toit
 * Gary Botha
 * Daan Human
 * Cheslin Kolbe
 * Shaun Sowerby
 * Jano Vermaak
 * Gurthrö Steenkamp
 * Piula Faʻasalele
 * Census Johnston
 * Joe Tekori
 * Richie Gray
 * 🇹🇴 Edwin Maka
 * 🇹🇴 Finau Maka
 * 🇺🇸 Stuart Krohn
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Gareth Thomas

Fans
Being one of the most popular teams in France, Toulouse has many fan clubs all over the country:


 * Le Huit (fan club of Stade toulousain based in Toulouse)
 * Le Huit Section Aveyron (branch based in Aveyron)
 * Le Rouge et le Noir (formerly Les Ultras, the oldest fan club based in Toulouse).
 * Le 16e homme (fan club of Stade toulousain based in Haute-Garonne)
 * Le 16e homme Toulousains 2 Paris (branch based in Paris)
 * L'amicale des Supporters (fan club of Stade toulousain based in Toulouse)
 * Tolosa XV (fan club of Stade toulousain based in Haute-Garonne)
 * Les Salopettes Rouges (fan club based in Tarn)

Toulouse supporters are known for being very active on social media. Stade Toulousain is the most followed rugby club on social media in the world, ahead Crusaders, Sharks, Toulon and Stormers. It is the only rugby union club with at least 1 million followers on social media as of January 2024.

Stade Ernest-Wallon atmosphere is well known in France and Europe to be one of the best of club rugby. Toulouse can rely on a passionate city, having one of the best attendances in the league. The club's mascot, Ovalion, is a lion, animal which is the symbol of Peugeot, main sponsor of the club.