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Fola Esch
Full name	Cercle sportif Fola Esch
Founded	1906 (118 years ago)
Ground	Stade Émile Mayrisch
Capacity	7,826
Chairman	Maurice Reidweiler
Manager	Stefano Bensi
League	BGL Ligue
2023–24	14th of 16
Website	https://www.csfola.lu/home

Sporting Circle Fola Esch (French: Cercle sportif Fola Esch), usually abbreviated to Fola Esch or simply Fola, is a professional football club based in Esch-sur-Alzette, in south-western Luxembourg. They play their home games at Stade Émile Mayrisch, in the south of the city, which they share with their sister athletics club CA Fola Esch.

History

Founded in 1906 by the English language teacher Jean Roeder, Fola was the first football club in Luxembourg. During its heyday, it was the best club in the country, winning four National Division championships and two Luxembourg Cups between 1918 and 1924. Fola won another championship in 1930 and the Luxembourg Cup in 1955, but had since this time lost its place in Luxembourg's top flight.

Fola stubbornly rejected a merger with its larger neighbours, Jeunesse Esch, during the wave of consolidation in the 1990s. In 2004–05, Fola were relegated to the third tier of Luxembourgish football, but were promoted the following season. In 2006–07 they finished third, qualifying for a promotion play-off, which they lost to Victoria Rosport. In August 2007, Fola pulled off a transfer coup by signing former Morocco midfielder Mustapha Hadji.

In 2008, the club managed to secure second place in the championship, granting them promotion to the Fortis League (National Division, the top league in the country, renamed BGL League in March 2009 due to the financial crisis).^[1]

In May 2013, CS Fola Esch won the championship in the BGL Ligue with a historic 5–1 win against their rivals, Jeunesse Esch in the 25th match of the season. The club had a gap of 83 years since their last championship. Stefano Bensi scored 20 goals during this season.

Fola participated in the second qualifying round of the Champions League 2013–14, but lost to Dinamo Zagreb 0–5 in the first leg (at home) and 0–1 in the second leg (away). In 2015, Fola won the championship again, after finishing second in 2014. In 2016 they again finished second with an equal number of points with the champions, F91 Dudelange.

In 2016 CS Fola Esch, celebrated their 110th birthday, and also became a member of the exclusive Club of Pioneers, as the oldest football club of Luxembourg.

History

1906: Club founded as Football and Lawn Tennis Club Esch
1907: Adopts current colours of red and white stripes
1910: Absorbs FC Nerva, becoming Cercle sportif Fola Esch
1918: Wins first championship title
1924: Wins the Double
1930: Wins last championship title for the next 83 years
1935: Moves to current stadium, Stade Émile Mayrisch
1955: Wins Luxembourg Cup, last title before a long lean period
1973: First participation in European competition (season 1973–74)
2013: Wins first championship since 83 years, followed by another champion title in 2015
2017: First qualification to the second round and to the third round in European competition

Honours

National Division

Champions (8): 1917–18, 1919–20, 1921–22, 1923–24, 1929–30, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2020–21
Runners-up (10): 1916–17, 1918–19, 1920–21, 1928–29, 1948–49, 1953–54, 1954–55, 2010–11, 2013–14, 2018–19

Luxembourg Cup

Winners: 1922–23, 1923–24, 1954–55
Runners-up: 1972–73, 2016–17

European competition

As of 11 July 2017^[2]

Rank	Team	Points
317	FK Mladost Podgorica	3.550
318	NK Široki Brijeg	3.550
319	FC Irtysh Pavlodar	3.550
320	CS Fola Esch	3.475
321	FC Differdange 03	3.475
322	PFC Slavia Sofia	3.425

As of match played 26 August 2021

Competition	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
UEFA Champions League	7	0	2	5	3	19
UEFA Europa League	19	3	5	11	17	34
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	2	0	0	2	1	11
UEFA Europa Conference League	7	4	0	3	9	11
Total	35	7	7	21	30	75

Matches

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
1973–74	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	1R	Beroe Stara Zagora	0–7	1–4	1–11
2011–12	UEFA Europa League	1Q	Elfsborg	1–1	0–4	1–5
2013–14	UEFA Champions League	2Q	Dinamo Zagreb	0–5	0–1	0–6
2014–15	UEFA Europa League	1Q	Göteborg	0–2	0–0	0–2
2015–16	UEFA Champions League	2Q	Dinamo Zagreb	0–3	1–1	1–4
2016–17	UEFA Europa League	1Q	Aberdeen	1–0	1–3	2–3
2017–18	UEFA Europa League	1Q	Milsami Orhei	2–1	1–1	3–2
		2Q	Inter Baku	4–1	0–1	4–2
		3Q	Östersund	1–2	0–1	1–3
2018–19	UEFA Europa League	1Q	Prishtina	0–0	0–0	0–0 (5–4p)
2018–19	UEFA Europa League	2Q	Genk	1–4	0–5	1–9
2019–20	UEFA Europa League	1Q	Chikhura Sachkhere	1–2	1–2	2–4
2020–21	UEFA Champions League	1Q	Sheriff Tiraspol	—	0–2	—
2020–21	UEFA Europa League	2Q	Ararat-Armenia	—	3–4 (aet)	—
2021–22	UEFA Champions League	1Q	Lincoln Red Imps	2–2	0–5	2–7
	UEFA Europa Conference League	2Q	Shahktyor Soligorsk	1–0	2–1	3–1
		3Q	Linfield	2–1	2–1	4–2
		PO	Kairat	1–4	1–3	2–7
2022–23	UEFA Europa Conference League	1Q	Tre Fiori	0–1	1–3	1–4

Current squad

As of 15 September 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	LUX	Emanuel Cabral
3	DF	BEL	Romain Lahure
4	DF	LUX	Davud Nasufi
5	MF	BEL	Mario Muzhaqi
6	MF	LUX	Paddy Funck
7	MF	LUX	Evann Mendes (on loan from F91 Dudelange)
8	MF	LUX	Yann Balance
9	FW	FRA	Papé Ibrahima Diakhité
10	MF	GER	Ramiz Kalici (on loan from Wiltz 71)
11	FW	BEL	Kelian Bashonga
12	DF	POR	Edgar Neves
13	DF	LUX	Loan Ribeiro
14	FW	ALB	Adijat Sefer
16	FW	LUX	Idney Melo Có
17	FW	LUX	Adrien Scholler
18	FW	FRA	Gauthier Caron


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
19	FW	BEL	Yanis Lahrach
21	DF	LUX	Gianluca Tortaro
22	GK	FRA	Marlon N'Guessan
23	MF	LUX	Daniel Freitas
24	MF	LUX	Fred Paulus
26	DF	FRA	Kévin Dagnet
27	MF	POR	Diogo Marques
28	DF	FRA	Julien Klein
29	MF	POR	Madiu Bari
30	GK	LUX	Marvin Nibigira
31	DF	LUX	Leonel Taylan
44	GK	LUX	Emil Adrovic
72	FW	LUX	André Ferreira
78	DF	LUX	Diego Colonato
95	DF	GER	Constantin Pauly

Former coaches

Manager	Appointed	Dismissed
Henri Bossi	1 July 1988	30 June 1989
Henri Bossi	23 September 1993	30 June 1994
Pascal Welter	19 February 2000	5 November 2002
Philippe Guérard	10 November 2005	25 March 2006
Michael Lofy	1 July 2008	23 March 2009
Pascal Welter	13 April 2009	16 October 2009
Philippe Guérard	26 October 2009	31 October 2010
Jeff Strasser	2 November 2010	22 December 2010
Cyril Serredszum	22 December 2010	30 January 2012
Jeff Strasser	1 July 2012	26 September 2017
Cyril Serredszum	27 September 2017	4 February 2018
Thomas Klasen	5 February 2018	16 August 2018
Jeff Strasser	16 August 2018^[4]	18 May 2020^[5]
Sébastien Grandjean	18 May 2020^[6]	present

References

^ Luxembourg 2007/08 – RSSSF
^ "UEFA coefficients". UEFA.com. UEFA.
^ "CS Fola Esch – Roster". CS Fola Esch Roster. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
^ "Official Communication". CS Fola Esch. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
^ "Offiziell: Strasser wird Hesperinger Trainer" [Official: Strasser becomes Hesperinger trainer]. Luxembourger Wort (in German). 19 May 2020. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
^ "OSébastien Grandjean prend les commandes du Fola" [Sébastien Grandjean takes control of Fola]. Luxembourger Wort (in French). 18 May 2020. Retrieved 20 May 2020.