Montpellier HSC


Montpellier Hérault Sport Club, commonly referred to as Montpellier HSC, is a French professional football club based in Montpellier, Occitanie, France. The club's origins date back to 1919, but it was officially founded in 1974 through a merger of both Stade Olympique Montpelliérain and AS Paillade.
The club currently competes in Ligue 2, the second level of French football. They play their home matches at the Stade de la Mosson, located within the city. The first team is managed by Zoumana Camara.
Montpellier is owned by Laurent Nicollin, the son of 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

Origins (1919–1974)

Montpellier was founded in 1919 as Stade Olympique Montpelliérain and soon went on to win the Coupe de France in 1929 in a 2–0 victory over FC Sète. SO Montpelliérain was one of twenty clubs to have played in the inaugural 1932–33 Division 1 season, the first season of professional top flight football in France. In 1974, SO Montpelliérain merged with AS Paillade to form the current iteration of the club, ''Montpellier Hérault Sport Club.''

Continued success & promotions and relegations (1974–2011)

Many decades later, Montpellier went on to win their second Coupe de France in 1990 in a 2–1 victory over RC Paris. The club went on to win the Coupe de la Ligue in 1992 in a 3–1 victory over Angers. The club ended the decade winning the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 1999. Montpellier was relegated to Division 2, as it was known as at the time, at the end of the 1999–2000 season finishing in last place on 31 points. They were promoted the following season, returning to Division 1 for the 2001–02 season. The club was again relegated to Ligue 2 at the end of the 2003–04 season and went on to spend five consecutive seasons in Ligue 2 before being promoted back to Ligue 1 for the 2009–10 season where they finished in 5th place.

Title winners & eventual relegation (2011–present)

At the end of 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. 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, winning the Ligue 1 title for Montpellier. 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.
On 26 April 2025, after 16 consecutive seasons in Ligue 1, Montpellier was relegated to Ligue 2.

Players

Current squad

Out on loan

Records

Most appearances

Top scorers

Management and staff

Club officials

Senior club staff
  • President: Laurent Nicollin
  • Association chairman: Gilbert Varlot
  • Sporting Director: Bruno Carotti
  • Head of Youth: Francis De Taddeo
Coaching and medical staff
  • Head coach: Zoumana Camara
  • Assistant head coach: Ghislain Printant
  • First-Team coach: Hilton
  • Goalkeeper coach: Robin Gasset
  • Fitness coach: Claude Duvergne
  • Scout: Adrien Bordeau

    Coaching history

TenureManager
1924–1925Victor Gibson
1936–1937Jules Dewaquez
1937–1938Istvan Berecz
1938–1939Georges Azema
1945–1946Gabriel Bénézech
1946–1948Georges Kramer
1948–1950Georges Winckelmans
1950–1951Jean Bastien
1951–1952Istvan Zavadsky
1952–1953Luis Cazarro
1953–1954Julien Darui
1954–1956Marcel Tomazover
1956–1958Istvan Zavadsky
1958–1963Hervé Mirouze
1963–1968Louis Favre
1968–1969Roger Rolhion
1969–1970Marian Borowski
1970–1974Hervé Mirouze
1974–1976André Cristol
1976Louis Favre
1 July 1976 – 30 June 1980Robert Nouzaret
1 July 1980 – 30 June 1982Kader Firoud
1982–1984Jacques Bonnet
1 July 1983 – 30 June 1985Robert Nouzaret
1 July 1985 – 30 June 1987Michel Mézy

TenureManager
1 July 1987 – 30 June 1989Pierre Mosca
1989–1990Aimé Jacquet
12 February 1990 – 30 June 1990Michel Mézy
1990–1992Henryk Kasperczak
1992–1994Gérard Gili
1 November 1994 – 30 June 1998Michel Mézy
1 July 1998 – 30 November 1999Jean-Louis Gasset
30 November 1999 – 1 November 2002Michel Mézy
1 November 2002 – 10 February 2004Gérard Bernardet
10 February 2004 – 29 August 2004Robert Nouzaret
29 August 2004 – 24 April 2007Jean-François Domergue
29 April 2007 – 30 June 2009Rolland Courbis
1 July 2009 – 30 June 2013René Girard
1 July 2013 – 5 December 2013Jean Fernandez
9 December 2013– 25 December 2015Rolland Courbis
27 December 2015 – 26 January 2016Pascal Baills
Bruno Martini
26 January 2016 – 30 January 2017Frédéric Hantz
30 January 2017 – 23 May 2017Jean-Louis Gasset
23 May 2017 – 24 May 2021Michel Der Zakarian
1 June 2021 – 17 October 2022Olivier Dall'Oglio
14 November 2022 – 7 February 2023Romain Pitau
8 February 2023 – 20 October 2024Michel Der Zakarian
22 October 2024 – 7 April 2025Jean-Louis Gasset
8 April 2025 – presentZoumana Camara

Honours

Domestic