Bourges Foot 18

In October 2023 Sadio Mané, the Senegal international, bought a majority stake in a fourth-tier club in central France. Bourges Foot 18 had existed for only two years by then. It came into being on 18 May 2021, when Mayor Yann Galut pushed through a merger of the town's two football clubs, Bourges Foot and Bourges 18. Both were playing in the fourth tier (National 2), and Galut's aim was to consolidate the town's football efforts.

The clubs that were merged had short histories of their own. Bourges Foot began in 1983 as the Amicale des Algériens de Bourges and later became Jeunes de Bourges Nord; it won the Centre-Val de Loire regional league (National 3) in 2018–19. Bourges 18 dated from 2008 and won the Division d'Honneur Centre in its first season, then took the Coupe du Centre in 2012–13 and 2013–14.

Behind Bourges 18 stands an older club. FC Bourges, founded in 1966, played in the second division from 1970 to 1994. Olivier Chavanon holds its record for appearances and goals, and Alain Michel was both player and coach there from 1984 to 1993.

Under Mané's ownership the club won promotion to National 1, the third tier, for the 2024–25 season. Home games at the Stade Jacques Rimbault, which holds 13,000 with 7,500 seats, are played in white and red. The nearest opponent that matters is La Berrichonne de Châteauroux, and a meeting between the two is billed as the Derby berrichon. The immediate task for les Berruyers is to hold their place in the third tier and to close the gap on Châteauroux.