Toulouse

Toulouse counts among its old nicknames "the city of violets" — and the football club took the colour and the name for itself, playing in violet and white ever since. Football under that name in the city goes back to 1937, though the club that carries the identity today is a different legal entity, rebuilt in 1970 as Union Sportive Toulouse after the original Toulouse FC sold its Ligue 1 place and its players to Red Star Olympique and folded in 1967. The name changed again in 1979, to Toulouse Football Club, and the club's own account of its history still traces the line back to 1937 even where the record books cannot.

What that rebuilt club has actually won sits mostly in Ligue 2, promotions taken in 1981/82, 2002/03 and 2021/22, the kind of results that mark a side which has spent long stretches working its way back up rather than settling at the top. The one major trophy came more recently: the Coupe de France in 2022/23, sealed with a 5:1 win over Nantes in the final. An earlier Cup win, from 1957, belongs to the old, disbanded club, not this one.

Dominique Arribagé put in 335 appearances across two spells either side of the millennium, more than anyone else has managed for the club, while Robert Pintenat's 83 goals still stand as the club record. Among the imports who passed through, Argentine World Cup winner Alberto Tarantini spent four years there in the 1980s, and Johan Elmander scored 23 in 73 games before moving on.

Home games are played at the Stadium de Toulouse, known locally as the Stadium Municipal, which holds 33,150.