Football Club de Metz, commonly referred to as FC Metz or simply Metz, is a French association football club based in Metz, Lorraine.
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14 Facts About FC Metz
2.
FC Metz was founded in 1932 by the amalgamation of two amateur athletic clubs, and shortly thereafter became a professional team; it is one of the oldest professional football teams in France.
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3.
FC Metz was allowed to stay within Ligue 1 as a special privilege due to its catastrophic situation in the year following the war: the stadium had been damaged, almost beyond repair.
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4.
FC Metz made a strong return to this league, finishing fifth in its first season back.
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5.
FC Metz spent the next five seasons at second division level.
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6.
FC Metz ascended to the top level of French football once more in 1967; the team remained in the highest division until they were relegated in 2001, although they bounced back immediately and returned to the Ligue 1 the following year.
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7.
In 2006, FC Metz were relegated from Ligue 1, finishing at the bottom of the table, despite the regular presence of an extremely promising prospect, Miralem Pjanic, who would later be transferred to giants Lyon, for an astonishing fee of €7.
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8.
FC Metz spent only one season at this level, rebuilding a team with iconic former player Albert Cartier as coach, winning promotion to Ligue 2, and then immediately finishing first and winning promotion to Ligue 1.
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9.
On 26 April 2019, FC Metz were promoted back to Ligue 1 at the first time of asking by finishing first in Ligue 2.
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10.
FC Metz plays its home matches at Stade Saint-Symphorien, which has a capacity of 25,636.
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11.
FC Metz gained recognition in France and Europe for its successful youth academy, which produced star players including: Rigobert Song, Robert Pires, Louis Saha, Emmanuel Adebayor, Papiss Cisse, Miralem Pjanic, Kalidou Koulibaly, and Sadio Mane.
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12.
FC Metz has never won the French championship; its best result was a second-place finish in 1998, behind RC Lens.
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13.
FC Metz won the Coupe de France twice, in 1984 and 1988, the first of these victories enabled it to qualify for the European Cup Winners' Cup where it achieved arguably the team's greatest moment, an upset of FC Barcelona in the first round of the competition in October 1984.
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14.
FC Metz won the Coupe de la Ligue twice, in 1986 and 1996, and has made a total of ten appearances in European tournaments.
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