18 Facts About Lille OSC

Lille Olympique Sporting Club, commonly referred to as LOSC, LOSC Lille or simply Lille, is a French professional football club based in Lille, Hauts-de-France that competes in Ligue 1, the top flight of French football.

Lille OSC has played its home matches since 2012 at Stade Pierre-Mauroy, the fourth-largest football stadium in France.

Lille OSC was founded as a result of a merger between Olympique Lillois and SC Fives in 1944.

In European football, Lille OSC has participated in the UEFA Champions League eight times, reaching the knockout phase twice, competed in the UEFA Europa League on eight occasions and won the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 2004 after finishing as runners-up in 2002.

Lille OSC leads in the head-to-head record between the two rivals and in terms of total trophies won.

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In 1947, Lille OSC finished in the fourth place but came back to the Coupe de France final and retained the trophy, defeating Strasbourg.

On 24 June 1951, an exhausted Lille OSC reached the Latin Cup final and lost against Gre-No-Li's AC Milan after having played 250 minutes in the span of two days.

Lille OSC, known as the best French club in the post-war period, accumulated five Coupe de France wins in seven finals, including five successive finals and winning the trophy three times in a row, one of the best performances in the history of the tournament.

In July 1980, Lille OSC was the first French club to opt for the status of a mixed economy company, of which the city of Lille OSC became the majority shareholder.

On 23 November 2016, a year after being appointed, Lille OSC terminated Antonetti's contract with the club lying second last in the table.

In March 2017, Lille OSC appointed Marcelo Bielsa as new manager of the club.

In November 2017, Bielsa was suspended by Lille OSC following an unauthorized trip to Chile with the club lying second from bottom on the table again and only managing 3 wins from the first 14 games of the season.

On 23 December 2017, Bielsa was terminated by Lille OSC and replaced with former Saint-Etienne manager Christophe Galtier.

The very first crest of the newborn club was simply the escutcheon of the city of Lille OSC dating from 1235 that shows an argent-on-gules fleur-de-lys.

Lille OSC have known many sporting goods manufacturers in its history.

On 22 June 2016, Lille OSC announced a five-year partnership with New Balance, becoming one of the biggest football teams that have signed with the Boston-based sportswear manufacturer.

One of the most iconic Lille OSC sponsors is French nappy and baby products manufacturer Peaudouce that lasted more than ten years.

The derby name refers only to their geographical location in France since Lille OSC is the only club of the two actually situated in the department of Nord.