Formed: 1944
Nickname:
UEFA club competition honours (runners-up in brackets)
• UEFA Intertoto Cup (2004)
Domestic honours (most recent triumph in brackets)
• League title: 3 (2011)
History
LOSC Lille Métropole was formed on 23 September 1944 as a result of a merger between professional clubs Olympique Lillois and SC Fives. Lillois had been in the process of negotiating with Fives as early as 1939. After failing to agree to a merger with Fives, Lillois merged with local club Iris Club Lillois to form Olympique Iris Club Lillois. However, due to World War II and the abolishing of professional football under the Vichy Regime, the club spent most of its existence playing in the amateur war leagues. In 1944, Fives finally agreed to a merger. However, the section of Olympique Iris Club Lillois officials who were representing Iris Club Lillois refused the merger as it meant the club would have to turn professional. The disagreement between Olympique Lillois and Iris Club led to the first merger dissolving. As a result, the original incarnation of Lillois merged with Fives. The club was initially named Stade Lillois and played under the name in two friendly matches ahead of the 1944–45 war championship season. On 10 November 1944, after a directors’ meeting, the club changed its name to Lille Olympique Sporting Club. The name pays tribute to Olympique Lillois by retaining the Lille Olympique title and pays tribute to SC Fives by retaining the SC acronym. The club, subsequently, adopted the red and white colors of Lillois as its home kit and took Fives’ blue colors as its away kit. Former Fives president Louis Henno was named as the club’s first president.
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