Montpellier HSC
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| Full name | Montpellier Hérault Sport Club | |||
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| Nickname | La Paillade[1] | |||
| Short name | MHSC | |||
| Founded | 1974 | |||
| Ground | Stade de la Mosson | |||
| Capacity | 33,556 | |||
| Owner | Groupe Nicollin | |||
| President | Laurent Nicollin | |||
| Head coach | Zoumana Camara | |||
| League | Ligue 2 | |||
| 2024–25 | Ligue 1, 18th of 18 (relegated) | |||
| Website | mhscfoot | |||
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Montpellier Hérault Sport Club (French: [mɔ̃pəlje eʁo spɔʁ klœb]; Occitan: Montpelhièr Erau Sport Club), commonly referred to as Montpellier HSC, is a French professional football club based in Montpellier, Occitanie, France. The club's origins date back to 1919, but it was officially founded in 1974 through a merger of both Stade Olympique Montpelliérain and AS Paillade.[2]
The club currently competes in Ligue 2, the second level of French football. They play their home matches at the Stade de la Mosson, located within the city. The first team is managed by Zoumana Camara.
Montpellier is owned by Laurent Nicollin, the son of Louis Nicollin, a French entrepreneur, who had been owner since 1974. The club have produced several famous players in its history, most notably Laurent Blanc, who has served as manager of the France national team. Blanc is also the club's all-time leading goalscorer. Eric Cantona, Roger Milla, Carlos Valderrama and Olivier Giroud are other players who have played in Montpellier's colours. In 2001, Montpellier introduced a women's team.
History
[edit | edit source]Origins (1919–1974)
[edit | edit source]Montpellier was founded in 1919 as Stade Olympique Montpelliérain and soon went on to win the Coupe de France in 1929 in a 2–0 victory over FC Sète.[3] SO Montpelliérain was one of twenty clubs to have played in the inaugural 1932–33 Division 1 season, the first season of professional top flight football in France.[4] In 1974, SO Montpelliérain merged with AS Paillade to form the current interation of the club, Montpellier Hérault Sport Club.[5]
Continued success & promotions and relegations (1974–2011)
[edit | edit source]Many decades later, Montpellier went on to win their second Coupe de France in 1990 in a 2–1 victory over RC Paris. The club went on to win the Coupe de la Ligue in 1992 in a 3–1 victory over Angers. The club ended the decade winning the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 1999.[6] Montpellier was relegated to Division 2, as it was known as at the time, at the end of the 1999–2000 season finishing in last place on 31 points. They were promoted the following season, returning to Division 1 for the 2001–02 season. The club was again relegated to Ligue 2 at the end of the 2003–04 season and went on to spend five consecutive seasons in Ligue 2 before being promoted back to Ligue 1 for the 2009–10 season where they finished in 5th place.
Title winners & eventual relegation (2011–present)
[edit | edit source]At the end of the 2011–12 season, Montpellier won its first Ligue 1 title, finishing the season with 82 points, three points ahead of runners-up Paris Saint-Germain. On 20 May 2012, in a game marred by stoppages for crowd violence, John Utaka scored a brace to secure a 2–1 victory over Auxerre, winning the Ligue 1 title for Montpellier. Olivier Giroud, who finished the season with 21 goals and 9 assists, was the league's top goal scorer. Despite being tied on goals with Paris Saint-Germain attacker Nenê, he was named the league's top scorer by the Ligue de Football Professionnel due to finishing with more goals in open play.[7][8]
On 26 April 2025, after 16 consecutive seasons in Ligue 1, Montpellier was relegated to Ligue 2.[9]
Players
[edit | edit source]Current squad
[edit | edit source]- As of 2 September 2025[10]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Out on loan
[edit | edit source]Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Records
[edit | edit source]Most appearances
[edit | edit source]| Rank | Player | Matches |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Senegal Souleymane Camara | 433 |
| 2 | France Pascal Baills | 429 |
| 3 | France Bruno Carotti | 377 |
| 4 |  Vitorino Hilton |
354 |
| 5 | Algeria Kader Ferhaoui | 349 |
Top scorers
[edit | edit source]| Rank | Player | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | France Laurent Blanc | 84 |
| 2 | Senegal Souleymane Camara | 76 |
| 3 | France Jean-Marc Valadier | 70 |
| 4 | France Christophe Sanchez | 50 |
| 5 | Algeria Andy Delort | 49 |
Management and staff
[edit | edit source]Club officials
[edit | edit source]
Senior club staff[11]
- President: Laurent Nicollin
- Association chairman: Gilbert Varlot
- Sporting Director: Bruno Carotti
- Head of Youth: Francis De Taddeo
Coaching and medical staff[12]
- Head coach: Zoumana Camara
- Assistant head coach: Ghislain Printant
- First-Team coach: Hilton
- Goalkeeper coach: Robin Gasset
- Fitness coach: Claude Duvergne
- Scout: Adrien Bordeau
Coaching history
[edit | edit source]
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Honours
[edit | edit source]Domestic
[edit | edit source]- Ligue 1
- Champions (1): 2011–12
- Ligue 2
- Coupe de France
- Coupe de la Ligue
- Division d'Honneur (Languedoc-Roussillon)
- Champions (2): 1981, 1992[14]
Europe
[edit | edit source]- UEFA Intertoto Cup
- Winners (1): 1999
Other
[edit | edit source]- Division d'Honneur (Sud-Est)
- Champions (3): 1928, 1932, 1976
U19
[edit | edit source]- Coupe Gambardella
- Champions (3): 1996, 2009, 2017
- Runners-up (3): 1984, 1985, 1997
See also
[edit | edit source]References
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- ^ The two DH titles won were achieved by the club's reserve team.
External links
[edit | edit source]
- Lua error in Module:Official_website at line 94: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). (in French)
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