Phoenix Nights

Having dropped into France’s regional amateur fifth division, supporters of Strasbourg stuck with their club and now they are back in the top flight.

- James Eastham

France

A worrying number of French clubs have hit a financial wall in recent years but Strasbourg’s astonishing revival and ascent back into Ligue 1 is as heartening a tale as you can find.

Le Mans, Sedan, Grenoble, Evian and Istres are among the clubs who overstretched while in one of France’s top two divisions and ended up either folding completely or having to start again in the amateur ranks.

Yet while those outfits have all struggled to get back on their feet, Strasbourg have risen from the ashes in formidable fashion, to the point that they are now playing at the highest level once again. On August 5, they travel to Lyon for the opening day of the 2017-18 Ligue 1 season for a fixture that completes a remarkable journey.

Their problems started back in 2008, when they were relegated from the French top flight. A familiar pattern of botched buyouts, overspending and ill-conceived presidential appointments saw chronic instability set in. The debts mounted while results on the pitch dragged them deeper and deeper into trouble. Two years after losing Ligue 1 status they found themselves in National (France’s third division), at which point the club looked set to go into terminal decline.