Having been an amateur club for a long time, playing in the regional leagues, the club got promoted three times under the presidency of
Noël Le Graët, who took over in 1972. In 1976, Guingamp reached the Third Division (now called
Championnat National), and the next season they were promoted to the Second Division (now called
Ligue 2), where they stayed until 1993. The club became fully professional in 1984, and in 1990 the
Stade de Roudourou was opened, with Guingamp hosting
Paris Saint-Germain in the inaugural match. The club's first major honour was winning the
Coupe de France in 2009, the second team in history not from
Ligue 1 to win the competition. The team defeated
Breton rivals
Rennes 2–1 in
the final. Also, in 2014, En Avant de Guingamp beat
Stade Rennais F.C. 2–0 at the Stade de France. Aside from two years of Coupe de France triumph, the club's only other major feat was winning the
1996 UEFA Intertoto Cup. The club has played in the French top flight before, having gained promotion only three times:
1995,
2000 and
2013. Their longest stay in the top flight was between 2013 and 2019. Following the
2012–13 season, the club was relegated back to Ligue 2 at the conclusion of the 2018–19 season finishing in 20th place. Aside from winning the Coupe de France, Guingamp is known for having served as a springboard for prominent players that include
Didier Drogba,
Florent Malouda,
Fabrice Abriel, and
Vincent Candela. Managers such as
Guy Lacombe,
Francis Smerecki, and
Erick Mombaerts also used the club as springboards during the infancy of their coaching careers. Guingamp is presided over by Bertrand Desplat. The former president,
Noël Le Graët, is president of the
French Football Federation. The club has a
women's team who play in the
Division 1 Féminine, and a reserve team in the
CFA2. In the 2018–19 season, Guingamp reached the
Coupe de la ligue final against
RC Strasbourg. Guingamp lost the final losing 4–1 on penalties after the match ended goalless during 120 minutes of play. On 12 May 2019, Guingamp were relegated to
Ligue 2 ending a six-year stay in the top division after drawing 1–1 with rivals
Stade Rennais F.C. Timeline • 1912: Foundation of the club. • 1922: First match at Stade de Montbareil. • 1929: First promotion to the Division d'Honneur. • 1949: Second promotion to the Division d'Honneur. • 1974: Third promotion to the Division d'Honneur. • 1976: First promotion to Division 3. • 1977: First promotion to
Division 2. • 1984: Adoption of professional status. • 1990: First match at Stade de Roudourou. • 1994: Second promotion to
Ligue 2. • 1995: First promotion to
Ligue 1. • 1996: Winner of the
Intertoto Cup and first appearance in
Europe. • 1997: Runner-up of the
Coupe de France. • 2000: Second promotion to
Ligue 1. • 2004: Relegation from
Ligue 1. • 2009: Winner of the
Coupe de France and second appearance in
Europe. • 2010: Relegation from
Ligue 2. • 2011: Promotion to
Ligue 2. • 2013: Promotion to
Ligue 1. • 2014: Winner of the
Coupe de France and third appearance in the
UEFA Europa League. • 2019: Finished runner up in the
Coupe de la ligue final. • 2019: Relegated to
Ligue 2.
League timeline ImageSize = width:1040 height:165 PlotArea = width:840 height:62 left:80 bottom:55 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/07/1975 till:01/07/2024 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:2 start:1976 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1976 Colors = id:vert value:rgb(0.7,1,0.7) id:bleu1 value:rgb(0.7,0.7,1) id:rouge value:rgb(1,0.7,0.7) id:bleu2 value:rgb(0.5,0.5,1) id:jaune value:rgb(1,1,0.7) id:gris value:gray(0.8) BarData = bar:eins text:"
Ligue 1" bar:zwei text:"
Ligue 2" bar:drei text:"
National" PlotData= align:center textcolor:black fontsize:10 mark:(line,gris) width:20 shift:(1,-5) bar:eins color:bleu1 from:01/07/1995 till:01/07/1996 shift:(1,-4) text:10 from:01/07/1996 till:01/07/1997 shift:(1,-4) text:12 from:01/07/1997 till:01/07/1998 shift:(1,-4) text:16 from:01/07/2000 till:01/07/2001 shift:(1,-4) text:10 from:01/07/2001 till:01/07/2002 shift:(1,-4) text:16 from:01/07/2002 till:01/07/2003 shift:(2,-4) text:7 from:01/07/2003 till:01/07/2004 shift:(1,-4) text:18 from:01/07/2013 till:01/07/2014 shift:(1,-4) text:16 from:01/07/2014 till:01/07/2015 shift:(1,-4) text:10 from:01/07/2015 till:01/07/2016 shift:(1,-4) text:16 from:01/07/2016 till:01/07/2017 shift:(1,-4) text:10 from:01/07/2017 till:01/07/2018 shift:(1,-4) text:12 from:01/07/2018 till:01/07/2019 shift:(1,-4) text:20 bar:zwei color:jaune from:01/07/1977 till:01/07/1978 shift:(1,-4) text:14 from:01/07/1978 till:01/07/1979 shift:(2,-4) text:8 from:01/07/1979 till:01/07/1980 shift:(2,-4) text:3 from:01/07/1980 till:01/07/1981 shift:(2,-4) text:7 from:01/07/1981 till:01/07/1982 shift:(2,-4) text:9 from:01/07/1982 till:01/07/1983 shift:(2,-4) text:8 from:01/07/1983 till:01/07/1984 shift:(2,-4) text:8 from:01/07/1984 till:01/07/1985 shift:(2,-4) text:5 from:01/07/1985 till:01/07/1986 shift:(2,-4) text:3 from:01/07/1986 till:01/07/1987 shift:(1,-4) text:10 from:01/07/1987 till:01/07/1988 shift:(1,-4) text:12 from:01/07/1988 till:01/07/1989 shift:(2,-4) text:6 from:01/07/1989 till:01/07/1990 shift:(1,-4) text:13 from:01/07/1990 till:01/07/1991 shift:(2,-4) text:7 from:01/07/1991 till:01/07/1992 shift:(2,-4) text:6 from:01/07/1992 till:01/07/1993 shift:(1,-4) text:13 from:01/07/1994 till:01/07/1995 shift:(2,-4) text:2 from:01/07/1998 till:01/07/1999 shift:(2,-4) text:7 from:01/07/1999 till:01/07/2000 shift:(2,-4) text:2 from:01/07/2004 till:01/07/2005 shift:(2,-4) text:7 from:01/07/2005 till:01/07/2006 shift:(2,-4) text:9 from:01/07/2006 till:01/07/2007 shift:(1,-4) text:13 from:01/07/2007 till:01/07/2008 shift:(1,-4) text:12 from:01/07/2008 till:01/07/2009 shift:(1,-4) text:13 from:01/07/2009 till:01/07/2010 shift:(1,-4) text:18 from:01/07/2011 till:01/07/2012 shift:(2,-4) text:7 from:01/07/2012 till:01/07/2013 shift:(2,-4) text:2 from:01/07/2019 till:01/07/2020 shift:(2,-4) text:8 from:01/07/2020 till:01/07/2021 shift:(2,-4) text:9 from:01/07/2021 till:01/07/2022 shift:(2,-4) text:6 from:01/07/2022 till:01/07/2023 shift:(2,-4) text:6 from:01/07/2023 till:01/07/2024 shift:(2,-4) text:9 bar:drei color:rouge from:01/07/1976 till:01/07/1977 shift:(2,-4) text:2 from:01/07/1993 till:01/07/1994 shift:(2,-4) text:1 from:01/07/2010 till:01/07/2011 shift:(2,-4) text:3 ==Stadium==