Origins (1919–1974) 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. 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. In 1974, SO Montpelliérain merged with
AS Paillade to form the current iteration of the club,
Montpellier Hérault Sport Club. Continued success & promotions and relegations (1974–2011) 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. 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) 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. The league-winning match took place on 20 May 2012, in a game marred by stoppages for crowd violence which saw
John Utaka score a brace to secure a 2–1 victory over
Auxerre.
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. On 26 April 2025, after 16 consecutive seasons in Ligue 1, Montpellier was relegated to
Ligue 2. == Players ==