Early history Red Star Football Club was founded on 21 February 1897 in a Parisian café by
Jules Rimet and Ernest Weber under the name
Red Star Club Français. The derivation of the name is uncertain; it is possibly taken from the
red star of
Buffalo Bill or possibly in reference to Miss Jenny, a British
governess based in Paris who was adopted as the godmother of the club, who recommended the club be named after the historic shipping line, the
Red Star Line. Upon its creation, Rimet installed Jean de Piessac as club president and one of his younger brothers as club secretary. The club was officially inaugurated on 12 March 1897 after Rimet signed the club's statutes and sent them to the
USFSA, which, during this time, served as the head of French football. Members of the club were required to pay
₣100 a month to help the club meet its daily quota. Red Star officially joined the USFSA in 1898 and was inserted into the third-tier of the association's football league system. In the club's infancy, the team played in navy blue and white at the
Champ de Mars. However, soon after, Red Star moved to
Meudon in
Hauts-de-Seine playing on a
terrace overlooking the
Seine Valley. Midway through the year, de Piessac left his post as club president. Rimet quickly succeeded him and, by 1904, Red Star were playing in the first division of the USFSA league. In 1907, Red Star changed its name to
Red Star Amical Club after merging with Amical Football Club. Due to the merger, the club departed Meudon and moved to
Grenelle in the
15th arrondissement. After three years in Grenelle, the club moved to
Saint-Ouen in
Seine-Saint-Denis to play in the newly built
Stade de Paris. On 25 October 1909, the stadium was inaugurated following a match between Red Star and English club
Old Westminsters. The stadium was later renamed to its present name today. With the USFSA becoming disorganised in the early 1900s, Red Star joined the newly created Ligue de Football Association (LFA) in 1910. In 1912, the club earned its first honour after winning the association's
Ligue Nationale. In the same year, the club also finished runner-up to Étoile des Deux Lacs in the Trophée de France.
1919–1975 In 1919, the
French Football Federation was created and months later, the
Coupe de France. From 1920–34, Red Star embarked on a remarkable uprising in which the club won four Coupe de France titles, achieved professional status, and were founding members of the
French Division 1. The club's first Coupe de France victory came in
1921, when the club, led by
French internationals Pierre Chayriguès,
Paul Nicolas, Juste Brouzes, Lucien Gamblin and Maurice Meyer, defeated
Olympique de Paris 2–1, courtesy of goals from Marcel Naudin and Robert Clavel. In the ensuing two seasons, Red Star won back-to-back Coupe de France titles. In
1922, the club defeated
Stade Rennais UC 2–0 and, in
1923, Red Star beat
Cette 4–2 to complete the
hat trick. In 1926, Red Star completed a second merger, this time with its local rivals Olympique de Paris whom it had defeated just five years ago in a Coupe de France final. Due to the merger, Red Star changed its name to
Red Star Olympique and dropped its navy blue and white combination for a simple white blouse. In 1928, Red Star won its fourth Coupe de France title of the decade defeating
CA Paris 3–1 at the
Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir in
Colombes. In July 1930, the National Council of the French Football Federation voted 128–20 in support of professionalism in French football. Red Star were among the first clubs to adopt the new statute and, subsequently, became professional and were founding members of the new league. In the
league's inaugural season, Red Star were relegated after finishing in the bottom three of its group. As a result, the club played the following season in the
inaugural season of the
Division 2. Red Star won the league and returned to the first division for the
1934–35 season. Following the club's return to Division 1, Red Star switched its colours from white to the green and white that exists today. In 1967, they merged with
Toulouse FC (not
the current club) out of the latter club's financial reasons and bought Toulouse's place in the top division. The merged club last played in first division in the
1974–75 season.
Recent history Red Star were relegated from
Ligue 2 in 1999. In
1999–2000 they reached the semi-finals of the
Coupe de la Ligue, losing to eventual champions
Gueugnon. They were relegated to the fourth tier in 2001, thereby losing their professional status. A year later, the FFF sent them down another tier due to €1.5 million debts. From 2003 to 2005, Red Star played in the sixth-tier
Division d'Honneur. After a long spell in the lower leagues, following a successful 2014–15 campaign, the team won promotion to Ligue 2, the second tier of
French football. In their first season back in Ligue 2, Red Star finished 5th on the table missing promotion to
Ligue 1 by a single point. In the 2016–17 Ligue 2 season, Red Star finished 19th and were relegated back to the third division of French football. Due to safety regulation issues with
Stade Bauer, Red Star has been forced to play at different stadiums the past few seasons when in Ligue 2. They have employed
Stade Jean-Bouin in the past and then used
Stade Pierre Brisson located in
Beauvais. Since returning to the third tier in 2019, the club has returned to playing home matches at Stade Bauer. In 2018, Red Star were promoted back to Ligue 2 as champions of the
Championnat National. They were relegated again the following season, finishing bottom of Ligue 2. Their relegation was confirmed on 27 April 2019 after losing 2–1 to champions
FC Metz.
Divisional movements of Red Star (
Italics indicates winning seasons) •
Ligue 1: 1932–33, 1934–38, 1939–50, 1965–66, 1967–73, 1974–75 •
Ligue 2: 1933–34, 1938–39, 1952–60, 1961–65, 1966–67, 1973–74, 1975–78, 1982–87, 1989–99, 2015–17, 2018–19, 2024– •
Third Level: 1950–52, 1960–61, 1981–82, 1987–89, 1999–01, 2011–15, 2017–18, 2019–2024 •
Fourth Level: 1980–81, 2001–02, 2006–11 •
Fifth Level: 1978–80, 2002–03, 2005–06 •
Sixth Level: 2003–05
Name changes • Red Star Club Français (1897–04) • Red Star Amical Club (1904–25) • Red Star Olympique (1925–44) • Red Star Olympique Audonien (1944–46) • Stade Français-Red Star (1946–48) • Red Star Olympique Audonien (1948–55) • Red Star Football Club (1955–66) • AS Red Star (1976–82) • AS Red Star 93 (1982–01) • Red Star Football Club 93 (2001–10) •
Red Star Football Club (2010–) ==Club identity and supporters==