History holds many surprises. In football, too. A small exhibition which is held until November 7, at the Colysée de Lambersart, near Lille, looks back on the origins of Losc, the reigning French champion football club. We learn in particular that the neighboring town of Lambersart played a major role in its birth. The expo Lambersart, cradle of Losc thus traces the first matches of the pioneers at the end of the 19th century.
We understand that the Losc was not done in a day and this story explains why the club only claims four French league titles (1946, 1954, 2011 and 2021) while Lille has, in reality, obtained five. . “I especially wanted to show how the neighboring town of Lambersart played a key role in the construction of the Lille club,” says Patrick Robert, football historian and designer of the exhibition.
From mergers to splits
And it all started in the Vauban district of Lille. “All the universities are in the neighborhood,” explains Patrick Robert. The first players are students from good families and the geographical links with Lambersart, which is located right next to this district, are therefore natural. “
In fact, the first mergers, then splits between Lille and Lambersart clubs followed one another between 1898 and 1944, the date of the official creation of Losc. Ironically, it is the merger of the two big rival and neighboring teams, Olympique Lillois and SC Fives, which will give birth to the great club of Lille.
“It was still necessary to do it twice, specifies Patrick Robert. The club was first called Stade Lillois in September 1944. Then two months later, the name changed because it did not sufficiently represent the old clubs. Le Losc had just been born. And with it, a reset of the prize list.
Four, five or even seven titles for Lille
If SC Fives had won nothing nationally, Olympique Lillois had, on the other hand, won the first edition of the French professional championship in 1933. “But the leaders of Losc have always refused to record this 1933 title. Lille had also twice amateur French champion before the advent of professionalism. We can therefore say that the city has seven national titles, ”notes Patrick Robert.
The exhibition therefore gives pride of place to the first years of glory, during the post-war period, notably through Jean Baratte. “He was born and played at Lambersart before joining Losc with which he won two French championship titles and four French cups,” continues Patrick Robert. Its history also allows us to understand the many lives of the Lille club.