CS Fola Esch

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Fola Esch

Full name

Cercle Sportif Fola Esch

Nickname(s)

Founded

1906

Ground

Stade Émile Mayrisch,
Esch-sur-Alzette
(Capacity 3,900)

Chairman

Vacant

Manager

Michael Lofy

League

Luxembourg Division of Honour

2006-7

Division of Honour, 3rd





Home colours

Sporting Circle Fola Esch (French: Cercle Sportif Fola Esch), usually abbreviated to Fola Esch or simply Fola, is a football club, based in Esch-sur-Alzette, in south-western Luxembourg. They play their home games at Stade Émile Mayrisch, in the south of the city, which they share with their sister athletics club CA Fola Esch.

Founded in 1906 by a British professor, Fola was the first football club in Luxembourg. During its heyday, it was the best club in the country, winning four National Division championships and two Luxembourg Cups between 1918 and 1924. Fola won another championship in 1930 and the Luxembourg Cup in 1955, but has since lost its place in Luxembourg's top flight.

Fola stubbornly rejected a merger with its larger neighbours, Jeunesse Esch, during the wave of consolidation in the 1990s. In 2004-05, Fola was relegated to the third tier of Luxembourgian football, but were promoted the following season. In 2006–07, they finished third, qualifying for a promotion play-off, which they lost to FC Victoria Rosport. In August 2007, Fola pulled off a transfer coup by signing former Morocco midfielder Mustapha Hadji.

In 2008, the club managed to secure second place in the championship, granting them promotion to the Fortis Leage (the top league in the country).