Formed: 1944
Nickname: Les Dogues (The Mastiffs)

UEFA club competition honours
• None

Domestic honours (most recent triumph in brackets)
• League title: 3 (2011)
• French Cup: 6 (2011)

History
• Founded by the merger of Olympique Lillois and SC Fives, Lille Olympique Sporting Club were soon rubbing shoulders with French football's élite. Within two years they were champions, winning the title again in 1953/54.

• Yet it is in the French Cup that Lille have the finest pedigree. They won it three years running between 1946 and 1948 (a feat no side has since emulated) before adding two more in 1952/53 and 1954/55.

• Les Dogues also finished up runners-up in the league during their post-war heyday but gradually fell back. Their pursuit of silverware and local popularity was eclipsed by the rise of RC Lens, with whom they contest the Derby du Nord.

• Lille slipped into a cycle of promotion and relegation, but privatisation in the 1990s (they had hitherto been publicly owned) brought an upturn in fortunes. They claimed their fourth second division title in 2000, made their UEFA club competition debut in 2001, won the 2004 UEFA Intertoto Cup and finished runners-up to Olympique Lyonnais in Ligue 1 in 2005.

• Coached by former player Rudi Garcia, Lille won a historic league and cup double in 2011. It was the first time the club had won any top-flight silverware since the 1950s. Les Dogues beat Paris Saint-Germain FC in the French Cup final with a late strike from Polish international Ludovic Obraniak.

• By now installed at the out-of-town Stade Lille Métropole, their home since leaving the urban Stade Grimonprez-Jooris in 2004, Lille have continued to grow. Les Dogues are set to move to a new 50,000-seater venue in 2012.

Club Records
Most appearances: Marceau Somerlinck (359)
Most goals: Jean Baratte (167)
Record victory: Lille 10-1 AS Bézier (Première Division, 8 December 1957)
Record defeat: OGC Nice 7-1 Lille (Première Division, 18 September 1955)

* Last updated 1 June 2011