FC Lorient

The club's nicknames are Les Merlus or simply abbreviated Le FCL. The club colours are orange and black. They play at the Stade du Moustoir - Yves Allainmat, which has a capacity of 18,890 seats. The name refers to its location in the centre of the city.

The club plays the Derby de la Bretagne, which, although it usually includes matches between the two most successful clubs in the region, Stade Rennais and FC Nantes, can also include matches between other clubs from the Bretagne region, such as FC Lorient, or also EA Guingamp and Stade Brestois. All clubs are local rivals.

Milestones, club successes and a breeding ground for top players

The club was founded in 1926 in the town of Lorient in Brittany in north-west France. For most of its existence, it was an amateur club, which only appeared in the top football competition, now Ligue 1, in the 1998/99 season. However, it has never won the competition. Moreover, the club has not fared well in recent seasons, being relegated to Ligue 2 in the 2016/17 season.

Its greatest success came when it won the 2002 French Cup, beating Bastia 1-0 in the final. FC Lorient also won the former Championnat National, in 1995.

However, the club has served as a springboard for many current quality players such as Laurent Koscielny, André-Pierre Gignac, Michaël Ciani, Kevin Gameiro, Karim Ziani, Bakari Koné and Seydou Keita. Also, one cannot help but mention the name Yoann Gourcuff, who is the son of Christian Gourcuff, who started his career at the club.