Not just rugby in EuropaLeague. And many of France’s national rugby team come from Toulouse.
FRENCH CHAMPIONS
After winning the French Football Cup and the Brennus Shield, Toulouse’s two teams are starting the new season. A unique passion between football and rugby from the perspective of the fans in the “ville rose”, the pink city.
THE PLACE OF THE CAPITOL
On April 29, a curious spectacle will take place on Place du Capitole in Toulouse. Fans will gather in the early afternoon to watch the games projected onto the walls of the town hall. Dressed in the colors of their hometown clubs, the people of Toulouse wear red jerseys for the rugby team Stade Toulousain, who will play Leinster in the European Cup semi-final at 4 p.m., or purple jerseys for TFC, who will play Nantes in the French Cup final at 9 p.m. Many have jerseys in both colors and stay the whole afternoon until late at night.
In Toulouse, it’s hard to say which of the two sports has the greater influence.
In the 2022-2023 season, there are 13,291 members of Toulouse Football Club and 14,600 of Stade Toulousain. In rugby, there are 6,000 members spread across the two professional clubs, Stade Toulousain and US Colomiers, and 3,000 in football. Toulouse thus represents the largest share of license holders in the Haute Garonne region.
After their victory in the French Cup, the two Toulouse clubs present their trophies at Toulouse City Hall, also on the Place du Capitole, a few months apart. On April 30, the Toulouse football team players raised the French Cup in front of 18,000 people, while on June 18, the Toulouse Stadium team raised the Brennus Shield in front of 15,000 fans.
THE PINK CITY BETWEEN RED AND PURPLE
It is these same fans who come to celebrate the various triumphs, changing the color of the square from purple to red, always to the sound of Toulouse’s anthem Se Canto.
Clément, a 20-year-old fan of Stade Toulousain and TFC, explains: “In Toulouse, passion for football is more for young people, while the passion for rugby was passed down to us by our parents”.
In Toulouse, sport is not only followed by connoisseurs and ultras, but by everyone, girls and boys, young and old; it is a matter of regional identity.
Two Toulouse fans with a Toulouse and Toulouse FC shirt.
“We said to ourselves and to the other fans, we have to go there, it’s historic and the best memory I’ve had as a fan.” To go to Paris, the Toulouse FC provided a dozen buses for its members and up to 400 fans made their way to the capital.
“The whole of France was talking about us and our team, we had never experienced anything like it, and that makes us proud,” explains Loris.
The Toulouse fans’ enthusiasm was further boosted by qualifying for the Europa League.
This year, Toulouse will return to the prestigious European Cup, which it has not entered since 2008. On Thursday, October 5th, the first game in the Europa League took place at Toulouse Stadium. And they won 1-0 against LASK Linz.
On November 9, Liverpool will come to Toulouse, after playing at Anfield Stadium in England on October 26. “We are super proud, we will represent France with our club, our city, outside of our country, it will be incredible.” Spectators made their way to the stadium early to watch the game against Austrian club LASK. The stadium was filled with a purple crowd, creating a joyful and intense atmosphere, and they were able to celebrate their team’s first European Cup victory. 22-year-old Calista, from Toulouse, who was at the game, said: “Tonight was fantastic and tomorrow we’re all going to watch the rugby game together in a bar in the city with the other fans!”
After a difficult period in Ligue 2, Toulouse were promoted back to Ligue 1 on April 25, 2022 after a home game against Niort, which ended with euphoric fans storming the pitch in an “indescribable feeling of joy”. Loris, a 22-year-old loyal member of the club, tells us: “When we were relegated to Ligue 2, no one came to the stadium anymore. It was only when we started winning and there was a chance of getting back into Ligue 1 that the fans came back.”
The enthusiasm was confirmed in the 2022-2023 season with a record number of club subscriptions. TFC even made it to the final of the French Cup in Paris.
DAS STADE TOULOUSAIN
TFC is not the only French championship team in town. With an impressive track record: 22-time French champions and 5-time European champions, they are the most successful team in both competitions. Toulouse Stadium is an emblematic rugby club. We talked to Emma, an avid Toulouse Stadium fan. “Stade is the pride of the southwest, the passion for rugby comes from my father and is something we like to watch with the family”.
In France, the South West is the land of rugby and the sport is most popular there. It has its own folklore, like the ferias in Bayonne or Dax. “The values of rugby suit our southern mentality, the atmosphere, the conviviality, the brotherhood”.
Toulouse is not only a city of rugby spectators, but also produces the best rugby players in the country.