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Étoile du Congo

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Étoile du Congo
Full nameÉtoile du Congo
Founded1926; 98 years ago (1926)
GroundStade Alphonse Massemba-Débat
Brazzaville, Congo
Capacity33,037
ChairmanRéné Blanchard Oba
ManagerBenoît Kokolo
LeagueCongo Ligue 1
2023–24Congo Ligue 1, 5th of 14

Étoile du Congo is a Congolese professional football club based in Brazzaville.[1]

History

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L'Étoile du Congo started as a team in the Fédération Athlétique Congolaise (FAC), a league run by Catholic missionaries in the Belgian Congo. The church provided clothes and shoes and the team was required to attend mass. The team, known at the time as Renaissance, won the Brazzaville city championship each year from 1945 to 1950 led by team-captain Dominique Sombo. They played at Eboué stadium, which was owned by the mission.[2]

Controversy

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The players, being colonized, were not compensate at all for their efforts. The mission would collect money at the gates, and did not pay for medical treatment or transport to games. In 1951, the players decided to write to the Director of Social Services to request to leave the mission and to be sponsored by a cultural center. After threatening to boycott colonial administrators assuaged their demands to avoid popular outcry. Renaissance won another city championship and independence from the FAC. To celebrate their new autonomy, the team changed their name to L'Étoile, in respect to a star Brazzaville team from the 1930s. The name Renaissance was given to reserve team of younger players.[2]

Honours

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1967, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1989, 2000, 2001, 2006.
1983, 1995, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2019.
2019.

Performance in CAF competitions

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2001 – second round
2002 – second round
2007 – second round
2007 – second round of 16
2015 – preliminary round
1992 – second round
1996 – first round
2000 – quarter-finals
2003 – second round

Current squad

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As of 14 July 2021

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
25 GK Republic of the Congo CGO Pavelh Ndzila
GK Republic of the Congo CGO Chancel Massa
No. Pos. Nation Player
FW Republic of the Congo CGO Saïra Issambet

References

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  1. ^ John Frank Clark (2012). Historical Dictionary of Republic of the Congo. Scarecrow Press. pp. 159–. ISBN 978-0-8108-4919-8. Retrieved 1 August 2013. Étoile du Congo is one of Congo's two great, historic football (soccer) teams. Founded as a club called "Renaissance" in the 1940s, the club took its current name in 1950. Based in the Poto-Poto district, it won the Brazzaville city champions ...
  2. ^ a b Phyllis, Martin (2002). Leisure and Society in Colonial Brazzaville. Cambridge University Press. pp. 114–116. ISBN 0521524466.