Stade Malherbe Caen

Stade Malherbe Caen (French pronunciation: ​[stad malɛʁb kɑ̃]; commonly known as SM Caen, SMC, or simply Caen) is a French professional football team, based in the city of Caen in Normandy, that competes in the Ligue 2. The club was founded on 17 November 1913 by the merger of Club Malherbe Caennais and Club Sportif Caennais. The team takes its name from Francois de Malherbe, a 17th century poet from Caen.

For most of its history, SM Caen has been one of the main amateur clubs in France. The late 1980s and early 1990s saw the rise of Stade Malherbe in the French football hierarchy. In 1985, Stade Malherbe adopted professional status. Three seasons later, it was promoted for the first time to first division. In 1992, a few months after being narrowly saved from bankruptcy, the club finished fifth in Division 1 and qualified for UEFA Cup. But it was relegated three years later. Despite a second division title won in 1996, SM Caen fell back into the anonymity of the second division.

Under the chairmanship of Jean-Francois Fortin, from 2002, and under the sporting direction of Patrick Remy, Franck Dumas and then Patrice Garande, the Stade Malherbe has regained sporting success. The club was promoted in Ligue 1 several times, reached the Coupe de la Ligue final in 2005 and finished 7th in Ligue 1 in 2016. In 2018, as the club began its 5th consecutive season in Ligue 1, a conflict erupted within the management team: Jean-Francois Fortin left his place to Gilles Sergent, while Patrice Garande was replaced by Fabien Mercadal. Caen was relegated to Ligue 2 in 2019, after finishing 19th in the previous Ligue 1 season.

SM Caen has been playing since 1993 at the Stade Michel d'Ornano. Before and since its foundation, the club played at Stade de Venoix, which is now used by the reserve team. It has essentially geographical rivalries with Le Havre AC (sometimes called "Le derby normand") and Stade Rennais, its closest neighbour when the club was in Ligue 1.

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