Extreme Football Tourism: LUXEMBOURG: CS Pétange (1994-2015) / Union Titus Pétange (2015-)

Sunday, 14 August 2011

LUXEMBOURG: CS Pétange (1994-2015) / Union Titus Pétange (2015-)

Stade Municipal, Pétange (Union Titus Pétange, formerly CS Pétange)

Luxembourg, canton: Esch-sur-Alzette

14 VIII 2011 / CS Pétange - FC Differdange 03 0-0 / National Division (= LUX level 1)

11 IX 2022 / Union Titus Pétange - F91 Dudelange 1-2 / National Division (= LUX level 1)

Timeline

1910 / Birth of Club Sportif (CS) Pétange as the result of a merger of Thalia 08 Pétange and Minerva 09 Pétange.
1915 / CS Pétange comes close to winning Luxembourg's national title, but loses out in a championship play-off against AS La Jeunesse d'Esch.
1940 / Winning the title in Promotion d'Honneur, the second tier of Luxembourg's football pyramid, CS Pétange earns a promotion to the National Division, but due to the outbreak of war and Germany's occupation - or even absorption - of the Grand-Duchy, all regular football activities are suspended. Forced to germanicise its name by German occupation authorities, CS Pétange is renamed FV (Fussballverein) 08 Petingen - 08 being a reference to the foundation of Thalia Pétange, the oldest of the two merging partners of CS Pétange in 1910.
1944 / Upon liberation from the German yoke, FV 08 Petingen takes on its old name of CS Pétange.
1945 / With Luxembourg's regular league football finally commencing after a break of five years, CS Pétange can finally take its place in National Division, marking a return to the top flight after an absence of 27 years. The spell at this level lasts for two seasons only, with a short return of one year (1948-49) following later in that same decade.
1957 / A low in club history, as CS Pétange is relegated to Division 1, the third tier of Luxembourg's league system, for the first time.
1964 / Antoine Nangeroni, local contractor and president of CS Pétange - who incidentally also, in 1949, conceived the cycling event Course des Quatre Cantons, later renamed Flèche du Sud -, dies in a traffic incident. Subsequently, the club's ground at Rue de la Chiers is renamed Stade Antoine Nangeroni.
1965 / Winning the title in Promotion d'Honneur, CS Pétange returns to the National Division, beginning a new three-year spell at that level.
1986 / After alternating spells in Promotion d'Honneur and Division 1, CS Pétange manages a return to the National Division for the first time in 18 years, but relegation follows the year after. In the following three decades, the club has several more short spells in the top flight (1988-89, 1993-96, 1997-99, 2004-08, and 2009-13).
1992 / CS Pétange reaches the final of Luxembourg's Cup, but loses the final, held in Luxembourg's Neie Stadion, against FC Avenir Beggen (1-0).
1994 / Forced to abandon its Stade Antoine Nangeroni, which is demolished to make way for the E44 motorway connecting Longwy and Esch-sur-Alzette, CS Pétange settles at the newly built Stade Municipal, situated between Pétange's village centre and the Belgian town of Athus. The new ground disposes of a striking covered stand with 400 seats. The new ground is inaugurated with a gala match in which Luxembourg's national team takes on Bayer 04 Leverkusen.
2005 / Winning the cup final against FC Cessange Bracarenses Grund 01 (1-0) at Stade Josy Barthel, CS Pétange obtains the first tangible silverware in club history. Qualifying for the preliminary rounds of the UEFA Cup as a result, the club loses 4-1 on aggregate against Finnish side AC Allianssi Vantaa - with the home match being played not in Pétange, but at Stade de la Frontière in Esch-sur-Alzette.
2011 / CS Pétange manages its best result since World War II, finishing seventh in the National Division.
2015 / A merger is concluded between CS Pétange and its ambitious yet smaller neighbour club FC Titus Lamadelaine, the result being Union Titus Pétange. Henceforth, first team football has been played at Pétange's Stade Municipal, with Lamadelaine's ground at Rue du Vieux Moulin remaining in use for lower team football and training purposes.
2016 / In the first season following the merger, Union Titus Pétange places second in Promotion d'Honneur, winning promotion to the National Division.
2018 / On the side of the ground opposite the main stand at Stade Municipal, a new clubhouse is inaugurated which includes a small covered stand. This construction replaces set of dressing rooms (cp. pictures 3-4 below). In the process, the main entrance is moved to this side of the ground as well.
2020 / In the competition cut short due to the COVID lockdown, Union Titus Pétange finished fourth - unfortunately a result which is not official; otherwise, the new club's best season was in 2017-18 with a sixth place in the National Division's final ranking.

Note: Below, a compilation of photos of two different visits: pictures 1, 12-13 & 18 = match visit, August 2011 / pictures 2-3 = non-matchday visit, April 2011 / pictures 4-11, 14-17 & 19-20 = match visit, September 2022.