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Coupe de France Lord Derby

The Coupe de France Lord Derby (lit. 'Lord Derby French Cup'), or just Coupe Lord Derby ('Lord Derby Cup'), is the premier knockout competition for the sport of rugby league football in France, as well as the name of its championship trophy.[1][2][3] The tournament was first contested in 1934–35, which also marked the inaugural season of the French Rugby League Championship.[3][4]

The Lord Derby Cup is currently open to all professional and amateur clubs.[5] Each round is played in single-elimination mode.[5]

Format

For much of the tournament's history, games played at predetermined or mutually agreed upon neutral sites were the norm. While Toulouse struggled to field a stable team in the new code until 1937, it was still the go-to host city for many games during the tournament's formative years,[6] both because it was viewed as a key market and because the relationship with rugby union authorities was much less contentious there than elsewhere in the country.[7] In fact, Stade Toulousain considered renting its Stade Ernest-Wallon to the French Rugby League for the 1939 Lord Derby Cup final, before organizers settled on Stade du TOEC.[6]In the modern era, games at predetermined sites were gradually reduced to encourage fan attendance, and are typically only used in the last two rounds.[5]

While all divisions have been actively encouraged to send teams in recent times,[5] the level of amateur participation has varied over the years.[8] In the 2023–24 season, only teams in the top two divisions, Elite 1 and Elite 2, took part in the competition.[9]

Trophy

Following in the footsteps of his father Frederick, patron of ice hockey's Stanley Cup, Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby, donated the silver trophy that bears his name to inaugural French Cup champions US Lyon-Villeurbanne in 1935. Stanley was honorary president of the Rugby Football League, a former minister and former British ambassador in Paris.[10] The trophy was actually not presented to the Lyon players during the French Cup final. Rather, it was handed over to them one week later on 12 May 1936 by John Wilson, general secretary of the Rugby Football League, at Stade Buffalo near Paris, during a special game against Challenge Cup champions Castleford, for which Lyon had qualified by virtue of their domestic cup win.[11][12]

The actual name of the trophy, as engraved on the bowl, is Coupe de Lord Derby, although the more natural-sounding "Coupe Lord Derby" is almost always preferred. Among the rugby league crowd, the cup is affectionately known as La vieille dame ('The Old Lady').[8][13] Since 2017, each player from the winning team has received a replica of the cup for him to keep, which is slightly smaller than the original at 30 cm (12 in) in height.[14]

Notable cup runs

Cinderella runs

The Lord Derby Cup has historically been dominated by first division teams. Nonetheless, one-off wins by lower division clubs are not unheard of, and a handful of underdogs have produced cinderella runs over the years. In 1983, fourth-level side Le Soler advanced to the semifinals, beating top-flight club Pia in the process, before losing to powerhouse XIII Catalan.[15] In 2005, third-level team Salses beat two Elite 1 teams (Lyon-Villeurbanne and Villeneuve-sur-Lot) before bowing out in the semifinals as well, this time to Limoux.[15]

Toulouse curse

Toulouse Olympique has endured many heartbreaks in the Lord Derby Cup, losing all of its first six finals, including three straight between 1962 and 1964. One of star player Georges Aillères' career regrets was never hoisting the Lord Derby Cup while playing for his longtime club, despite making it to four finals with them.[16] Ironically, he won the trophy in his only season played away from Toulouse, in 1965 with Lézignan.[17] Toulouse would eventually break the curse in 2014, in their seventh final appearance.[13][18]

Satellite tournaments

Junior French Cup

The equivalent of the Lord Derby Cup for Under-19 players is the Coupe Luc-Nitard ('Luc Nitard Cup'), whose final has traditionally been played as a curtain-raiser to the Lord Derby Cup final.[5]

Other cup competitions

To provide minor league clubs with a more accessible level of competition, the French federation has maintained a trio of secondary cup tournaments which are reserved for them. Each of these tournaments is marketed as a "Coupe de France" in its own right, although in practice they more closely fit the definition of a league cup.[5] They are:

List of Finals

Results

Gallery

Roanne vs Villeneuve in the 1938 Final
Catalan vs Toulouse in the 1939 Final
Villeneuve vs Toulouse in the 1964 Final
Carcassonne celebrating winning the 2008-09 competition

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Both semifinals were scheduled for 5 May 1940. Côte Basque beat XIII Catalan 14–5 in Bordeaux for the first final spot,[20] but prior commitments at Toulouse's Stade des Minimes forced the postponement of the second semifinal between Pau and Carcassonne to 12 May.[7] On 10 May, German troops invaded Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, forcing the cancellation of the remainder of the competition, whose final was scheduled for 19 May 1940 in Bordeaux.[21]
  2. ^ The final between AS Carcassonne and XIII Catalan was cancelled as a result of a game-ending brawl involving XIII Catalan at the championship final the previous week.[22]
  3. ^ After extra time
  4. ^ Golden point

References

  1. ^ Revello, Alain (14 January 2012). "FCL XIII : 1/8e de Coupe Lord Derby et Nitard au menu". midilibre.fr. Société du Journal Midi Libre. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  2. ^ Jacquemart, Nicolas (15 December 2018). "Florent Lazaro : 'La Coupe de France c'est mythique'". treizemondial.fr. Dicodusport. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Coupe de France : l'autre convoitise". midi-olympique.fr. Groupe La Dépêche du Midi. 6 January 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  4. ^ "Palmarès Coupe de France Lord Derby". treizemondial.fr. Dicodusport. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h "Tirage au sort pour le prochain tour de la Coupe de France Lord Derby, la Coupe de France U19, la Coupe Division Nationale et la Coupe Division Fédérale". ffr13.fr. Fédération Française de rugby à XIII. 12 December 2018. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  6. ^ a b Dayroze, Franck (28 March 2020). "La difficile naissance du rugby à XIII à Toulouse". surlatouche.fr. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  7. ^ a b Grosmolard, Pierre (2 May 1940). "Une demi-finale de la Coupe de France des treize reportée". L'Auto. Paris. p. 1.
  8. ^ a b "Coupe Lord Derby : Le 1er Tour débute ce week-end". ffr13.fr. Fédération Française de Rugby à XIII. 11 November 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  9. ^ "The draw for the play-offs and the round of 16 of the 2023-2024 Lord Derby French Cup". Treize Mondial. 29 October 2023. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  10. ^ "Vous avez dit Lord Derby ?". broncos-palau13.com. Racing Club Palauenc Palau XIII. 12 January 2018. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  11. ^ De Lascoumettes, Jean (14 May 1935). "Castleford bat Lyon-Villeurbanne en rugby-treize". Match (in French). No. 457. Paris. p. 15.
  12. ^ Bardet, O. (13 May 1935). "Castleford a éprouvé une peine infinie à vaincre l'US Lyon-Villeurbanne". L'Auto. Paris. p. 4. Carrying the magnificent silver cup gifted by Lord Derby to the French Cup winners [...]
  13. ^ a b "Carcassonne. 'Cuits ! cuits ! cuits !'". ladepeche.fr. Groupe La Dépêche du Midi. 14 April 2014. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  14. ^ "Coupe de France Lord Derby, les trophées". ffr13.fr. Fédération Française de Rugby à XIII. 9 May 2017. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  15. ^ a b "Coupe Lord Derby : entre rêve et réalité". ffr13.fr. Fédération Française de rugby à XIII. 14 December 2018. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  16. ^ Jamet, Michel (10 April 2014). "Toulouse. Georges Aillères : 'Ce TO a tout'". ladepeche.fr. Groupe La Dépêche du Midi. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  17. ^ Navarre, Didier (6 January 2016). "Aillères : 'Heureusement que je l'ai gagnée avec Lézignan'". midi-olympique.fr. Groupe La Dépêche du Midi. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  18. ^ Jamet, Michel (14 April 2014). "Pour la première fois Dame Coupe sourit à Toulouse". ladepeche.fr. Groupe La Dépêche du Midi. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  19. ^ Navarre, Didier (21 June 2016). "Le Challenge Georges-Aillères ou la Coupe de France de l'élite 2". midi-olympique.fr. Groupe La Dépêche du Midi. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  20. ^ Labarthe, Léon (6 May 1940). "Demi-finale à Bordeaux". L'Auto. Paris. p. 1. [...] the French Cup semifinal which pitted, yesterday in Bordeaux, the Côte Basque squad to the one from the Catalans.
  21. ^ Labarthe, Léon (11 May 1940). "Pau doit être finaliste en Coupe comme en Championnat". L'Auto. Paris. pp. 1–2.
  22. ^ "René Mauriès s'éteint à l'âge de 80 ans". rds.ca. Bell Globemedia. 31 December 2000. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  23. ^ "1995 Coupe de France Lord Derby Final: Saint-Estève 28 – 8 Pia". Treize Mondial. 2 April 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  24. ^ "1996 Coupe de France Lord Derby Final: Limoux 39 – 12 Carcassonne". Treize Mondial. 3 April 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  25. ^ "1997 Coupe de France Lord Derby Final: XIII Catalan 25 – 24 Limoux". Treize Mondial. 14 April 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  26. ^ "1998 French Cup Lord Derby Final: Saint-Estève 38 – 0 Grand Avignon". Treize Mondial. 12 April 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  27. ^ "1999 Coupe de France Lord Derby Final: Villeneuve 20 – 5 Lézignan". Treize Mondial. 12 April 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  28. ^ "2000 Coupe de France Lord Derby Final: Villeneuve 34 – 14 XIII Catalan". Treize Mondial. 17 April 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  29. ^ "2001 French Cup Lord Derby Final: UTC 38 – 17 Limoux". Treize Mondial. 14 April 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  30. ^ "French Cup Final Lord Derby 2002: Villeneuve 27 – 18 Pia". Treize Mondial. 6 April 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  31. ^ "25-05-2008 - A limoux la Coupe de France !". www.ffr13.com (in French). 25 May 2008. Archived from the original on 28 May 2008.
  32. ^ "2009 French Cup Lord Derby Final: Carcassonne 18 – 16 Limoux". Treize Mondial. 3 April 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  33. ^ "2010 Coupe de France Lord Derby Final: Lézignan 18 – 14 Limoux". Treize Mondial. 13 April 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  34. ^ "FCL comeback secures Lord Derby Cup". European Rugby League. 18 April 2011. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  35. ^ "Carcassonne s'offre le doublé" (in French). FFRXIII. 20 May 2012. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  36. ^ "Avignon a un nouveau pape : Ray Nasso" (in French). FFRXIII. 11 May 2013. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  37. ^ "Toulouse remporte la Coupe de France pour la 1ère fois de son histoire !" (in French). FFRXIII. 14 April 2014. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  38. ^ "Lézignan s'empare de la Coupe Lord Derby !" (in French). FFRXIII. 12 April 2015. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  39. ^ "Les Catalans remportent la Coupe de France" (in French). FFRXIII. 16 April 2016. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  40. ^ "Carcassonne soulève la Coupe de France" (in French). FFRXIII. 7 May 2017. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  41. ^ "Finale de la Coupe de France 2018 – Un essai en or de Thomas Ambert" (in French). FFRXIII. 11 June 2018. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  42. ^ "Carcassonne a fait bloc" (in French). FFRXIII. 9 June 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  43. ^ "Coronavirus : la Fédération française met fin aux compétitions de rugby à XIII cette saison". lequipe.fr. Groupe Amaury. 15 April 2020. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
  44. ^ Jacquemart, Nicolas (17 August 2021). "Le programme complet de la Coupe de France Lord Derby 2021-2022". treizemondial.fr. Dicodusport. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
  45. ^ Q.G. (8 January 2022). "Rugby à XIII : la coupe de France Lord-Derby annulée pour cette saison". laprovence.com. Groupe La Provence. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
  46. ^ Frejebise, Michel (22 April 2023). "Rugby à XIII – Finale de Coupe Lord Derby : l'histoire attendra pour Albi Rugby League, battu par Carcassonne (12–36)". La Dépêche (in French). Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  47. ^ "Coupe Lord Derby : Carcassonne garde sa Coupe" (in French). FRRXIII. 27 April 2024. Retrieved 20 May 2024.

Bibliography

External links