Étoile du Congo is a Congolese professional football club based in Brazzaville.
History 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.
Controversy 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.
Honours Congo Premier League: 11 1967, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1989, 2000, 2001, 2006.
Coupe du Congo: 6 1983, 1995, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2019.
Super Coupe du Congo: 1 2019.
Performance in CAF competitions CAF Champions League: 3 appearances 2001 – second round 2002 – second round 2007 – second round
African Cup of Champions Clubs: 8 appearances
1968 – first round 1979 – second round 1980 – quarter-finals
1982 – first round 1988 – first round 1990 – second round
1993 – first round 1995 – first round
CAF Confederation Cup: 2 appearances 2007 – second round of 16 2015 – preliminary round
CAF Cup: 1 appearance 1992 – second round
CAF Cup Winners' Cup: 3 appearances 1996 – first round 2000 – quarter-finals 2003 – second round
Current squad
References