CR Liceo Francés

Club de Rugby Liceo Francés is a Spanish rugby union club. The club was founded in 1968 and currently competes in the División de Honor de Rugby competition, the top level of Spanish rugby. The club are based in Madrid, Spain and play in red, white and blue.

History Rugby has been played at the Lycée Français de Madrid since 1968, when the school’s facilities in the Parque del Conde de Orgaz were built. On July 15, 1972, it was formally established as a club independent of the school, although it has always maintained a close connection with the Lycée.

The club began competing at a regional level, before making its debut in the Second Division of the National League in the 1974–75 season.

In 1978, the Ramón Urtubi Stadium, with a natural grass pitch, was built on the school grounds. During the 1980–81 season, Liceo Francés played in the División de Honor de Rugby, after the top tier was expanded.

The club’s first major success came in the 1988–89 season, when it reached the final of the Copa del Rey and won the second-tier Primera Nacional championship, meaning it returned to the División de Honor.

The following years were the club’s golden era, with two league runner-up finishes (1990–91 and 1992–93), another Copa del Rey runner-up (2001), and a FER Cup title (1996).

During the succeeding decades, the club bounced between Spain's top two divisions, hitting a low point when it was relegated to Primera Nacional, now the Spanish third tier, in 2004.

In the 2024–25 season, after 18 years away from the top flight, Liceo Francés achieved promotion under Fernando Díez, defeating Gernika RT 32-29 in the promotion playoff final.

The women's team has won the Copa de la Reina, Spain’s top national competition, twice (1999 and 2000).

Liceo Francés is well-known for its success at youth level. Throughout its history, it has won Spanish national titles in the junior (1993 and 1994), youth (1992 and 1993), cadet (1991 and 2018), children’s (1994), under-12 (1990), under-10 (2002), and under-8 (2005) categories. The youth team also won the Iberian Cup in 1992.

Today, Liceo Francés has around twenty teams competing in different categories, making it one of the Spanish clubs with the most registered players. Many international players have emerged from its ranks, as well as actors Javier Bardem and Sergio Peris-Mencheta.

Honours División de Honor: 0 Runners-up: 1990–91, 1992–93 Copa del Rey: 0 Runners-up: 1989–90, 2000–01 Copa FER: 1 Champions: 1996 Primera Nacional: 3 Champions: 1976–77, 1985–86, 1988–89

Season history SeasonTierDivisionPos.Notes1974–752 Primera Nacional5th 1975–762 Primera Nacional3rd 1976–772 Primera Nacional1st 1977–782 Primera Nacional7th 1978–792 Primera Nacional4th 1979–802 Primera Nacional4thPromoted1980–811 División de Honor7thRelegated1981–822 Primera Nacional4thRelegated1982–833 Segunda Nacional7thPromoted1983–842 Primera Nacional5th 1984–852 Primera Nacional3rd 1985–862 Primera Nacional1stPromoted1986–871 División de Honor9thRelegated1987–882 Primera Nacional3rd 1988–892 Primera Nacional1stPromoted1989–901 División de Honor7th 1990–911 División de Honor2nd 1991–921 División de Honor3rd 1992–931 División de Honor2nd 1993–941 División de Honor8th 1994–951 División de Honor9thRelegatedSeasonTierDivisionPos.Notes1995–962 Primera Nacional2nd 1996–972 Primera Nacional1stPromoted1997–981 División de Honor5th 1998–991 División de Honor7th 1999–001 División de Honor4th 2000–011 División de Honor3rdRelegated2001–022 División de Honor B10thRelegated2002–03 DNP 2003–043 Primera Nacional1stPromoted2004–052 División de Honor B2ndPromoted2005–061 División de Honor8th 2006–071 División de Honor9thRelegated2007–082 División de Honor B1st 2008–092 División de Honor B5th 2009–102 División de Honor B3rd 2010–112 División de Honor B4th 2011–122 División de Honor B3rd 2012–132 División de Honor B6th 2013–142 División de Honor B7th 2014–152 División de Honor B3rd 2015–162 División de Honor B— 14 seasons in División de Honor 10 seasons in División de Honor B

CR Liceo Francés

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