Stade Rennais Football Club (SRFC, French pronunciation: [stad ʁɛnɛ]), commonly referred to as Stade Rennais (Breton: Stad Roazhon) or simply Rennes,[a] is a French professional football club based in Rennes, Brittany.

It competes in Ligue 1, the top tier of French football, and plays its home matches at the Roazhon Park.

After winning the Coupe de France in 1971, Rennes changed its name to its current version, but the club's home colours have been the same since its inception, which are red, black, and white.

The academy has produced several notable talents, such as Ousmane Dembélé, Yacine Brahimi, Eduardo Camavinga, Yoann Gourcuff, Yann M'Vila, Moussa Sow, Abdoulaye Doucouré, Sylvain Wiltord, Jimmy Briand, Désiré Doué and Mathys Tel.

After three years of Saint-Malo dominating the league, Rennes finally eclipsed the club in 1908 under the leadership of Welsh manager Arthur Griffith.

After World War I, Rennes began focusing its efforts on winning the recently created Coupe de France.

Strengthened by the arrivals of internationals Bernard Lenoble, Maurice Gastiger, Ernest Molles and captain François Hugues after the war, in the competition's fourth campaign, Rennes reached the final.

Red Star opened the scoring in the fourth minute and the match was concluded following a late goal from Raymond Sentubéry.

Under the leadership of new president Louis Girard, Rennes underwent a major upheaval, which included renovations to the stadium.

Girard sought to make Rennes competitive nationally and the first objective was achieved when the club earned promotion back to Division 1 in 1958.

Rennes, led by players such as Daniel Rodighiéro, Georges Lamia and Jean-Claude Lavaud defeated UA Sedan-Torcy 3–1 in the replay of the final.

In the ensuing years, Rennes struggled in league play but performed well in the Coupe de France, reaching the semi-finals on two occasions in 1967 and 1970.

In 1971, Rennes captured its second Coupe de France title after defeating Lyon 1–0 in the final, with the only goal coming from the penalty spot scored by André Guy.

In 1978, the club was on the verge of bankruptcy and, as a result, was ordered by a tribunal to sell its biggest earners and enter a policy of austerity.

In 1994, Rennes returned to Division 1 and entered a period of stability mainly due to the utilisation of the club's youth academy.

Instead of entering bidding wars for players, Rennes groomed its youngsters and inserted them onto the senior team when coaches felt they were ready.

This strategy proved successful with players such as Sylvain Wiltord, Jocelyn Gourvennec, and Ulrich Le Pen.

Pinault invested a substantial amount of funding into the club and sought to increase Rennes' production of youth talent by constructing a training centre, which was completed in 2000.

[8] The French Cup winners for the last four years were heavy favourites to beat Rennes having already been crowned Ligue 1 champions for the 2018–19 season on 21 April.

Named for former club player and manager Henri Guérin, La Piverdière is located on the outskirts of Rennes just southwest of Roazhon Park.

Since its inception, La Piverdière has become reputed for its consistent production of youth talent, bringing through players that have become household names at the international level.

In 2008, the team that won the competition was composed of Brahimi, M'Vila, Souprayen, Yohann Lasimant, Quentin Rouger, Kévin Théophile-Catherine, and Damien Le Tallec.

The section of the stadium popularly called Tribune Mordelles is occupied by the Roazhon Celtic Kop (RCK).

The RCK was formed by three young supporters who decided to establish the Mordelles stand as the true hot spot of the stadium.

[13] A special feat of the RCK is that the group is responsible for having made the largest Gwenn-ha-du in history measuring 270 square metres.

The group was created around the idea of a small, strong core of supporters and chose to situate themselves on the opposite side of the RCK.

[21] Failing to establish itself and after several problems, among them a fire that destroyed its premises in November 2010,[22] clashes with the National Police[23] and incidents resulting in several of its members becoming arrested during an away match at Auxerre in 2012,[24] the Unvez Kelt decided to dissolve in 2012.

[25] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply.