Sports Athletic Villeneuvois XIII were founded during the last two weeks of May 1934 by French rugby league pioneer Jean Galia who went on to be the club's first coach/captain and backed by the mayor.

[1] SA Villeneuve were the first club to become a member of the Ligue Française de Rugby à 13 (LFR.13) on 2 June 1934.

On that tour they played against Warrington, Broughton Rangers, Hull FC, Yorkshire XIII, Oldham, and Leeds.

Having lost the 1936 Lord Derby Cup Final they made amends in 1937 by defeating XIII Catalan 12-6.

At the outbreak of war and the German invasion of France, Rugby League under the Vichy Government was banned.

The reborn club met AS Carcassonne at the Parc des Princes in Paris on 4 February 1945 in an exhibition match, the first rugby league game played in France after the war.

At this time the club was the strongest in the league and could call upon some of the best French internationals in Laurent Carrasco, Laurent Frayssinous, Vincent Wulf, Romain Sort, David Despin and Frederic Banquet as well as experienced oversea stars like Paul Sironen and former New Zealand captain Quentin Pongia During this period they also became the first French club to reach the quarter-finals of the prestigious Rugby League Challenge Cup in 2001.

After beating Simms Cross ARLFC, York Wasps and Rochdale Hornets they eventually went out to Super League side Warrington Wolves.

As one of the more dominant sides in the French competition, when the RFL in England began inviting overseas teams to compete in the Challenge Cup Villeneuve were one of the first clubs to enter.

After despatching amateurs Simms Cross they then accounted for York Wasps and Rochdale Hornets before bowing out to Warrington Wolves 0-32.

In 2011 the stadium renamed Stade Max Rousie after the famous former France and Villeneuve rugby league footballer.