Caen

Genesis (Before 1913)

Many football clubs were constituted in Caen at the end of the 19th century : the Union sportive des étudiants de Caen, founded in 1892, the Union Athlétique du Lycée Malherbe (UALM), founded in 1892 or 1895 and the Club Sportif Caennais, founded in November 1899. These clubs participated in the early editions of the football championship organised by the Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques.

In 1907, former members of UALM created the Club Malherbe Caennais, soon the best club in Lower Normandy. In 1909 and 1911, several friendlies matches were organised between a selection of players from Caen and the English club of St Albans City F.C.

First years and first professional adventure (1913–1947)

The Stade Malherbe Caennais was officially founded on 17 November 1913 from the merger of Club Sportif Caennais and Club Malherbe Caennais. It was a multi-sport athletic club, which adopted the "Malherbe" and the striped jersey of the CMC, and the red and blue colours of CSC. The club had its own facilities – the Stade de Venoix – inherited from the CMC.

The football team of CMC, engaged in the league in Lower Normandy, changed its name just after the start of the season. By winning this competition, Stade Malherbe recorded their first title in its first year of existence. Having qualified for the finals of the 1914 USFSA Football Championship, Caen was eliminated in the 1/8 final by the Union sportive Servannaise : after a draw in the first game (3–3) it had to forfeit the second. World War I stopped the competitions. Thirty-nine members of the club were killed in the fighting, including former captain Eugène Lesomptier.

In 1919, the USFSA championship was replaced by regional championships organised by the French Football Federation, called Division d'Honneur. Stade Malherbe, reinforced by the move to Caen of the former French international Eugène Maës, won six times the championship of Lower Normandy between 1920 and 1928, but were unable to compete with the major Upper Normandy clubs, Le Havre AC and FC Rouen. Since 1919–20, Caen also participated in the Coupe de France but fell in round of 32 in 1921 and 1922. In 1929, the two Division d'Honneur leagues of Normandy were merged and Stade Malherbe was promoted the year after. Its best final standing was 5th in 1933.

In 1934, one year after FC Rouen and Le Havre AC, Stade Malherbe acquired professional status and reached the French Division 2. The club finished 11th out of 16 for the first season, then 6th in 1936 and 8th in 1937. But its financial situation deteriorated and Stade Malherbe left D2 in 1938, after four professional seasons.

The club then returned to Division d'Honneur of Normandy. It won the last edition before World War II in 1938–39, and the first two after WW2 in 1946 and 1947.

An important amateur club (1948–1985)

In 1948, Stade Malherbe joined the newly founded Championnat de France amateur ^[fr], the third level of French football. Soon considered as a "lord" in CFA, Caen was unable to win the championship, unlike their regional rival US Quevilly, despite successive calls to former French international players as coaches: Jules Vandooren, Jean Prouff, Andre Grillon, Jean Vincent and Oliver Celestin.

Stade Malherbe made itself known essentially by repeated feats in Coupe de France in the 1950s : French champion Stade de Reims (2–1) and top teams Racing Club de France (3–2) and RC Lens were defeated in January 1953, 1956 and 1961. In 1958, Caen pushed FC Nantes to play five games to decide: the first three games resulting in 0–0 draws, the fourth was stopped, the fifth saw Nantes win 1–0. Through its success Caen won the "Challenge France-Football" rewarding the best amateur team in Coupe de France in 1956 and 1961. Undermined by the instability of its coaches and presidents and a precarious financial health, Stade Malherbe weakened gradually and was relegated twice (in 1962 and 1965) into Division d'Honneur, but regained its place in CFA.

In 1970, the CFA was removed and the Division 2 was enlarged to 48 teams. During the 1970s, Caen evolved between D3 and D2, where it failed to stabilise. Jacques Mouilleron became coach in 1973. In 1975, the club won its first national title: the West group of Division 3. Stade Malherbe was named best amateur club by France-Football and Jean-Paul Bouffandeau and Jean-Paul Pottier were named French amateur players of the year in 1975 and 1976. 3 years later, Caen fell back to D3.

Pierre Mankowski was hired as player-coach in 1983. He led Stade Malherbe from D3 to the top of D2 in a few seasons, and pushed it to adopt professional status in 1985.

From D2 to the European Cup (1985–1993)

SM Caen has been a professional football club since 1985. The stated objective of Mankowski was to bring Caen into the first division. He helped the team improve, first in defence then in attack. Caen finished sixth in D2 in 1986 and second in 1987, with notable scorers Philippe Prieur and Éric Pécout. Caen made the stade de Venoix an unbeatable place but bowed out in front of AS Cannes in the playoffs. Caen succeeded in the playoffs following season, defeating Olympique Lyonnais and Chamois Niortais F.C., relegated from D1.

In 1988 Stade Malherbe made Division 1. Despite many departures, including coach Mankowski (replaced by Robert Nouzaret) and six first losses, Caen stayed up, one point ahead of RC Strasbourg, with the advent of a promising striker Fabrice Divert. Stade Malherbe confirmed, not without difficulties, its performance the following season.

With a new coach, Daniel Jeandupeux, the team was largely restructured. In 1990–91, Caen took its place in the first half of Division 1, thanks to the excellent results obtained in Venoix. However, the press revealed in late 1991 that the club was close to bankruptcy. Regional businesses and local government bailed out the club, which led to a brilliant 1991–92 season. Stade Malherbe finished fifth and qualified for the first (and so far only) time for the UEFA Cup. Stéphane Paille scored 15 goals during the season. For the first round of the 1992–93 UEFA Cup, Caen had to face up to Real Zaragoza. Caen won 3–2 in the 1st leg but lost 2–0 in Spain. Despite the goals of Xavier Gravelaine, SM Caen finished the season in a relatively disappointing eleventh rank.

Between First and Second Division (since 1993)

In the 2003–04 season, Caen finished 2nd in Ligue 2, gaining promotion to Ligue 1. They were relegated on the last day of the 2004–05 Ligue 1 season, finishing in 18th place despite some positive results, including a surprise 3–2 away win at Marseille. But the main highlight of their season was making it into the final of the Coupe de la Ligue for the first time in their history. Their chance at a major trophy eluded them however, as they lost 2–1 to Strasbourg in the final.

On 25 May 2007, SM Caen obtained promotion to Ligue 1 after a victory in last game at Libourne (1–2). In the 2008–09 season, the team was once again relegated to Ligue 2 after losing 1–0 at home to Bordeaux, but won championship next season and thus came back to Ligue 1.

In the 2010–11 season, Caen got off to a highly impressive start by defeating defending champions Marseille 2–1 away on the first day of the season, then following it up with a 3–2 home win over the previous season's Champions League semi-finalists Lyon.

In the 2013–14 season, Caen were in Ligue 2, but won promotion to Ligue 1 for the 2014–15 season. As part of their promotion battle, they drew a crucial match with Nîmes in May 2014. This 1–1 result was also very favourable to Nîmes who were battling to avoid relegation. This result raised suspicions, and in November 2014, Caen chairman Fortin was arrested, amongst several others, on suspicion of match fixing. Finally, he was cleared in March 2015. For the 2016–17 and 2017–18 seasons, Caen avoided relegation to Ligue 2 on both occasions by securing a draw on the final day of the season against Paris Saint-Germain.

In the 2018–19 season, Caen were relegated on the final day of the campaign after losing to Bordeaux 1–0. Caen needed to win the match and hope that results elsewhere would go in their favour. The relegation ended Caen's five-year stay in the top division.