page_title: History of Stade Rennais F.C.
section_title: Early years
hierarchical_section_title: History of Stade Rennais F.C. / History / Early years
caption_attribution_description: English: Stade rennais football team in 1904 Français&#160;: équipe de football du Stade rennais en 1904
context_page_description: Stade Rennais F.C. is a French football club based in Rennes.
context_section_description: Stade Rennais was founded on 10 March 1901 by former students from Rennes. Their first match took place two weeks later against FC Rennais, which they lost 6–0. In 1902, the club acquired the "Omnisport" status and became part of the USFSA. The following year, Stade Rennais was a founding member of the Brittany Football League, which they won in its inaugural 1903 season. By the end of the season, the club had won the second "série", beating FC Rennes 4–0 in the final.
  Key players of the Stade Rennais in 1903 were Martin Peter, Langelier Montouan, Mr. Duchesne, Guilbert Ghis, Mr. Marcel, Mr. Leroy, Mr. Audren, and Mr. Jamin. Duchesne, Jamin, Peter, and Ghis were amongst the founding members of the club in 1901.
  On 4 May 1904, Stade Rennais and FC Rennais merged to give birth to Stade Rennais Université Club.
  The merger left the Stade Rennais UC with one main opponent in Brittany, the Union Sportive Servanaise. Close misses in 1905, 1906, and 1907 against the US Servanaise lead President Sexer of the SRUC to hire Welsh footballer Griffith as player-manager-captain. Having played in the English Football League for several years, Griffith adopted an English approach to management and tactics at the Stade Rennais, and won the Brittany football league in 1908 and 1909.
  However, Griffith was unable to retain the title in 1910 as the US Servanaise finished as champions with two points more than the Stade Rennais UC. US Servannaise's domination continued for the next four years as they won five titles on the run, with each time the Stade Rennais UC second, less than five points behind the champions.
  During World War I, Rennes were allowed to participate in the Allied Cup (Inter-federation French Championship) as well as the Rennes Cup, since the Brittany league was interrupted by the war. After winning easily the Rennes Cup, Griffith lead his players to a number of surprise wins against better known clubs and were finalists thanks to a 3–0 win against Le Havre and a  5–0 win over the Entente Suisse. The final, played in Paris against FC Lyon, was delayed several times, but in the end, the Rouge et Noirs became Interfederal Champions of France thanks to a 7–1 win.
  The following year, Rennes had a successful run in the Interfederation cup but were unable to retain their title. Having become a strong national side, since Rennes won the Upper Brittany League in 1918, as well as the Allies Cup in 1916 and 1917, the post-war period was one of great success for the Stade Rennais UC: Western Champions in 1919, 1920, 1921, and 1923, the Stade Rennais was also finalist of the French Cup in 1922, losing 2–0 against Red Star Saint-Ouen. The squad in the 1922 final was notable for the presence for François Hughes, the first French international to play for Rennes, and considered to be one of the best French centre-forwards of his time.
  In 1924, the Stade Rennais Université Club merged with the Rennes Etudiant-Club, keeping the name of Stade Rennais Université Club. The season was disappointing however, with Rennes finishing outside the top 2 places of the league they were playing in for the first time since 1907, being 3rd in the Western Division.
  The President of the Stade Rennais, Isidore Odorico, brought several foreign players to the club (Lothka, Szabo, Nico...), but the side remained unable to win the Western Division, and President Odorico's attitude towards both amateurism and restrictions on foreign players conflicted with the Western Division's direction. As other teams rose in the Western Division (Stade Quimpérois and CSJB Angers), Rennes decided to retire from the Western Division in 1929.
  For three years, the Stade Rennais Université Club was no longer part of the Western Division, and played only friendly games. They managed to attract good international sparring-partners, however, such as Sparta Prague, Slavia Prague, Austria Vienna, Budapest, and nationwide known sides such as Red Star Saint-Ouen, Olympique de Marseille or FC Sochaux-Montbéliard.
caption: Stade Rennais in 1904.
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