Jeunesse Esch

Jeunesse Esch
Full name	Association Sportive la Jeunesse d'Esch/Alzette
Founded	1907; 117 years ago
Ground	Stade de la Frontière
Capacity	8,200
Chairman	Marc Theisen
Manager	Marc Thomé
League	Luxembourg National Division
2022–23	National Division, 7th of 16
Home colours	Away colours

Jeunesse Esch (full name Association Sportive la Jeunesse d'Esch/Alzette) is a professional football club based in Esch-sur-Alzette, in south-western Luxembourg. The side play in the National Division, the highest league in the country, and have won the league title on 28 occasions between 1921 and 2010, the most of any team in Luxembourg.^[2]

History[edit]

The club was founded in 1907 as Jeunesse la Frontière d'Esch in reference to the proximity of their stadium to the border with France. "La frontière" was dropped to give the club its current name in 1918, which it retained until World War II, where the Nazi regime implemented the German name SV Schwarz-Weiß 07 Esch and the club had to play in the Gauliga Moselland, finishing runners-up in the 1943–44 season. After the liberation of Luxembourg, the name reverted to AS la Jeunesse d'Esch.

Historically, Jeunesse Esch has been the most successful side in Luxembourgish football. They have won the National Division on 28 occasions: first in 1921, and most recently in 2010. This is a national record, unless Racing FC Union Luxembourg's many predecessor clubs are counted together (they won a total of 28, divided between six incarnations). Jeunesse has also won the Luxembourg Cup on twelve occasions, second behind the fourteen won by FA Red Boys Differdange (now a part of FC Differdange 03). In total, they have completed the coveted Double on eight occasions.

They first entered the European Cup in 1958, but like most of Luxembourg's clubs, failed to pass the preliminary rounds of the competition. Their most famous result came in the early stages of the 1973 competition when they held then-UEFA Cup holders Liverpool to a 1–1 draw at home before losing the second leg 2–0 at Anfield.

Jeunesse have continued their success into recent times, being one of the top three Luxembourgish clubs, along with F91 Dudelange and FC Etzella Ettelbruck, of the past few years. However, the club had a disastrous 2006–07 season, in which the club finished ninth, and only just avoided a relegation play-offs.

Honours[edit]

National Division
- Winners (28): 1920–21, 1936–37, 1950–51, 1953_54, 1957–58, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1962–63, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1969–70, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1979–80, 1982–83, 1984–85, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2003–04, 2009–10
- Runners-up (13): 1914–15, 1935–36, 1937–38, 1952–53, 1956–57, 1960–61, 1968–69, 1977–78, 1985–86, 1988–89, 1990–91, 2005–06, 2011–12

Luxembourg Cup
- Winners (13): 1934–35, 1936–37, 1945–46, 1953–54, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1975–76, 1980–81, 1987–88, 1996–97, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2012–13
- Runners-up (12): 1921–22, 1926–27, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1970–71, 1974–75, 1984–85, 1990–91, 1994–95, 1995–96, 2005–06, 2011–12

European competition[edit]

Jeunesse Esch has qualified for UEFA European competition thirty three times.

European Cup/UEFA Champions League

Qualifying round (5): 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2004–05, 2010–11

First round (15): 1958–59, 1960–61, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1970–71, 1973–74, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1980–81, 1983–84, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1988–89

Second round (2): 1959–60, 1963–64

European Cup Winners' Cup/UEFA Cup Winners' Cup

Qualifying round (2): 1981–82, 1991–92

UEFA Cup

Qualifying round (3): 1995–96, 1996–97, 2000–01

First round (4): 1969–70, 1978–79, 1986–87, 1989–90

UEFA Europa League

First qualifying round (3): 2012–13, 2014–15, 2016–17

Second qualifying round (2): 2013–14, 2019–20

Jeunesse Esch is the only club from Luxembourg to have reached the second round of the European Cup, and it has achieved that feat on two occasions, both under the leadership of George Berry in the early years of the competition:

In 1959–60, Jeunesse were drawn against ŁKS Łódź, champions of Poland. In an incredible first leg, Jeunesse put five past the Poles without reply, practically guaranteeing their place in the second round regardless of the return leg (in the event, Łódź won 2–1, but only after Jeunesse had gone ahead). In the next round, Jeunesse faced somewhat harder opponents: Real Madrid, champions of Europe four times in a row. The first match, in the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, was no contest, as Real Madrid trounced Jeunesse 7–0, with Puskás scoring a hat-trick. Despite their comfortable victory, Real Madrid took no chances in the second leg and fielded a full-strength team, including Puskás, Di Stéfano, and Gento. The array of stars did nothing to over-awe the Luxembourgers on their home patch; Jeunesse scored twice within fifteen minutes, and made a good account of themselves, but succumbed to lose 5–2, 12–2 on aggregate. Real went on to win the European Cup for a fifth straight season, beating Eintracht Frankfurt 7–3 in a memorable final.
In the first round of the European Cup in 1963–64, Jeunesse was given a relatively easy tie against FC Haka. Although they had avoided the biggest sides in the competition, Jeunesse was facing the dominant Finnish side, and Jeunesse was thrashed 4–1 in Valkeakoski. In the return, Jeunesse mounted a comeback, but were winning by only 2–0 after 84 minutes. Suddenly, two goals in as few minutes put the Luxembourgian side through. The second round pitted Jeunesse against the Yugoslav champions, Partizan Belgrade for a place in the quarter-finals. Jeunesse won the first match 2–1, thanks to another late goal. However, the tie was turned on its head by four goals by Vladimir Kovačević, and Partizan won 6–2, and 7–4 on aggregate. 1963–64 turned out to be the annus mirabilis of Luxembourgian football, as the national team almost reached the semi-finals of the European Championship.

Overall, Jeunesse's record in European competition reads:

	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
AS la Jeunesse d'Esch	71	9	8	54	56	224	−168

Current squad[edit]

As of 1 March 2024^[3]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	FRA	Kévin Sommer
2	MF	LUX	Denilson Andrade
4	MF	LUX	Miloš Todorović
5	DF	LUX	Dennis Besch
6	MF	LUX	Irvin Latic
7	DF	MNE	Almir Klica
8	MF	LUX	David Soares
9	FW	SEN	Junior Armando Mendes
10	FW	LUX	Andrea Deidda
11	FW	LUX	Gonçalo Almeida
12	GK	LUX	Andrea Amodio
13	GK	LUX	Ailan Alilovic (on loan from Differdange 03)
14	FW	FRA	Alexandre Arenate


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
15	MF	FRA	Alexis Boury
16	DF	FRA	Adrien Kack
17	MF	POR	João Teixeira
18	DF	FRA	Emmanuel Lapierre
19	DF	LUX	Dylan Meireles
20	MF	FRA	Alexis Larriere
21	FW	COM	Ahmed Mogni
22	FW	FRA	Achraf Drif
24	FW	FRA	Maxime Deruffe
42	DF	FRA	Tarek Nouidra
68	FW	LUX	Antonio Luisi
99	DF	LUX	Rony Moreira