AS Monaco

Les Rouge et Blanc

Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club, commonly referred to as AS Monaco (French pronunciation: [ɑ.ɛs mɔnako]), is a professional football club based in Fontvieille, Monaco. Although not in France, due to the small size of Monaco, they are a member of the French Football Federation (FFF) and currently compete in Ligue 1, the top tier of French football. Founded in 1918, the team play their home matches at the Stade Louis II. Their training center is situated in France, in La Turbie.

Quick Facts

Full name

Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club

Nickname

Les Rouge et Blanc (The Red and Whites)
Les Monégasques (The Monégasques)
Le Rocher (The Rock)

Short name

AS Monaco, ASM

Founded

23 August 1924

Stadium

Stade Louis II

Capacity

16,360

Owner

Monaco Sport Investment Ltd (66.67%); House of Grimaldi (33.33%)

Chairman

Dmitry Rybolovlev

Lore & Background

Despite not being a French club, Monaco are one of the most successful clubs in French football, having won eight league titles, five Coupe de France trophies and one Coupe de la Ligue. The club has also played in European football a number of times, and were runners-up in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1992 and the UEFA Champions League in 2004. The club's traditional colours are red and white, and the club is known as Les Rouge et Blanc. Monaco is a member of the European Club Association. Since December 2011, the club has been majority-owned by the Russian oligarch and billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev.

Reader's Guide

Unlike several other European microstates, Monaco has never organized a domestic league and has never sought separate membership in either UEFA or FIFA. Therefore, Monaco became a full member of the French league system, enabling it to represent France in European club competitions. There are several other expatriated football clubs in operation around Europe (such as FC Vaduz of Liechtenstein), but Monaco is unique in that it represents a nation not a member of international organizations.

In 2013, the French Football Professional League (LFP) amended its rules to include the obligation for a club competing in French professional leagues to have its registered office in France. In 2015, the French Council of State ruled in favour of Monaco, allowing the club to keep its registered office in the principality. As a result, football players in Monaco continue to enjoy lower social security contributions (35-40% of an employee’s gross salary compared to the 55-60% of French clubs) and non-French players do not pay income tax in Monaco. This endows AS Monaco with an advantage in terms of signing world-class players.

Did You Know?

Monaco was founded on 1 August 1920 through the unification of numerous local clubs based in France and the principality.
The club's early years were spent in the amateur regional divisions of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region.
Monaco won its first professional trophy, the Coupe de France, in 1960.
Under Arsène Wenger, Monaco won the league in 1988 and the Coupe de France in 1991.