Imagine you live in a small town with 20,000 residents.
There’s a football team in your neighbourhood that plays in a small, 2,558 seated stadium. But it’s not like a usual non-league team which you can find in a rural English area. It is a team that dominates the top league of its country and even hosted one of the best clubs in the world on their soil. It is F91 Dudelange, who is writing a new page on the history book of Luxembourgian football.
As the name suggests, F91 was formed back in 1991, as three Dudelange-based clubs decided to merge: Alliance Dudelange, Stade Dudelange and US Dudelange. All clubs were founded during the World War I era and made some impact on domestic football. Stade Dudelange, for instance, has won 10 National Division trophies. But it was all past glory. Around the period when the merger took place, Alliance Dudelange were in the second division, while the other two competed in the third tier. This fact led to the convergence of clubs.
After F91 was founded, the club replaced Alliance’s place in the second division. It was an easy task for F91 to gain promotion and secure a spot in the National Division in their very first season. The team then struggled in the first few seasons at the top flight, but it didn’t take so long to win a trophy. The ‘Dudelange Era’ has begun in 1999-00. F91 have since won fifteen National Division titles and eight Coupe de Luxembourg trophies. F91 have failed to finish at the top of the league on only five occasions since 2000.
Relative financial strength is what helped F91 to establish dominance in local football. In the late 1990s, Flavio Becca, a Luxembourgian real estate entrepreneur that is considered as one of the wealthiest people in the country, bought the club and started investing. Becca’s resource and the club’s connection with nearby French, Belgian and German clubs made it possible acquiring decent players for the team. Some recent examples are Stelvio Cruz, the Angolan international who played in F91 for six years, and Levan Kenia, the former Schalke midfielder. However, most other players come from French and Belgian lower divisions.
In contrast to the high dominance in domestic football, F91’s first European journies did not go as well. Their initial limit was the Europa League play-off, reached in the 2012-13 season. The team managed some impressive results such as defeating Austrian champions Red Bull Salzburg by away goals, after a 4-4 on aggregate. However, on the play-off round, they were hammered by Israeli side Hapoel Tel Aviv.
Then came the magical 2018-19 season. Under the guidance of young German manager, Dino Toppmoller, the team upset big names such as Polish powerhouse Legia Warsaw and Romanian champions CFR Cluj. And it wasn’t easy. F91’s first-choice goalkeeper, Jonathan Joubert, suffered a severe injury during the first leg of the Europa League play-off against CFR Cluj and had to be subbed out. Despite all concerns, Joe Frising, his substitute, handled the pressure well and guided the team to the historical group stage. It was a very first, both for the team and for Luxembourgian football in general.
In the group stage, F91’s was drawn in a group that would be considered tough even for most professional teams in Europe. AC Milan, Olympiakos and Real Betis, were the opponents, and despite F91's best efforts, the gap was just too vast, and they were knocked out. They did, however, make some significant impacts. The first game against Milan at Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg, gained interest across the continent. It was David against Goliath. F91, with a market value of €3.9m, fought well and only managed to lose only 1-0 against the €475.5m team. In the San Siro, the Luxembourgian side scored two goals and led in half-time before ultimately succumbing 5-2. Perhaps riding the adrenaline from Milano, they then managed to get a historic point in the final group stage game, drawing 0-0 with Betis. The fact that F91 was the side with the smallest city population among the teams who qualified to the group stage shows that this journey was extraordinary not only for the club but for Luxembourg and for any football fan who supports the underdogs.
Afterwards, it was widely expected that Dudelange will struggle to recapture that magic. They faced an entirely different situation. Players who were crucial for the success, such as David Turpel, Stelvio Cruz and Jerry Prempeh moved to RC Virton of the Belgian second division, a team also sponsored by Flavio Becca. Coach Toppmoller has made the same move as well. His successor was Emilio Ferrera, who previously managed in Greece, Belgium and Saudi Arabia.
Ferrera’s first few weeks in F91 were terrible. The Belgian manager only grabbed one win in his first seven league games. Amazingly, his side was strong enough to secure a spot again in the Europa League group stage, defeating Estonian side Nomme Kalju and Ararat-Armenia from Armenia. It wasn’t a comfortable journey for the club, though. Penalties on the second leg of the play-off were essential to overcome the Armenian side. The miserable streak in the league continued despite the qualification, and surprisingly, Ferrera decided to step down after two short months in the club. This decision was made few days before F91’s first Europa League group stage game, against APOEL Nicosia.
Interim coach Bertrand Crasson, who joined the club a week before the game, led the club in Cyprus. With all that in mind, no one, even F91's most die-hard fans, dared thinking they would manage a positive result against an experienced APOEL side, which typically thrives at home. But never say never, a miracle happened. Midfielder Danel Sinani, who also stars for the national team, was the key man in an unexpected 4-3 victory. It was the first Luxembourgian win in the group stage and the type of success which will be written one day in the history books. It was unique especially for Jonathan Joubert, the man that couldn’t make to the group stage last season because of the injury he suffered in the qualifying round. Joubert became the eleventh player over 40 years old to appear in a group stage match.
Now, the team is facing its hardest ever task: Sevilla, in the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium. The Europa League kings, against the fiery underdog from Luxembourg. For F91, it is their return to Seville after last year’s visit and loss to Betis. This visit represents the growth and the wild journey made by the club. It is time to regain focus and shout the name of Dudelange to the world once again.