9 May 1937 - Sochaux Shows How It's Done

On 9 May 1937, Sochaux won their first Coupe de France, coming from behind to beat Strasbourg 2-1 in the Final.

Founded in 1928 as the Peugeot company team, Sochaux merged with Montbéliard in 1930. The new team quickly established their credentials by winning the league in 1935, one point ahead of Strasbourg. The architect of that title-winning campaign was manager Conrad Ross, then in his first season with the club. After a fourth-place finish in 1936, Sochaux were again challenging for honors in 1937 in both the Coupe de France and the league.

The Final was played before a crowd of approximately 40,000 at the Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir in Colombes. Strasbourg struck first with a goal from their German forward Oskar Rohr in the 32nd minute, but Sochaux quickly rallied with a 40th minute equalizer from their Argentinian midfielder Miguel Angel Lauri. Then, with only two minutes remaining, Irish forward Bernard Williams delivered the match-winner.

Sochaux narrowly missed out on the double, finishing second in the league, even on points with winners Marseille, but with a worse goal differential. They did win the league the following season and won the Coupe de France again in 2007.

17 April 2004 - So Sweet For Sochaux

On 17 April 2004, Sochaux won their first trophy in 40 years, beating Nantes on penalties in the Coupe de la Ligue Final.

It was the second straight final for Sochaux, who had lost to Monaco the previous season, and the first one for Nantes. The teams exchanged a pair of early goals, with forward Grégory Pujol striking first for Nantes in the 13th minute, then defender Sylvain Monsoreau heading Sochaux level five minutes later. Nantes looked likely to regain the lead several times, but were repeatedly denied by Sochaux goalkeeper Teddy Richert (pictured), including one point-blank save against Nantes midfielder Frédéric de Rocha late in the match.

Locked at 1-1 after extra time, the game went to a penalty shootout. Still level after six kicks, Sochaux defender Maxence Flachez sent his attempt over the crossbar. The miss opened the door for Nantes' next kicker, goalkeeper and captain Mickaël Landreau, to seal the win. But he tried a simple chip that Richert saved with ease. After Sochaux captain Benoît Pedretti beat Landreau on the next attempt, Richert once again made a crucial stop, diving to his right to save Nantes' last shot and end the match as a Sochaux victory.

22 January 2005 - Menez Scores Many Goals

On 22 January 2005, Sochaux winger Jérémy Menez became the youngest player in Ligue 1 history to score a hat-trick. And he did it in the span of six minutes.

Menez already had one record under his belt as the league's youngest-ever player when he signed with Sochaux in 2004 at the age of 16. He became an instant first-team choice, making his inaugural start in August of that year and scoring his first goal in November.

That month, Sochaux rose as high as third in the table, but they dropped to 10th by the time Bordeaux came to town in January, following a 6-match winless streak. The Girondins, meanwhile, were 7th.

The two sides were evenly matched until Sochaux left back Sylvain Monsoreau put the hosts ahead in the 73rd minute. Then Menez ensured that there would be comeback, adding goals in the 78th and 82nd minutes. He completed his hat-trick with a tasty chip over Girondins keeper Ulrich Ramé in the 85th minute. (The goals start at 1:17 in the clip below.) He was 17 years, 8 months, and 15 days old at the time.

Menez moved to Monaco in 2006, then in 2008 to Roma, where he currently plays.

[2012 Update: Since this post was published, Menez moved back to Ligue 1 and now plays for Paris Saint-Germain.]

10 December 1907 - Laurent Sees The Light Of Day

On 10 December 1907, future French international Lucien Laurent was born in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés outside Paris. In July 1930, the then-22 year old forward scored the first ever World Cup goal, which was also his first of only two goals he scored for the national team in his career.

Laurent started his career with CA Paris, for whom he played from 1921 to 1930. In 1930, he went to work in a Peugeot factory and transferred to the company's team, Peugeot Sochaux. He also received his first call-up to the French national team that year, debuting in a 2-0 loss to Portugal in February 1930.

In July 1930, he traveled with Les Bleus to Uruguay to participate in the very first World Cup. Peugeot gave him time off to make the trip, but he was not paid to play and received only a small amount of money from the French Football Federation to cover expenses. France's opening match was played against Mexico before a crowd of 1,000 at Montevideo's Estadio Pocitos. Laurent's record goal came in the 19th minute, when he sent a 12-yard volley into the net from a pass by his teammate Ernest Liberati. France went on to win 4-1.

After the World Cup, Lucien returned to France and played for a number of different clubs. In 1940, Lucien taken prisoner by the Nazis while fighting for France and spent three years as a prisoner of war. Upon his release in 1943, he resumed his playing career for Besançon RC.

Upon his retirement in 1946, he remained in Besançon and continued to play in regular matches until he was 86 years old. By 1998, he was the last remaining member of that 1930 squad and thus the only one to see France win the World Cup that year.

He died in 2005 at the age of 97.