Retro Reims Shirt – Kings of French Football

Stade de Reims was founded in 1931, but it was the post-war years that transformed them from a provincial club into a French and European giant. Under the visionary guidance of manager Albert Batteux – who would go on to become one of the most decorated coaches in French football history – Reims built a side of extraordinary quality and attacking ambition.

The 1950s were their undisputed golden decade. They won the French First Division six times between 1949 and 1962, a dominance that placed them on a par with the great club sides of that era anywhere in Europe. Their football was fast, intelligent and devastating in front of goal – a style that drew comparisons with the great Hungarian national side of the same period.

But it is Europe where the Reims legend was truly forged. In the inaugural European Cup in 1955-56, they stormed through the competition to reach the final in Paris against Real Madrid. Reims raced to a stunning 2-0 lead, and for long stretches of that final, they looked like champions of the continent. Real Madrid, marshalled by Alfredo Di Stéfano, fought back with brutal brilliance to win 4-3 in one of the most dramatic finals ever played. Three years later, in 1959, Reims returned to the European Cup final – this time without their sold star Raymond Kopa – and faced Real Madrid once more in Stuttgart. They lost again, 2-0, but the fact that a French club had reached back-to-back European Cup finals was a testament to their extraordinary quality.

The 1960s saw a gradual decline as the financial power of the game began to shift elsewhere. Reims were relegated for the first time in their history in 1979 and spent long periods drifting through the lower divisions of French football, a fate that felt almost cruel given their illustrious past.

The modern era has brought a welcome resurrection. Reims returned to Ligue 1 in 2018 after a prolonged absence and have re-established themselves as a solid top-flight presence, regularly finishing in the upper half of the table and reminding French football of the proud tradition that flows through the Stade Auguste-Delaune.

The single greatest player in Reims' history is arguably Raymond Kopa, a mercurial inside-forward of Polish heritage who was born in northern France and became the first genuine superstar of French football. Kopa's dribbling, vision and technical brilliance made him one of the most exciting players in Europe throughout the 1950s. Real Madrid recognised his genius and signed him in 1956, but Reims managed to loan him back for the 1958-59 European Cup campaign. He won the Ballon d'Or in 1958 – the same year he starred at the World Cup – and remains the standard against which all Reims players are measured.

Just Fontaine is another name inseparable from the club's legend. The Morocco-born striker joined Reims and became the most lethal finisher France had ever produced. At the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, playing for the French national team alongside several Reims teammates, Fontaine scored 13 goals in just 6 games – a record that still stands to this day and almost certainly will never be broken. That extraordinary tally is a direct reflection of the quality of football Reims were producing.

Roger Marche, a reliable and elegant left-back, was another stalwart of that golden generation, winning multiple league titles and earning consistent recognition as one of France's finest defenders. Goalkeeper Dominique Colonna provided the bedrock behind the attacking brilliance.

Manager Albert Batteux deserves special mention as the architect of Reims' golden age. His coaching philosophy – emphasising movement, technical skill and attacking instinct – was decades ahead of its time and laid the foundations for an era that the club and French football still celebrate today.

The classic Reims kit is defined by its bold red and white vertical stripes – a design that has remained largely consistent throughout the club's history and gives their shirts an immediately recognisable, timeless quality. The stripes are broad and confident, a visual statement that reflects the ambition of the club at its peak.

The kits from the 1950s golden era are naturally the most coveted among collectors. These early shirts were made from heavy cotton and feature the simple, unsponsored designs typical of the period – no commercial logos, no synthetic fabrics, just pure football identity. The colour contrast on these original shirts is vivid and striking, and genuine match-worn examples from European Cup campaigns are extraordinarily rare and valuable.

Through the 1970s and into the 1980s, the club followed the general trend towards more synthetic fabrics and simpler designs, though the red and white stripe identity was always maintained even during their difficult years in the lower divisions.

The modern retro Reims shirt available today draws inspiration from those iconic 1950s and 1960s designs, capturing the essence of the European Cup era with quality construction and faithful attention to the original colour balance. For collectors, a Reims retro shirt carries unique historical weight – this is a club that played in the first great European finals, that produced Ballon d'Or winners and World Cup record scorers, and whose shirt represents a chapter of football history that deserves to be remembered and celebrated.