Association Sportive Montferrandaise Clermont Auvergne is a
French rugby union club from
Clermont-Ferrand in
Auvergne that currently competes in
Top 14, the top level of the
French league system , ASMCA are the current 2010 France
Top 14 Champions. It is the rugby section of the multi-sport club
AS Montferrandaise, which was founded in 1911 and adopted that name in 1922. Although the rugby section changed its name to the current ASM Clermont Auvergne in 2004, it is still frequently referred to as
Montferrand both within and outside of France.
The team plays at the Parc des Sports Marcel Michelin (capacity 16,334) and wears yellow and blue, which are the colours of Michelin, the tyre manufacturer, which is based in Montferrand and whose founder, Marcel Michelin, established the club for its workers before World War I.
L'ASM, as they are also called, are the traditional underdog, always cited among early favourites and praised for their style of play, but never winning come spring. They have reached the French Championship final eleven times , until their eleventh trip in
2010 to the championship. The perennial bridesmaids in their 100th year as a club broke through and conquered France, beating
Perpignan in a rematch of the 2009 final.
History
The club was established in 1911 as AS
Michelin, though they changed their name to AS Montferrandaise in 1922. The club was started by Marcel Michelin, the son of
André Michelin, founder of the Michelin tyre...
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