Which Montpellier sport gave the city its first European Cup ? Twenty-three years later, the story is even more beautiful!

Joueur, Stéphane Lebrun a enfilé la tenue de coach au pied levé en demi-finale. C’est à lui que la coupe sera remise après la finale. Midi Libre – JEAN-MICHEL MART

On May 19, 2001, table tennis offered Montpellier its first European Cup. And the man who had the privilege of holding it up was called Stéphane Lebrun. Alexis and Félix, his prodigious sons, were not yet born. Memories.

Félix and Alexis with their father and the Nancy-Evans Cup. This Saturday, December 14, they will compete in the Champions League. Midi Libre – JEAN-MICHEL MART

Well, it's not the most illustrious of European cups. This one is called the Nancy-Evans Cup. And it is indeed the first continental trophy to adorn the window of a Montpellier club. It is May 19, 2001. Montpellier Table Tennis is holding the titles of French champion among the girls, led by the French number one, Anne Boileau, and is also shining in the European Cup (two semi-finals of the Champions League, and a final in Nancy-Evans… in 1993).

The boys are subscribed to the places of honor but are blocked by Jean-Philippe Gatien and the Levallois gang, “the dream team”, remembers Stéphane Lebrun. But it is on the continental level that the father of Félix and Alexis and his friends will especially distinguish themselves. He will even have his role. He remembers it as if it were yesterday. Dominique Bilbao was president at the time: “That's what you call winning coaching.”

In the ear of Yang Min, Italian-Chinese player. Midi Libre – JEAN-MICHEL MART

“That's what you call winning coaching”

Stéphane Lebrun: “I had played in the quarter-final and I was starting to coach. The coach was Ghislain Rolandi. In the semi-final first leg, we lost three matches to zero here, in Bougnol. There had been a little clash with the coach. We talked about it and he said to me: “The players want you to be the coach.” It's ok, otherwise I wouldn't have gone.” Result, 3-0 victory in Germany and the MTT qualifies on set average.

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Set-average paid

The final will be French-French, against Nevers. First leg again in Bougnol, “in front of 2,600 people”. Defeated 3-1. Return on May 19, 2001. Montpellier travels to Nevers. Finalist the previous season, the host team is favorite. Taiwanese Chang Yen Shu, Italian-Chinese Yang Min and Belgian Frédéric Sonnet, coached by Stéphane Lebrun, win on set average and spoil their party.

Belgian Frédéric Sonnet brought the deciding set. Midi Libre – JEAN-MICHEL MART

“It wasn't the Champions League but, at the time, it was the hardest to win”, remembers Dominique Bilbao. Stéphane's best memory, “It's especially the end of the evening. We're at the banquet, we have the cup, we didn't want to leave. It was a lot of joy. Before the match, we didn't really believe it, Nevers beat us in the championship.” Dominique Bilbao corrects: “That year, we had one victory each.“

A second victory in 2004

The following year, Nevers would lose again in the final of this Nancy-Evans Cup, for the third time in a row. When the MTT won it again in 2004, for its last edition before being called the ETTU Cup.
Today, the Nancy-Evans Cup is gathering dust but it sits proudly in the very well-stocked trophy room of Montpellier Table Tennis.

Twenty-three years later, the trophy has gathered dust. It is part of the club's history, dear to Dominique Bilbao and Stéphane Lebrun. . Midi Libre – JEAN-MICHEL MART

They shone on the Old Continent

– Handball on the roof of Europe

At the European level, Montpellier-Handball's track record is the most beautiful. Two Champions Leagues (2003 and 2018) adorn the club's shelves, alongside the 14 French championship titles, 13 French cups, 10 league cups and 3 champions' trophies.

– The rugby players' double

Our MHR rugby players have shone in the European Cup, winning the European Challenge Cup, the second continental division, twice (2016 and 2021). Two European titles then? No, three in fact. Because in 2004, the MHR, eliminated in the first round of this competition, had then played and won the European Shield, which has since disappeared.

– Football: the Intertoto and Manchester

Montpellier does appear in the European Cup list in 1999. But a cup without a trophy and with three winners per season: the Intertoto. A defunct competition which was a preliminary round for the UEFA Cup. Our footballers shone especially in 1990-1991, in the Cup Winners' Cup, beating PSV Eindhoven then Steaua Bucharest, before losing by a hair's breadth in a legendary double head-to-head against Manchester in the quarter-finals. After the title, in 2012-2013, MHSC played in the most beautiful competition: the Champions League, losing twice to Arsenal and Olympiakos and holding their own against Schalke in both matches.

– Placed volleyball and basketball

– In the 40s, 50s and 70s, our volleyball players flew the colours of Montpellier with pride. Today, they have won eight French championship titles. The European adventure, in 1988, ended with a bronze medal. Since then, they have also distinguished themselves, notably by reaching the semi-finals of the CEV Cup in 2021.

– Finally, the BLMA basketball players really thought they had reached the Grail, finalists of the EuroCup in 2019.

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