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The Coupe Charles Simon, commonly known as the Coupe de France ((:kup də fʁɑ̃s), ''French Cup''), is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation. The cup competition is named after Charles Simon, a French sportsman who died while serving in World War I, and is open to all amateur and professional football clubs in France, including clubs based in the overseas departments and territories. The final is played at the Stade de France and the winner of the Coupe de France qualifies for the group stage of the UEFA Europa League. The current champions are Paris Saint-Germain, who defeated AJ Auxerre 1–0 in the final of the 2014–15 competition. The Coupe de France was first held in 1917–18 and, during the 2007–08 season, celebrated its 90th anniversary. Combined with random draws and one-off matches (no replays), the Coupe de France can be difficult for the bigger clubs to win. The competition is usually beneficial to the amateur clubs as it forces higher-ranked clubs, usually professional clubs, to play as the away team when drawn against lower-league opposition if they are competing two levels below them. However, despite the advantages, only one amateur club has actually reached the final since professionalism was introduced in French football in 1932: Calais RUFC in 2000. Both clubs who have won the competition and were not playing in Ligue 1 were professional, Le Havre in 1959 and Guingamp in 2009. The Coupe de France is managed and run by the Coupe de France Commission, whose president is former French international Willy Sagnol. 7,422 clubs participated in the 2011–12 cup competition. Furthermore, an improved 7,656 clubs competed in the 2013–14 edition. ==History== The Coupe de France was created on 15 January 1917 by the ''French Interfederal Committee'' (CFI), an early predecessor of the French Football Federation. The idea was pushed by the federation's general secretary Henri Delaunay and under ''union sacrée'', the competition was declared open to all clubs, amateur and professional, though professionalism in French football at the time was non-existent. The major clubs in France objected to the notion that all clubs should be allowed to enter and preferred the model of the FA Cup in England, which limited the competition to only the country's ''elite''. However, the federation dispelled their complaints and declared the competition would remain as is. Due to the minimal requirements to enter, the first competition featured 48 clubs. By 1948, the number had increased to 1,000 and at present, the competition features more than 7,000 clubs. Due to the initial increase in clubs, the federation created preliminary rounds beginning with the 1919–20 season. The following season, they added a second preliminary round. As of today, the competition contains eight regional rounds with some regions containing as much as ten. The first Coupe de France victors were Olympique de Pantin who defeated FC Lyon 3–0 at the Stade de la Légion Saint-Michel in Paris in front of 2,000 spectators. The following year, the competition was shifted to the Parc des Princes and drew 10,000 supporters to the final that saw CASG Paris defeat Olympique de Paris 3–2. The competition alternated between many stadiums during its early years playing at the Stade Pershing from 1920–1924 before switching to the Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir in Colombes. The competition lasted a decade there before returning to the Parc des Princes in 1938. In 1941, the final was held at the Stade de Paris. The following year, the final returned to Colombes and remained there until moving to the Parc des Princes permanently following its renovation, which made it the largest in terms of attendance in France. Since the ratio between amateur and professional clubs in France is extremely one-sided, the competition regularly produces surprises. The best performance by an amateur club in the competition is usually awarded the ''Petit Poucet Plaque''. On 4 February 1957, one of the competition's biggest upsets occurred when Algerian club SCU El Biar defeated European powerhouse Stade de Reims who had players such as Robert Jonquet, Michel Hidalgo, Léon Glovacki, and Just Fontaine in its arsenal. One of the more recent successes of an amateur club occurred during the 1999–2000 competition when Championnat de France amateur club Calais RUFC reached the final. Calais, composed of doctors, dock workers, and office clerks, started the competition in the 5th round and, after defeating fellow amateurs, reached the Round of 64 where they faced Lille. Calais, after 120 minutes, were level 1–1 with Lille and defeated their Northern foes 7–6 on penalties. In the following two rounds, Calais defeated Langon-Castets and Cannes. In the quarter-finals, Calais defeated Strasbourg 2–1 and on 12 April 2000, eclipsed Bordeaux 3–1 in the semi-finals to advance to the final. Calais' road to the final was a prime example of the major advantages amateur clubs had with the club playing all of its matches at home beginning with the Round of 64 match. Unfortunately for Calais, their ''Cinderella'' run came to an end in the final with the club losing to Nantes 2–1 despite scoring first. Professional clubs have continued to express their displeasure with the advantages amateur clubs receive in the competition with many of their complaints being directly associated with their hosting of matches. Coupe de France rules explicitly state that teams drawn first during the draw are granted hosting duties for the round, however, if the club drawn second is competing two levels below the club drawn first, then the hosting duties will be given to the second club drawn. Many clubs have subsequently complained that, due to the amateur clubs not having adequate funds, the stadiums they play in are extremely unkempt. The resulting differences led to the clubs represented by the Ligue de Football Professionnel forming their own cup competition, the Coupe de la Ligue. More recently, amateur clubs have begun to move to more established stadiums for their Coupe de France matches with their primary reason being to earn more money at the gate due to more established stadiums having the ability to carry more spectators. The winner of the Coupe de France trophy normally holds on to the trophy for one year to put in on display at their headquarters before returning it to the French Football Federation. In the early 1980s, the cup was stolen, but was retrieved by the authorities quickly. Since 1927, the President of France has always attended the cup final and presented the trophy to the winning team's captain. President Gaston Doumergue was the first French president to take part in the ceremony. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Coupe de France」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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