Dunkerque

Predecessors (1900–1949)

In March of 1899, Dunkirk resident Marcel Tribut introduced football to a group of his friends after discovering the sport during a visit to his uncle in Scotland. Together, they founded Union Sportive de Malo-les-Bains in March of 1900, playing home matches on a military training ground in Dunkirk's Glacis neighbourhood. The club initially competed in the USFSA Championnat du Nord.

It was also at this time that rowing club Sporting Dunkerquois created a football department. The first local derby between the two teams was played on November 17th, 1901 and was won 2–0 by Sporting. By the 1904–05 season, the two clubs had merged and begun competing in the colours of US Malo-les-Bains.

In January of 1909, Dunkerquois athlete Louis Blondel founded a multi-sport club focused on football named Cercle Olympique Dunkerquois. Blondel was formerly a member of USFSA's Nord Committee and secretary at US Malo-les-Bains, which at the time competed in the top tier of the Championnat du Nord's Maritime group. Cercle Olympique Dunkerquois quickly grew to a size of about 30 members and played its first friendly match against US Malo-les-Bains on March 21st, 1909, losing 3–0.

At the same time, another local sportsman named Henri Ferrari was about to found his own football club when he met Louis Blondel. The two instead decided to recruit breakaway players from US Malo-les-Bains to CO Dunkerquois, renaming the club Stade Dunkerquois in May of 1909. The new club elected Paul Capelle as its first chairman and obtained the backing of Dunkirk's mayor and sub-prefect. Over the next two years, Stade Dunkerquois set about building a new stadium, Stade de la Victoire, which opened on April 16th, 1911. The occasion was marked by a sports festival featuring a match against London's Leyton Manor Football Club, who defeated the home side 4−2.

Stade Dunkerquois began its inaugural 1909–10 season in the second tier of the Championnat du Nord while US Malo-les-Bains continued to play in the top tier. It was in this league that the Malouins recorded a famous 3–2 win over five-time champions of France Racing Club de Roubaix on January 30th, 1910, the last day of the season. The 1912–13 season saw the club relegated to the second tier, where they won their first derby 5–2 against Stade Dunkerquois on November 23rd, 1913. US Malo-les-Bains also ran out 3–1 winners in the reverse fixture on February 15th the following year, despite having only eight players available for selection. The result assured the team a first-place finish in the league table, while Stade Dunkerquois ended the season in fifth. The Malouins were thus promoted back to the top tier for the 1914–15 season, which was subsequently suspended due to the outbreak of the First World War.

Founding of US Dunkerque-Malo and acquisition of professional status (1919–1945)

Following the end of the war, US Malo-les-Bains and Stade Dunkerquois merged to form Union Sportive Dunkerque-Malo (USDM) in August of 1919. The new club entered the Division d'Honneur and finished eighth in its inaugural 1919–20 season. It was then assigned to Group C of the competition for the 1921−22 season before being dropped for unknown reasons the following season after the Division d'Honneur was reduced in size from 16 to eight clubs. In the Coupe de France, USDM qualified for the Round of 16 in 1923 and 1927 and the Round of 32 in 1922 and 1924.

US Dunkerque-Malo merged with Racing Club de Dunkerque to form Union Racing Dunkerque-Malo after the 1926–27 season. The new team boasted several highly rated players within its ranks, including goalkeeper Lucien Gianelloni, the Bondois brothers and Louis Dron. The 1928–29 season saw Dunkerque make its deepest run yet in the Coupe de France, defeating US Suisse, Excelsior AC and US Bologne to set up a semifinal tie with FC Sète. It was at this stage that the Dunkerquois would bow out of the competition, suffering a 2–1 loss following a Sétois goal in the 87th minute. The following season, Dunkerque would reach the quarterfinal in the Coupe de France and then the Round of 16 the year after.

In September of 1934, Union Racing Dunkerque-Malo again merged with Le Club des Amis de la Balle Dunkerquoise to form Olympique de Dunkerque. The merger formally came into effect on October 14th, 1934, and the club entered the second tier of the regional leagues. Though it only finished eighth out of ten teams in the Division d'Honneur, Dunkerque was admitted to Division 2 in 1935 and gained professional status as a result. In 1937, the club again made a deep run in the Coupe de France to reach the quarterfinals. Unfortunately, the Second World War would devastate Dunkirk, destroying Dunkerque's stadium and killing many of its players and staff, severely weakening the club.