Pau Football Club

Bleuets de Notre-Dame (1920–59)

The history of football in Pau begins in 1888 with the establishment of the Association Bourbaki. In 1904, the football section of this organization was founded under the name Football Association Bourbaki. While football gained significance in Pau from 1909 with the initiation of JAB de Pau, rugby union remained the predominant sport in the Béarn and Gascony regions. Until the end of World War II, FA Bourbaki was the flagship football club in Béarn. At the beginning of the Trente Glorieuses, the post-World War II period of rapid economic growth in France, the Bleuets de Notre-Dame patronage, located in the Quartier Mayolis, reached the highest amateur league in the French football league system, known as the Division Nationale. The small neighborhood patronage evolved into an institution representing the city and Béarn. The diocese, recognizing that this level of sports activity extended beyond the scope of a simple neighborhood sports association, sought to disengage. They then began the search for leaders capable of managing a club of this magnitude.

Football Club de Pau (1959–95)

The Football Club de Pau was officially established on 19 May 1959 by José Bidegain, marking a significant milestone in the history of football in Béarn. This made it the only football club hailing from the Béarn or Gascony areas of France. Notably, it also stood as one of the very few clubs in the broader South West region of France, apart from…