Grenoble Foot 38, commonly referred to as simply Grenoble or GF38, is a French association football club based in Grenoble. The club plays its home matches at the Stade des Alpes, a sports complex based in the heart of the city, and wears white and blue.
The original incarnation of the club was founded in 1911 and, in 1997, was formed into the club that exists today as a result of a merger. Grenoble currently plays in Ligue 2, the second level of French football, after having gone into bankruptcy and relegation to the fifth level of French football in 2011.
The club was founded in 1911 as Football Club de Grenoble. In 1997, a merger of Olympique Grenoble Isère and Norcap Olympique led to the current Grenoble Foot 38 incarnation. Olympique Grenoble Isère played in Ligue 1 in the 1960âÂÂ61 and 1962âÂÂ63 seasons.
Until 2004, Grenoble Foot was owned by the municipality of Grenoble. In that year, the club was acquired by Index Holdings, a Japanese mobile software company, becoming the first French football club with foreign owners. The price of the takeover was around â¬2 million. The new owners invested in the Stade des Alpes, a new ground with an initial capacity of 20,000 which opened in February 2008.
Grenoble Foot finished the 2007âÂÂ08 Ligue 2 season in third place, thus returning to Ligue 1 for the first time since 1963. In the 2008âÂÂ09 Ligue 1 season, Grenoble finished 13th. Grenoble also reached the semi-final of the Coupe de France for the first and only time, after beating AS Monaco 2âÂÂ0 at home in the quarter-final. Grenoble then lost 0-1 to Stade Rennais in the semi-final.
In the 2009âÂÂ10 Ligue 1 season, Grenoble Foot were eventually relegated with six games remaining amidst severe financial problems.
The professional football club was liquidated in July 2011 with debts of â¬2.9 million, and relegated administratively to Championnat de France Amateur 2, the fifth tier. Index provided false financial statements during their ownership of the club. Grenoble Foot was once again owned by the municipality of Grenoble until 2015 when the current owner - Stéphane Rosnoblet - acquired the club.
As an amateur side, Grenoble Foot won promotion from Championnat de France Amateur 2 at the first attempt in 2012, and were champions of the 2016âÂÂ17 Championnat de France Amateur, returning to Championnat National for the 2017âÂÂ18 season.
Grenoble Foot secured their promotion to Ligue 2 on 27 May 2018, after an aggregate play-off victory over Bourg-en-Bresse.