Challenge Prince Rainier III explained

Organiser:Monégasque Football Federation
Website:Official Site
Current Champions:Carabiniers du Prince FC (1st title)
Most Successful Club:Sun Casino FC (21 titles)
Current:2023–24 Challenge Prince Rainier III

The Challenge Prince Rainier III is a domestic football cup in Monaco, featuring teams from across the country. The tournament has been organised annually since 1975 and since then has been known as the premier footballing tournament for amateur teams within the principality.

Because Monaco is not a member of UEFA, there is no qualification for the winners into either the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, or UEFA Conference League.

History

The tournament was created in 1975 after Prince Rainier III requested a footballing tournament in the country be played.

President of the Organizing Committee, Joseph Destefanis, recalled how the only football game of the year had an air of folklore among the players and of the palace of Monaco. At the time the teams were completed and at the request of Prince Rainier III, the competition has grown.[1]

Format

In the first round of the competition, the teams are placed into groups for a round-robin stage. The best teams from these groups progress to the knockout rounds of the Challenge Prince Rainier III. The lower teams from each group then qualify for the knockout stages of the Trophée Ville de Monaco, the second level cup in Monaco underneath the Challenge Prince Rainier III.[2]

Current clubs

These are the current clubs for the 2023 season:

Champions

SeasonChampions
(number of titles)
Challenge Prince Rainier III
1976SBM Jeux (1)
1977SBM Loews Jeux (2)
1978SBM Loews Jeux (3)
1979Palais Princier (1)
1980Not held
1981Banque Sudaméris (1)
1982SBM Loews Jeux (4)
1983Not held
1984SBM Loews Jeux (5)
1985SBM Loews Jeux (6)
1986SBM Loews Jeux (7)
1987SBM Loews Jeux (8)
1988Palais Princier (2)
1989Palais Princier (3)
1990SBM Loews Jeux (9)
1991Loews Hotel (10)
SeasonChampions
(number of titles)
1992Café de Paris (1)
1993Sun Casino[3] (11)
1994Café de Paris (2)
1995Hôpital (1)
1996GEM Bâtiment (1)
1997GEM Bâtiment (2)
1998GEM Bâtiment (3)
1999GEM Bâtiment (4)
2000Sun Casino (12)
2001GEM Bâtiment (5)
2002Sun Casino (13)
2003Sun Casino (14)
2004Ribeiro Frères (1)
2005Sun Casino (15)
2006Sun Casino (16)
2007Sun Casino (17)
2008Sofamo Biotherm (1)
SeasonChampions
(number of titles)
2009Sun Casino (18)
2010Sun Casino (19)
2011Sun Casino (20)
2012La Poste Monte Carlo (1)
2013Sun Casino (21)
2014MR Concept (1)
2015Ribeiro Frères (2)
2016Ribeiro Frères (3)
2017MR Concept (2)
2018Hôpital (2)
2019MI Monaco (1)
2020Vinci Construction (1)
2021Cancelled
2022Carabiniers du Prince (1)
2023MI Monaco (2)
2024Monte Carlo SBM[4] (22)

By numbers of wins

ClubWinsWinning years
Sun Casino211976, 1977, 1978, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013
GEM Bâtiment51996, 1997, 1988, 1999, 2001
Ribeiro Frères32004, 2015, 2016

See also

Notes and References

  1. https://web.archive.org/web/20110102182042/http://www.cocpr3.com/comite/historique.html Conduct of major events
  2. http://www.rsssf.com/tablesm/monaco09.html Monaco 2009 results
  3. Loews Hotel renamed after their casino complex.
  4. Casino renamed after their operators - Monte Carlo SBM.
  5. http://www.rsssf.com/tablesm/monacocuphist.html Monaco - List of Cup Winners