Stade de Reims was founded in 1910 under the name Societe Sportive du Parc Pommery under the direction from the Marquis Melchior de Polignac, a Frenchman who served on the International Olympic Committee. The club changed its name on the 18th of June, 1931.
Despite the fact that the country began to adopt professional sports in 1932 Reims was a club for amateurs until 1935 when the club was awarded the Championnat de France amateur under the direction under the leadership of Scotsman Billy Aitken. The club made it to Division 1 for the first time during the season 1945-46 which was the first time they won a championship after the end the end of World War II. The same season the club promoted the defender Robert Jonquet to the senior team, and also was signed by Roger Marche from Olympique de Charleville. Together, they were able to become perhaps the club's most famous players throughout its time.
Reims was the first team to win a Division 1 championship in 1949. It was dominated by a formidable backline consisting of Marche, Jonquet, and Armand Penverne as well midfielders Albert Batteux and Michel Leblond as well as a largely unnoticed trio of strikers Pierre Flamion, Pierre Sinibaldi as well as Pierre Bini, Reims won the league with just one point ahead of Lille. In the following season, Reims was crowned the Coupe de France defeating Racing Paris with a 2-1 win during the championship final.
After the seasonended, the manager Henri Roessler departed the club and long-time player Batteux assumed the helm. The team's continued rise in the sport resulted in the signing from Raymond Kopa and Raoul Giraudo. The year 1953 saw Reims took home its 2nd league crown by winning it by four goals. In the same year, Reims won the Latin Cup becoming the first French football team to win the distinction. It was described as a triumph for France following the country's finish of three consecutive years as runners-up in the tournament. Following the 1954 season, Marche was released to join Reims' Racing team in Paris. The year 1955 saw Reims took home its second title in a row in just six seasons. The title led to Reims' qualification for the newly-created European Cup.
In the first season of the European Cup, Reims reached the final, where they fell 4-3 against Spanish team Real Madrid. Reims were dominant immediately, scoring two goals within the first 10 minutes. But, in the first half, two goals scored by Alfredo Di Stefano and Hector Rial for Madrid were able to cancel out Reims initial attacks. In the second period, Reims took the lead by scoring through Michel Hidalgo, but within minutes, the game was leveled by the goal of Marquitos. Real's goal within the final minute of the match ended Reims hopes of winning the inaugural version of the European Cup. The following year, Reims lost prominent midfielder Kopa to Madrid however they were able to bring in French nationals Just Fontaine, Jean Vincent, Roger Piantoni, and Dominique Colonna to the team. After a few difficulties, the new players resulted in Reims claiming its third trophy of the decade during the year 1957 -58. The team also was crowned the Coupe de France after beating Nimes Olympique 3-1 in the final, thereby making it a double.
In the 1958-1959 edition of the European Cup, Reims returned to the final against again, Real Madrid. Apart from Kopa changing sides, and the return in the form of Fontaine, Colonna, Piantoni along with Vincent to Reims the lineups were similar to those of the previous game. However, unperturbed Madrid who had triumphed three times in the competition and squeaked to win with an impressive 2-0 victory. The following season, Penverne quit the club. However, the team was buoyed when they brought back Kopa who then helped the team win its fifth league title over 11 seasons in the year 1960.
Following the end of the season, Jonquet retired from international football and departed Reims to join Strasbourg. The next two players to leave were Giraudo as well as Leblond. Leblond and Giraudo's departures didn't slow Reims their domestic performances since the team won this league back in the year 1962. The win was the highlight of a remarkable professional career of Just Fontaine, who, later quit football. The following season, long-time manager Albert Batteux's final season, Reims finished runner-up to AS Monaco in the league and the following season, stunned many by finishing 17th which led to Reims being relegated down to second division. Relegation was the cause for demise or retirement of many players who were part of Reims the dynastic run of the 1950s. All other than Kopa who stayed with Reims until the year 1967.
Reims was promoted to the top of the league in the season 1966-67 after having spent two years in second division. However, the time was brief as Reims placing 19th. After 1970, the club was relegated to the top-flight, and was in the league for almost 10 years. Reims had the best record in the league in the nine-year period was to finish 5th in the season 1975-76. Reims were cut from the league in 1979, and did not return in the top divisions of French football for another 33 years. The following season, in Division 2 Reims was financially strained and had to put on a more youthful team for the duration of the campaign.
Even with the hiring of the former famous footballer Carlos Bianchi as manager during the latter part of the 1980s, the club was not able to make it back into Division One. Reims was a surprise to many when getting to the semi-finals in the Coupe de France in back-to-back seasons in 1987 and 1988. As time went by and the club's financial position started to change towards the negative and, in the year 1991, Reims was administratively relegated to Division 3 following it failed to identify a potential buyer in order to relieve the club's debt, which been in excess of FF50 million. In the month of October the club was liquidated which changed the name of its club to Stade de Reims Champagne FC. The club played its 1991-1992 campaign as a Division 3 and was, quite surprisingly exempted from competing in the league prior to the final match of the league in May 1992, following a court-ordered liquidation led to the suspension in the activities. The next few months saw every aspect of this club (its records and trophies.) was auctioned. (Upon the club's reintroduction back in the year 1992, brand new French law that prohibited alcohol advertisements prohibited their logo, which was the image of a wine bottle over the football. The club did not have a formal logo up until the year 1999 when their original club's name was restored.)
Reims was revived on July 22, 1992, under the new name Stade de Reims Champagne. The club first began playing with the Division d'Honneur and spent two seasons in the league, before earning an invitation to play in the Championnat National. Reims was in the latter part of the century in the Championnat National as well as in the Championnat de France amateur. In November of 1996, the majority of the items belonging to the club that were auctioned off in the auction in 1992 were acquired with the help of the retail chain Alain Afflelou. In July 1999 it changed the name of its club in Stade de Reims and, after three years of existence, were recognized as professional after achieving promotion into Ligue 2.
The team's return to Ligue 2 in 2002 was short. Reims ended up at the at the bottom of the league. The following season, while participating the league National, Reims won the league, before moving back into Ligue 2. The club played the following five seasons within the 2nd division, failing to reach the top tier of the table during each season. The 2008-09 season was the last time Reims were dropped out of Ligue 2 and, like the previous time, reacted by re-joining the league after a year with National after finishing second. Reims was ranked in Ligue 2 as 10th in the 2010-11 season. The 2011-12 campaign, Reims finally finished the league as runners-up, and was then promoted back to Ligue 1 after 33 years.
On May 14, 2016, Reims were relegated to Ligue 2 after a four year stint in the top division. On the 16th of August, Real Madrid played a friendly match against Reims to mark sixty years since the European Cup final which both teams took part in. Real Madrid won 5-3. On the 21st of April, Reims were promoted into Ligue 1 after a two year gap. They finished first, winning their Ligue 2 title.
The 2018-19 campaign, Reims finished in 8th position, beating Champions Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 in the final match of the season. In the season of 2019-20, Reims were ranked in the 6th spot, and were able to be able to participate in the 2020-21 UEFA Europa League, and to play their first game in European competitions since the 13th of March in 1963, when they played Feyenoord that ended 1-1 at the time of the 1962-1963 European Cup. The 2020-21 Ligue 1 season, Reims placed 14th in the league table.
