Montpellier Handball

Montpellier Handball
Full nameMontpellier Handball
Short nameMHB
Founded1982 (1982)
ArenaFDI Stadium & Sud de France Arena
Capacity3,000 - 9,000
PresidentJulien Deljarry
Head coachÉrick Mathé
LeagueLNH Division 1
2024–25LNH Division 1, 3rd of 16
Club colours   
Home
Away
Website
Official site

Montpellier Handball, formerly named Montpellier Agglomération Handball, is a professional handball club from Montpellier, France. Montpellier is the only French club to ever have won the EHF Champions League.

Montpellier
Location of Montpellier Handball

History

The team was founded as Cosmos Montpellier in 1982. In 1992 they were promoted to the top division. From 1994 they were coached by Patrice Canayer who guided them to 4 French championships.

In 2003 they became the first French team to win the EHF Champions League, when they beat Spanish Portland San Antonio in the final 19-27 away and 31-19 at home.[1]

In September 2012 18 people with connections to Montpellier, including 9 players, were accused of match fixing during a match against Cesson.[2] The accusion was that they had lost a match on purpose, in which their relatives had put money on the result worth upwards of 89,000 euros.[2][3][4] As a result several players left the club, including Luka and Nikola Karabatić (to Pays d'Aix UC HB), Erlend Mamelund (to Haslum HK) and Primož Prošt (to Frisch Auf Göppingen).[5] Three years later Nikola Karabatić were found guilty and had to pay a fine of 10,000 euros.[6]

After the 2023-24 season Patrice Canayer left the club after 30 years in charge.[7] He was replaced by Érick Mathé, who had been the assistant for Canayer from 2015 to 2018.[8]

Crest, colours, supporters

Naming history

Name Period
Cosmos Montpellier 1982–1987
Montpellier Paillade SC 1987–1989
Montpellier Handball 1989–2007
Montpellier Agglomération Handball 2007–2015
Montpellier Handball 2015–present

Kits

Accomplishments

  • LNH Division 1: (14)
    • Champions: 1994–95, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12
  • EHF Champions League: (2)
  • Coupe de France: (14)
    • Champions: 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2015–16, 2024–25
  • Coupe de la Ligue: (10)
    • Champions: 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2015–16
  • Trophée des Champions: (3)
    • Champions: 2010, 2011, 2018
  • Championnat de France N1B
    • First place: 1991–92
  • Championnat de France Nationale 2
    • First place: 1988–89, 1999–00 (rés.)
  • Championnat de France Nationale 3
    • First place: 1987–88
  • Double
Winners (10): 1998–99, 1999–00, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2004–04, 2005–06, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2011–12
  • Triple Crown
Winners (1): 2002–03

European record

Season Competition Round Club 1st leg 2nd leg Aggregate
2016–17 EHF Champions League Group Stage Logroño 30–31 37–27 1st place
Elverum Håndball 31–24 31–32
Metalurg Skopje 28–18 30–24
HT Tatran Prešov 28–23 28–24
Chekhovskiye Medvedi 26–22 33–27
PO HC Motor Zaporizhzhia 36–34 29–29 65–63
1/8 Vive Tauron Kielce 33–28 28–26 61–54
1/4 MVM Veszprém 23–26 25–30 48–56
2017–18 EHF Champions League Group Stage Metalurg Skopje 32–22 27–21 1st place
Chekhovskiye Medvedi 28–24 34–23
HC Motor Zaporizhzhia 28–20 30–31
Beşiktaş 36–32 28–33
Sporting CP 33–29 33–32
Playoffs CB Ademar León 28–24 20–19 48–43
Round of 16 Barça 28–25 28–30 56–55
Quarterfinals SG Flensburg-Handewitt 28–28 29–17 57–45
Semifinal Vardar 28–27
Final HBC Nantes 32–26
2018–19 EHF Champions League Group Stage Vardar 24–27 27–33 7th place
Meshkov Brest 23–26 29–23
PGE Vive Kielce 26–29 28–27
Barça 27–35 28–36
Telekom Veszprém 29–30 19–25
IFK Kristianstad 29–29 30–31
Rhein-Neckar Löwen 27–37 31–26
2019–20 EHF Champions League Group Stage THW Kiel 30–33 32–33 4th place
Telekom Veszprém 23–18 23–24
PGE Vive Kielce 25–24 29–27
Porto Sofarma 22–27 23–23
Vardar 31–33 31–27
Meshkov Brest 30–26 27–25
Motor Zaporizhzhia 34–30 26–25
Round of 16 Flensburg Cancelled
2021–22 EHF Champions League Group Stage Pick Szeged 29–29 29–29 4th place
Aalborg Håndbold 28–36 31–33
THW Kiel 37–30 26–35
RK Vardar 31–25 25–28
Meshkov Brest 32–26 31–31
PPD Zagreb 25–22 24–23
Elverum Håndball 37–30 39–32
Playoffs FC Porto 29–29 35–27 64–56
Quarterfinals Łomża Vive Kielce 28–31 22–30 50–61

Team

Current squad

Squad for the 2024–25 season

Transfers

Transfers for the 2025–26 season

Former club members

Notable former players

Former coaches

Seasons Coach Country
–1991 Lucien Courdesse
1991-1994 Guy Petitgirard
1994–2024 Patrice Canayer

References

  1. ^ "2002/03 VELUX VELUX European Cup / EHF". history.eurohandball.com. European Handball Federation. Retrieved 27 April 2025.
  2. ^ a b William Hilderbrandt (1 October 2012). "French handball rocked by match-fixing scandal". France24. Retrieved 27 April 2025.
  3. ^ "Französische Handball-Stars unter Betrugsverdacht" (in German). KN-online. 26 September 2012. Archived from the original on 4 May 2019. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
  4. ^ "Skandal bei Montpellier weitet sich aus" (in German). kicker.de. 30 September 2012. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  5. ^ "Wechsel perfekt: Karabatic hat sich an Ablösesumme beteiligt" (in German). handball-world.com. 1 February 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
  6. ^ "French handball star Karabatic found guilty of match-fixing". RFI. 11 July 2015. Retrieved 27 April 2025.
  7. ^ "Patrice Canayer ne va pas prolonger et quittera le Montpellier Handball en juin 2024" (in French). Midi libre. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  8. ^ "Montpellier Handball : après Patrice Canayer, Érick Mathé le choix du coeur et des ambitions" (in French). Actu.fr. 28 October 2023. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
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