Football Ground Map
Football Ground Map
Despite its tiny population, AS Monaco are one of the most successful sides in French footballing history. The principality joined the French football pyramid in 1933 and have won the Ligue 1 title an impressive 8 times - just 3 titles behind all-time record holders Paris St Germain.
It's an incredible stats for such a small nation, whose population of 33,000 gives the team a very small catchment area for fans. So how do they have such a good football team? And how do they attract so much talent? Obviously Monaco has a number of advantages including no income tax and a number of world famous casinos - so players can gamble away their wages at the slot machines and Roulette77 France tables.
The club's last league title came in the 2016/17 season with ASM finishing 8 points clear of PSG at the top of the table, saving an impressive 107 goals and losing just 3 games all season. It was their second title this century, having won the league in the 1999/2000 season as well.
As well as their 8 league titles, AS Monaco have also won the Coupe de France on 5 occasions and the French league cup once - taking their tally to an impressive 14 domestic trophies.
But it's not just in the French league that they have been successful. Although having never won a continental trophy, the team is a regular in European competition and reached the final of the Cup Winners Cup in 1992 (losing 2-0 to Werder Bremen) and the Champions League in 2004 (losing 3-0 to Jose Mourinho's Porto).
Monaco have had an array of very famous players who have played for the club. Here's a rundown of some of the most recognisable:
Henry started his career with Monaco's B team scoring 6 goals in 19 appearances in the mid-90s. He played 105 matches for the first team between 1994 and 1999, scoring 20 times before a move to Juventus and then making his name as Arsenal's then record goal scorer. After hanging up his boots, Henry returned to manage Monaco, guiding them to a 17th place finish in his debut management season.
Widely regarded as one of the best players in the world right now, French star Kylian Mbappe burst into the scene with Monaco in 2015. Mbappe scored 16 goals in 41 appearances, winning the Ligue 1 title before moving to PSG for a fee of €180m in 2017.
Mbappe has gone on to become one of the most successful players in modern football, winning the French league 5 times, as well as the World Cup and UEFA Nations League.
Ivorian and Man City legend Yaya Toure also played for a Monaco earlier in his career. He was signed from Greek side Olympiacos and played 27 games in the 2006-2007 season, scoring 5 times. Toure then moved to Barcelona for €10m before joining Man City for £24m.
Since retirement, Yaya Toure has held a number of assistant manager roles. He is current assistant for the Saudi Arabia men's national team and will be looking forward to the AFC Asian Cup where his team will face other Asian nations including Qatar, Iraq and Australia. Whilst in the Land Down Under, he may want to try his hand at Australian Roulette77, maybe he'll win enough money to be able to buy an apartment in Monaco!
One for our older readers, Jurgen Klinsmann is another famous player who played for Monaco. Signed from Inter Milan, the German notched up 29 goals in 65 appearances for ASM between 1992 and 1994. He was later sold to Tottenham Hotspur for a fee of £2m.
Another footballing legend from the turn of the century, Lilian Thurman joins our list of players who started his professional career in Monaco. The strong French central defender made his debut in 1991. He made 155 appearances before being sold to Parma in 1996.
The list of world-renowned former AS Monaco players goes on. Here's our best of the rest:
My daughter's first ever football match - Orlando City v Atlanta United, August 2019. Written for Izzy to read when she gets old enough. Vamos Orlando
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