RC Strasbourg

Première Ligue Women

Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace Féminines, commonly known as RC Strasbourg, or simply Racing, is a French professional association football club based in Strasbourg. Founded in 2011, it currently competes in the Première Ligue.

Photo: Instagram | rcsa.feminines

Signature Fun Facts

What makes RC Strasbourg what it is.

She was once the only fully professional Senegalese women's player abroad.

As a youngster she captained France U16 and lifted the trophy at the inaugural Montaigu girls’ tournament, effectively the first “World Cup” for that age group.

More Fun Facts

Quirky facts from the RC Strasbourg squad.

She scored against Dijon to become the first player ever to score a goal for RC Strasbourg Alsace in Arkema Première Ligue, curling the ball into the far corner.

She became the first girl ever accepted into Évian Thonon Gaillard’s boys’ academy.

She managed to win national cup in three different countries. Swiss Cup with FC Rot-Schwarz Thun in 2009, German Cup in 2014 with Frankfurt and Spanish Cup three times in a row (2020, 2021, 2022) with Barcelona.

She created a scholarship for Colombian girls to attend Saint Andrew’s School in Boca Raton, combining education with high-level football opportunities similar to those she had.

With no girls’ teams at her level in the Algarve, she played on boys’ teams at FC São Luís all the way up to age 17, thanks to a special permission from the regional association.

She has won the UEFA Women's Champions League three times — once with Frankfurt (2015) and twice with Barcelona (2021, 2023).

She has spoken about how her father and brother were initially reluctant to see her play with boys, but her mother insisted she should be allowed to follow her passion for football – a stance Fátima now credits with changing her life.

As a kid she played as a midfielder until a coach asked players to rotate in goal; she volunteered to “get it over with”, saved everything…and was never allowed out of the net again.

She has said her football story began because of a late payment for swimming lessons – a missed fee pushed her towards trying football instead.

In 2022 she celebrated a rare academy double: French D1 title with Lyon’s first team and the national U19 championship in the same season.

She became a goalkeeper thanks to her older brother: he was an attacker and when he wanted to train as a kid he put four-year-old Manon in goal so he had someone to shoot at – and she discovered she liked it, even if she “didn’t really have a choice.”

On her bedroom door as a teenager she hung a sign that read “Do not disturb, football night in progress”, and inside the room every wall was covered with football posters, scarves, clippings and a Racing shirt.

She was part of the Strasbourg squad that earned promotion to the top flight, helping the club reach the Première Ligue Féminine for the first time in its history.