the club had its longest consecutive run in ligue 1, as they stayed five consecutive seasons in the top flight, from 1973 to 1978. it was however a difficult spell, as it struggled each season against relegation. pierre flamion left in 1975, and was replaced by rené cédolin, former stade rennais manager. its best position was 15th out of 20 in 1976–1977. even though they had some very good players, such as striker gérard tonnel (1972–1975, 107 games, 69 goals in ligue 1 and ligue 2), right-back rené le lamer (1973–1978), keeper guy formici (1970–1978) and yugoslavian star, winger ilija petković (1973–1976). they were finally relegated in 1978, finishing 19th.