Season 1992/1993

Having been relegated to the Second Division after the Play-Off against Strasbourg in May 1992, Stade Rennais were aiming to bounce straight back under the command of Didier Notheaux. The club had to make up for the lost of key players Hiard, Le Dizet, Oosterveer, Senoussi, Delamontagne and brought in Vasseur, Régina, Fahr, Darbelet and Musisi in the hope that they would be more successful than the intake from the previous summer: Shala, Sliskovic and Balthazar… With the excellent Jocelyn Gourvennec pulling the strings, an efficient Majid Musisi (24 goals between them) and solid defence built around François Denis, the club got off to a great start to the season with just two defeats in the first half of the season. In February 1993, 15 matches after their last league defeat at home to Angers (0-1), Stade Rennais lost again to their neighbours by the same score in a top-of-the-table clash. In the end, this double defeat cost them the title in their division, finishing three points behind SCO Angers. So, they had to go through the play-offs in their attempt to secure promotion to the top flight once more. It all went to plan in the first round, winning 1-0 against Nice after extra-time, but they fell at the final hurdle against Cannes and would not make an automatic return to Division 1. With Manager Notheaux objectives not being achieved, he would subsequently be replaced by Michel Le Milinaire during the close-season. In the French Cup, Stade Rennais reached the last 16 before being eliminated by Laval (0-1) without having once played against a Division1 outfit.