Racing Club de Lens (, commonly referred to as RC Lens or simply Lens) is a French professional football club based in the northern city of Lens in the Pas-de-Calais department. Its nickname, les sang et or (the blood and gold), comes from its traditional colours of red and gold. Their traditional rivals are their northern neighbours Lille, with whom they contest the Derby du Nord. Their most famous trophy is winning the championship in 1998. History Origin of the club The club was established in 1906 in Lens by local students who enjoyed playing football on the city's Place Verte (the current Place de la République). The name "Racing Club de Lens" was chosen as a reference to Racing Club de Roubaix and Racing Club de France, both popular clubs at the time. The club's first board of directors was formed by the parents of those students. The club originally played in green and black to represent the founding location; they wore green to represent the name of the home pitch, "Verte", (meaning 'green' in French), and black to represent the omnipresence of the coal mining industry in the surrounding area. Between 1907 and 1912, the players were forced to change home grounds twice before settling at the Parc des Glissoires, situated between Avion and Lens. During World War I, in common with all French sports clubs, the team's activities were stopped and did not restart until 1919. By this time, Lens had changed their playing colours to sky blue. Of blood and gold It was in 1924 that the red and gold colours first appeared. One legend says that Pierre Moglia, president of the club from 1923 to 1930, chose the colours of the Spanish flag after a colleague from the club remarked that the Saint-Léger church ruins, which they had walked past one evening, were the last visible remains of the local Spanish domination in 1648. Some people also say that the colours were derived as a reference to the local coal mines: the red for the blood of the miners and the gold for the coal which was valuable at the time. It was also in 1924 that the club was authorised to play at the newly built municipal stadium Raoul Briquet (nowadays Léo Lagrange). The first match for the club in their new colours was played for the inauguration of the stadium. In 1926, British