In 1893 Joseph Anglade a university professor practised a game called football with students on a ground they called 'Belle Isle'. The game was a mixture of football and rugby, very similar to what is now 'Australian Football' On the back of this a student called Lucien Mountain in 1903 founded the original rugby club 'Football Club Lezignanais'. In 1919 after 14 years playing in the hospital grounds the club moved their own ground to the Stade du Moulin then called the Stadium of the Mill. In 1921 the club competed in the French Rugby Union Championship for the first time and in 1929 they reached the final but were beaten by US Quillan. Disheartened by rugby in France at this time the club was dissolved in 1931 after they had been threatened with a ban from entering the competition due to financial payments.