USL Dunkerque

USL Dunkerque (Union Sportive du Littoral de Dunkerque) is a French football club from the port city of Dunkirk in the Hauts-de-France region, formed in 1909 through the merger of two local sides, Stade Dunkerquois and Union Sportive de Malo-les-Bains. The latter, founded in 1900 in the neighbouring town of Malo-les-Bains (annexed by Dunkirk only in 1970), had at the time been the most widely supported club in the area.

The club's history has been marked by repeated mergers and name changes: after joining forces with Racing Club de Dunkerque in 1927 the team was known as Union Racing Dunkerque-Malo, following a merger with Amis de la Balle Dunkerquoise in 1933 it became Olympique Dunkerquois, and after a further merger in 1954 it was renamed Union Sportive de Dunkerque. The club adopted its current name, Union Sportive du Littoral de Dunkerque, in 1987, after receiving financial backing from the Dunkirk Grand Littoral urban authority. Nicknamed Les Maritimes (The Seasiders), the team plays in blue and white and contests its home matches at the Stade Marcel-Tribut.

For most of its more than century-long history, Dunkerque has been a club of the French lower divisions, moving between Ligue 2 and lower tiers with varying fortunes. A landmark moment came in the 2024–25 season, when the club reached the Coupe de France semi-final for the first time since 1929. At the Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Lille, in front of almost 46,000 spectators, Dunkerque led defending champions Paris Saint-Germain 2–1 at half-time, only for the Parisians to turn the match around thanks to a brace from Ousmane Dembélé, eventually winning 4–2 en route to the final, which they went on to win against Stade de Reims.

Gonçalo Feio's short spell at Dunkerque

Gonçalo Feio joined USL Dunkerque in the summer of 2025, shortly after leaving Legia Warsaw. The French club announced his appointment on 20 June, presenting the Portuguese coach as a manager who would develop an attacking and intense style of play.

However, the collaboration proved to be extremely short-lived. On 13 July, Dunkerque announced that Feio's contract had been terminated by mutual agreement. The Portuguese coach spent just 23 days at the club and did not take charge of the team in a single official match.

According to French reports, tensions emerged between the coach and people around the team during the pre-season period. As a result, the ambitious project came to an end before Feio could make his Ligue 2 debut.

His time in Dunkerque therefore remains one of the shortest spells of his coaching career — three weeks without managing a single competitive match.