Editing RC Lens (section)

===Origin of the club===
The club was established in 1906 in [[Lens, Pas-de-Calais|Lens]] by local students who enjoyed playing [[association football|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 Paris|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, Pas-de-Calais|Avion]] and [[Lens, Pas-de-Calais|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.