Stade Malherbe Caen (commonly known as SM Caen, or Caen) is a French professional football team from the city of Caen, Normandy (not to be confused with the city of Cannes, where the film festival takes place). The team is named after Francois de Malherbe, a poet, translator and critic born in Caen. The team was founded in 1913, welcoming the visiting clubs at the Michel D’Ornano Stadium.

For most of its history, it has been one of the best amateur clubs in France. In the 80's and 90's saw the rise in the football hierarchy and acquired professional status in 1985. Three seasons later, they have qualified for the Ligue 1 for the first time in their history. In 1992, a few months after being barely saved from bankruptcy, they finished fifth in the first division and played in the UEFA Cup. But three years later dropped out to the second division.

Qualified for Ligue 1 several times, reached the League Cup final in 2005 and finished 7th in Ligue 1 in 2016. Caen manager Fortin was arrested, along with several others, on suspicion of match-fixing, due to the suspicious 1-1 result against Nimes (which also favors this team) in May 2014, when Caen struggled to qualify for Ligue 1 and Nimes trying to keep their place in the elite. But Fortin was acquitted in March 2015. In the 2016/17 and 2017/18 seasons, Caen managed to avoid relegation to Ligue 2, and in both cases secured a draw on the last day of the season against Paris Saint-Germain.