AC Ajaccio

AC Ajaccio

Full name	Athletic Club Ajaccien
Nickname(s)	L'ours
Founded	1910
Ground	Stade François Coty, Ajaccio (Capacity: 12,000)
Chairman	Alain Orsoni
Manager	Olivier Pantaloni
League	Ligue 1
2011–12	16th
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Athletic Club Ajaccio (French pronunciation: [aʒaksjo]; commonly referred to as AC Ajaccio or simply Ajaccio) is a French association football club based in the city of Ajaccio on the island of Corsica. The club was founded in 1910 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the first division of French football, having finished 2nd in the 2010–11 campaign in Ligue 2. The club president is Alain Orsoni and the first-team is coached by Olivier Pantaloni. Ajaccio play their home matches at the Stade François Coty and are rivals with fellow island club SC Bastia, with whom they contest the Derby Corse (English: Corsican Derby).

Historical information

Depending on sources, it is agreed that Ajaccio began playing in 1909–10. Their adopted colours are red and white stripes. Though they used to play in what was previously utilized as a sand dump, they decided to move to another, cleaner, safer stadium upon the insistence of Jean Lluis, father-in-law of club president Louis Baretti. The new stadium that was chosen held 5,000 spectators and was in use until 1969.

AC Ajaccio were elected Corsican champions on eight occasions, in 1920, 1921, 1934, 1939, 1948, 1950, 1955 and 1964, and are one of three big "island" teams, along with Gazélec Ajaccio and SC Bastia, the competition between the three being kept no secret. Spectators during the 1946 Corsican Cup final, held between A.C.A. and Sporting Bastia were handed umbrellas to shield themselves from the violence. Upon refusal of a penalty which would have been awarded to ACA, violence erupted between the fans, who used umbrellas both as cause and limitation of violence. This final was abandoned and replayed much later.

A.C.A. became a professional team in 1965 thanks to the ambitious assembly of a team by leaders of the club. They initially adopted the symbol of the polar bear, but this has since been dropped in favour of a more stylized logo that uses a part of the Corsican flag.

Players

Current squad

As of 28 July 2011.^[1]

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Guillermo Ochoa 4 DF Leyti N'Diaye 5 DF Mickael Charvet 6 DF Carl Medjani 7 MF Benjamin André 8 MF Jean-Baptiste Pierazzi (captain) 10 MF Christian Kinkela 11 MF Karim El Hany 12 MF Frédéric Sammaritano 13 MF Fabrice Begeorgi 14 MF Mehdi Mostefa 15 FW David Gigliotti 16 GK Thierry Debès 17 DF Yoann Poulard

No. Position Player 18 MF Johan Cavalli 19 MF Paul Lasne 20 DF Anthony Lippini 21 FW Richard Socrier 22 DF Fousseni Diawara 23 DF Arnaud Maire 24 MF Damien Tibéri 25 FW Ilan 26 DF Samuel Bouhours 27 DF Rémi Cilia 28 DF Felipe Saad 29 FW Eduardo 30 GK David Oberhauser

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 9 FW Andy Delort (at Metz)

Notable past players

For a complete list of AC Ajaccio players, see Category:AC Ajaccio players.

• Dominique Baratelli
• Rolland Courbis
• François M'Pelé
• Dado Pršo
• Marius Trésor
• Sébastien Squillaci

Managers

Honours

• Division 2 (Second Division)
  • Champions (2): 1966–67, 2001–02
• Championnat National (Third Division)
  • Champions (1): 1997–98
• Ligue de Corse (Corsican League)
  • Champions (9): 1920, 1921, 1934, 1939, 1948, 1950, 1955, 1964, 1994

References

External links

• Official website (Corsican)