Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club (often simply known as AS Monaco or Monaco) are a Monégasque football club based in the Principality of Monaco. They play in the Ligue 1 (formerly known as the French Première Division) and are one of the most successful clubs in French football, having won seven league titles and five Coupe de France trophies. They have also regularly competed in European football, becoming runners-up in both the UEFA Cup Winner's Cup and UEFA Champions League in 1992 and 2004 respectively.
The club are the only team within the French football system not based in France itself, being based in the sovereign principality of Monaco. They enjoyed numerous successes in the 1970s and late 1980s under the managerial tenures of Lucien Leduc and Arsène Wenger, during which they were amongst the leading lights of European football. Their traditional colours are red and white, being affectionately known as Les Rouge et Blanc (The Red and Whites). Monaco currently play at the Stade Louis II in Fontvieille, their home since 1985, and are members of the European Club Association.
History
Monaco were founded on August 23, 1924 as an unification of numerous local clubs based in the principality. The club's early years were spent in the amateur regional divisions of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, rising rapidly between the leagues in the 1920s. In 1933, Monaco were invited by the French Football Federation to turn professional. The Monégasques' first year of second division football ended in failure however, as they were relegated to the amateur leagues the following year. By 1948, AS Monaco reacquired its professional status and returned to the French second division; they subsequently consistently finished in its upper echelons, with this sustained period of effort resulting in promotion to the French first division for the first time in 1953.
In 1960, AS Monaco's first iconic coach Lucien Leduc led the club to its first professional trophy, the Coupe de France, beating AS Saint-Étienne 4-2 in extra time. This initial success was bettered even further in the following year, with the club winning the French Championship for the first time in its history, qualifying for the European Cup. Leduc subsequently led the club to its first League and Cup Double in 1963. Upon Leduc's departure in 1963, Monaco endured a barren run, entrenched in the middle half of the league for the best half of the next decade and alternating between the first and second divisions after 1963. In 1975, Jean-Louis Campora, son of former president Charles Campora, became chairman of the club. In his second season, he brought back Leduc, who immediately won the club promotion to the first division and won them the championship the following year in 1978. Leduc subsequently left the club again in 1979, succeeded by Lucien Muller and Gérard Banide, both of whom were unable to halt the club's dissent.
In 1986, famed Ajax manager István Kovács, who succeeded Rinus Michels and honed his total football ideals with the Dutch champions, came out of a three-year hiatus to manage Monaco, but even he could not bring them success. With the club facing a second barren spell, they signed legendary future Arsenal manager Arséne Wenger, who had hitherto been relatively unknown, managing Nancy without much material success. Wenger's reign saw the club enjoying one of the most successful periods of their history, signing several talented players, including future legends George Weah, Glenn Hoddle, Jürgen Klinsmann and Youri Djorkaeff, his youth team policies garnering future World Cup winners Emmanuel Petit, Lilian Thuram and Thierry Henry, winning the league in his first season in charge (1988) and the Coupe de France in 1989 and 1991, with the club consistently competing in the latter stages of the European Cup and regularly challenging for the league title.[1] The club could have had even further successes in this period, as it emerged in 1993 that bitter rivals Olympique Marseille had indulged in match fixing and numerous improprieties, a view that Wenger had long held.[1] In 1995, after being blocked by the Monaco board from opening discussions with German powerhouses Bayern Munich for their vacant managerial post upon having been shortlisted for the role, Wenger was released from the club, several weeks after the post had already been fulfilled.[1][2]
After Wenger's departure, the club endured another barren run, only winning the league two times afterwards, in 1997 and 2000, and amidst rumours of the club facing numerous financial difficulties, Campora left the club in 2003, with Monaco facing relegation into the second division due to a huge deficit and a major dearth of investors. His replacement, Pierre Svara, took charge on a transitional basis in 2003, with the club enjoying a remarkable run towards the final of the UEFA Champions League, led by former French national team captain Didier Deschamps and with the team featuring stalwarts such as Fernando Morientes, Ludovic Giuly, Jerome Rothen and Dado Prso, beating Real Madrid and Chelsea along the way. Even with this successful run, Svara was not retained as chairman and was soon replaced by Michel Pastor. One of Pastor's first tasks upon taking over the helm of the club was to hold onto the players who had turned the club into one of the best in Europe; however, he failed to convince them to stay, with their replacements not being able to replicate their previous successes. After four years, six coaches and nothing apart from mid-table finishes, Pastor left the club amid severe criticism of his management skills.
In 2008, Jérôme de Bontin, a leading shareholder of the club since 2003, took charge of the club, asserting that he would enact a complete reorganization of the administration. Under his reign the club brought in players such as Park Joo-Young and Freddy Adu; however, they did not witness much success on the pitch, going through a torrid season and only managing a mid-table place. De Bontin resigned at the end of the season, replaced by banker Etienne Franzi and a new board of directors.[3] In July 2009, Brazilian manager Ricardo Gomes was replaced by former Cannes and Rennes coach Guy Lacombe, inheriting a youthful squad featuring numerous highly lauded youth team prospects, including Cédric Mongongu, Serge Gakpé, Vincent Muratori, Frédéric Nimani, Nicolas N'Koulou, Yohan Mollo and Yohann Thuram-Ulien.[4]
Stadiums
Stade Louis II's iconic nine arches.
Monaco have played at the original Stade Louis II stadium since its beginnings in 1939; in 1985, the stadium was replaced with the current iteration, built on a nearby site consisting of land reclaimed from the Mediterranean Sea, a recurring feature of its seaside Fontvieille surrounds. Housing a total of 18,500 supporters and noted for its iconic nine arches, it has hosted numerous athletic events and European cup finals, including each instance of the annual UEFA Super Cup. The ground's pitch has been changed numerous times of late, and at the beginning of the 2008-09 season underwent numerous renovations, including the installation of two large screens. The club train in nearby La Turbie at a newly-built training facility featuring state-of-the-art gyms, pools and conference centres.
Players
First-team squad
As of September 9, 2009.[5]
Players out on loan
Notable players
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Goalkeepers :
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Defenders :
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Defensive Midfielders :
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Attacking Midfielders :
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Forwards :
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Managers
Honours
Domestic
- Ligue 1
- Winners (7): 1961, 1963, 1978, 1982, 1988, 1997, 2000
- French Cup
- Winners (5): 1960, 1963, 1980, 1985, 1991
European
Records
References
External links
Etienne Franzi
Elek Schwartz :1950-1952
Angelo Grizzetti :1952-1953
Ludwic Dupal :1953-1956
Anton Marek :1956-1957
Roger Courtois :1963-1965
Ruben Bravo :1972-1974
Armand Forcherio :1976
Ricardo Gomes : 2007-2009
Victor Ikpeba
Shabani Nonda
George Weah
