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AC Ajaccio

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Ajaccio
Full nameAthletic Club Ajaccien
Nickname(s)L'ours (The Bears)[1]
Founded1910; 114 years ago (1910)
GroundStade Michel Moretti
Capacity10,446
OwnerHolding Ajaccio Imperial Corse Investissement
PresidentDaniele Bufano[2]
Head coachMathieu Chabert
LeagueLigue 2
2023–24Ligue 2, 15th of 20
Websitehttps://www.ac-ajaccio.corsica
Current season

Athletic Club Ajaccien (Corsican: Athletic Club Aiaccini), commonly referred to as AC Ajaccio, ACA or simply Ajaccio, is a French professional football club based in the city of Ajaccio on the island of Corsica. The club was founded in 1910 and plays in the Ligue 2, the second tier of the French football league system. Ajaccio play their home matches at the Stade Michel Moretti and are rivals with fellow Corsican club Bastia, with whom they contest the Corsica derby (Derby Corse).[3]

History

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Depending on sources, it is agreed that Ajaccio began playing in 1909–10. Their adopted colors are red and white stripes. Though they used to play in what was previously utilised 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 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 to cause and shield themselves from violence. This final was abandoned and replayed much later.

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

In 1967, the team became the first Corsican club to play in France's top division. Prior to the 2022–23 season, they were most recently in Ligue 1 in the 2013–14 season, when they were relegated after finishing in last place, following a spell of three seasons in the top flight; the drop was confirmed with defeat at neighbours Bastia.[4]

In November 2014, Olivier Pantaloni returned for a third spell as manager.[5] His team came third in 2017–18, qualifying for the play-offs, where they beat Le Havre in a semi-final marred by violence on and off the pitch,[6] before losing the final to Toulouse.[7] The club were denied promotion in 2019–20 when the season was curtailed with ten games remaining due to the coronavirus pandemic; Ajaccio were one point off the top two, who were the only ones to go up as the play-offs could not be contested.[8] In the 2021–22 Ligue 2 season, Ajaccio were promoted back to Ligue 1 after finishing second.[9] However, with three games in hand, the club were relegated directly back down.[10]

On 27 June 2024, Ajaccio was administratively relegated to the Championnat National by the Direction Nationale du Contrôle de Gestion (DNCG) due to financial issues.[11] They appealed the decision, and on the 11th of July 2024, they were reinstated in Ligue 2 for the 2024–25 season.[12]

Players

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Current squad

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As of 14 October 2024[13][14]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
2 DF France FRA Thibault Campanini
3 DF France FRA Stephen Quemper
4 MF France FRA Mickaël Barreto
5 DF France FRA Clément Vidal
6 MF France FRA Thomas Mangani
7 FW Tunisia TUN Yoann Touzghar
8 MF Algeria ALG Mehdi Puch
9 FW Republic of the Congo CGO Christopher Ibayi
10 MF France FRA Valentin Jacob
11 FW Ivory Coast CIV Ben Hamed Touré
12 DF France FRA Matthieu Huard
16 GK France FRA François-Joseph Sollacaro
17 FW France FRA Everson Junior
No. Pos. Nation Player
19 FW Australia AUS Al Hassan Toure
20 MF Comoros COM Mohamed Youssouf
21 MF Algeria ALG Ivane Chegra
22 FW France FRA Moussa Soumano
23 DF Romania ROU Tony Strata
25 MF France FRA Julien Anziani
26 MF France FRA Tim Jabol-Folcarelli
27 FW The Gambia GAM Aboubakary Kanté
30 GK France FRA Ghjuvanni Quilichini
31 DF France FRA Jésah Ayessa
43 DF Burkina Faso BFA Arsène Kouassi
88 DF Ivory Coast CIV Axel Bamba
99 FW France FRA Benjamin Santelli

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
GK France FRA Mathieu Michel (at Valenciennes until 30 June 2025)

Notable past players

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

Club officials

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As of 17 July 2024
Position Staff
President France Christian Leca
Sports coordinator France Johan Cavalli
Sporting Director France Patrick Vernet
Head Coach France Mathieu Chabert
Assistant Head Coach France Baptiste Giobbi
Goalkeeping Coach France Thierry Debès
Fitness Coach France Joseph Leandri
Youth Coach France Antoine Hoareau
Doctor France Guillaume Lotito
Physiotherapist France Jean-Xavier Stefanaggi
Italy Florian Renucci
Italy Ghjuvan Andria Piereschi

Coaches

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Honours

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  • Division 2 (Second Division)
  • 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

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  1. ^ "#324 – AC Ajaccio : l'Orsu" (in French). Footnickname. 15 November 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  2. ^ "DANIELE BUFANO, NOUVEAU PRÉSIDENT DE L'AC AJACCIO" (in French). AC Ajaccio. 13 July 2023. Retrieved 28 June 2024.
  3. ^ Willis, Craig; Hughes, Will; Bober, Sergiusz. "ECMI Minorities Blog. National and Linguistic Minorities in the Context of Professional Football across Europe: Five Examples from Non-kin State Situations". ECMI. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  4. ^ "Berbatov inspires Monaco to win, Ajaccio relegated". Taipei Times. AFP. 22 April 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  5. ^ "Olivier Pantaloni joins AC Ajaccio on two year deal". Get Football News France. 6 November 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  6. ^ "Four sent off as Ajaccio win chaotic Le Havre play-off". 21 May 2018. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  7. ^ "Ligue 1. Toulouse, vainqueur face à Ajaccio, est maintenu" [Ligue 1. Toulouse, winner against Ajaccio, stay up]. Ouest-France (in French). 27 May 2018. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  8. ^ "AC Ajaccio : le président persiste et signe pour les barrages !" [AC Ajaccio: the president persists and points towards playoffs!] (in French). Onze Mondiale. 30 April 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  9. ^ "AC Ajaccio bring Ligue 1 football back to Corsica". ligue1.com.
  10. ^ "PSG close on title with Ajaccio win". ligue1.com.
  11. ^ Rossi, Patrick (27 June 2024). "Ligue 2 : l'AC Ajaccio relégué en national par la DNCG". France Bleu (in French). Retrieved 29 June 2024.
  12. ^ "Football. L'AC Ajaccio réintégré en Ligue 2 par la DNCG". corsematin.com. 11 July 2024.
  13. ^ "I ghjucatori" (in French). AC Ajaccio. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  14. ^ "L'heure de la reprise a sonné!" (in French). AC Ajaccio. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
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