Le Havre AC

Le Havre AC
	File:Le Havre AC logo.png
Full name	Le Havre Athletic Club
Nickname(s)	Le club doyen (The Dean Club),; Les Ciel et Marine (The Sky-and-Navy)
Founded	1872; 152 years ago
Ground	Stade Océane, ; Le Havre
Capacity	25,178
Chairman	Vincent Volpe
Manager	Oswald Tanchot
League	Ligue 2
2015–16	Ligue 2, 4th
Website	Club website
Home colours	Away colours

Le Havre Athletic Club (French pronunciation: [lə avʁ]; commonly referred to as Le Havre) is a French association football club based in Le Havre, Normandy. The club was founded originally as an athletics and rugby club in 1872.^[1] Le Havre currently plays in Ligue 2, the second level of French football, and plays its home matches at the Stade Océane.

Le Havre made its football debut in France's first-ever championship in 1899 and, on its debut, became the first French club outside of Paris to win the league. The club won the league the following season in 1900. Le Havre has yet to win the current first division of French football, Ligue 1, but has participated in the league 24 times; its last stint being during the 2008–09 season. The club's highest honour to date was winning the Coupe de France in 1959. Le Havre is captained by defender Steven Fortès. The main rivalries are "Derby Normand" with SM Caen and an always heated clash with Lens, located in the region of Nord-Pas-de-Calais.

History

It was in 1872 that a group of British residents formed Le Havre Athlétique,^[2] which played a hybrid form of football, a cross between rugby and association football, called "combination". Association football began being played on a regular basis in 1894.

In 1899, Le Havre became the first club from outside Paris to become French football champions. At the time the championship was organised by the USFSA. After being awarded a win over Iris Club Lillois in the semi-final by walkover, they were awarded the title after also receiving a walkover in the final against Club Français.^[3] They would also win the following year, with the final being a "re-match" of the forfeited 1899 final.

The club is famous for its notable youth investment program which develops and nurtures young talent,^{[citation needed]} with the vision of using them in the first team if they show enough promise. A vast amount of good young talent has gone on to make an impact at international level including Benjamin Mendy, Ibrahim Ba, Jean-Alain Boumsong, Lassana Diarra, Riyad Mahrez, Steve Mandanda, Vikash Dhorasoo, Paul Pogba and Dimitri Payet.

The club was on the receiving end of some high-profile illegal transfers, by which Charles N'Zogbia, Matthias Lepiller and Paul Pogba were signed by other clubs, allegedly without the proper compensation being paid.^{[citation needed]} The first two were arbitrated by FIFA, who ordered Newcastle United and Fiorentina to pay training compensation.

Club culture

Le Havre is known as 'les ciel et marine' in France, which translates as 'the sky and navy blues'. These colours were chosen by the club's English founders as they were those of their alma maters, the universities of Oxford and Cambridge: the anthem of the club is played to the melody of "God Save the Queen" to mark the English origins of the club:

"A jamais le premier
de tous les clubs français
ô H.A.C.
Fiers de tes origins
Fils d'Oxford et Cambridge
deux coulours font nôtre prestige
Ciel et marine!"

English translation:

"The first ever
of all French clubs
The H.A.C
Proud of your roots
Son of Oxford and Cambridge
two colors make our prestige
(the colors of the) sky and the sea!"

Players

Current squad

As of 2 September 2016.^[4]

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	FRA	Stephen Milosavljevic
2	DF	MAR	Issam Chebake
3	DF	FRA	Ferland Mendy
4	DF	FRA	Harold Moukoudi
5	MF	FRA	Thomas Ayasse
6	FW	MAR	Tarik Tissoudali
7	MF	FRA	Jean-Pascal Fontaine
8	MF	ALG	Zinedine Ferhat
9	FW	MLI	Mana Dembélé
10	FW	FRA	Mathieu Duhamel
11	MF	FRA	Ludovic Gamboa
15	DF	FRA	Samba Camara
16	GK	GLP	Yohann Thuram-Ulien
17	MF	FRA	Alexandre Bonnet


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
18	DF	CPV	Steven Fortès
19	MF	FRA	Sébastien Salles-Lamonge (on loan from Rennes)
20	DF	FRA	Grégoire Puel
21	DF	FRA	Dénys Bain
22	DF	FRA	Victor Lekhal
23	FW	EGY	Taher Mohamed (on loan from El Mokawloon)
24	MF	FRA	Rafik Guitane
25	DF	HUN	Barnabás Bese
26	DF	FRA	Cédric Cambon
27	FW	FRA	Ghislain Gimbert
28	FW	FRA	Alimani Gory
29	FW	FRA	Nathaël Julan
30	GK	BEN	Fabien Farnolle

Out on loan

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	FRA	Dylan Louiserre (on loan to Avranches)

Reserve squad

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	FRA	Yohan Blind
—	GK	FRA	Dan Delauney
—	DF	FRA	Paul Bougrat
—	DF	FRA	Jérémy Balmy
—	DF	FRA	Lenny Houelche
—	DF	FRA	Kévin Mendy
—	DF	FRA	Benoît Perre
—	DF	MTN	Demba Sow
—	MF	TOG	Sandro Agape
—	MF	FRA	Elton Boketsu
—	MF	GUI	Oumar Camara
—	MF	TUN	Yacine Chatar


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	FRA	Mansour Diallo
—	MF	FRA	Marvin Dubourg
—	MF	CIV	Gussouma Fofana
—	MF	FRA	Morgan Gereto
—	MF	FRA	Landry Koukoui
—	MF	FRA	Rénald Metelus
—	MF	MAD	Héry Randriantsara
—	MF	FRA	Drissa Traoré
—	FW	FRA	Jordan Cuvier
—	FW	FRA	Abdoul Diawara
—	FW	FRA	Adam Nkusu
—	FW	FRA	Jordan Vercleyen

Honours

File:Le Havre Athletic Club logo.svg

former logo

Ligue 2
- Winners (5) : 1938, 1959, 1985, 1991, 2008
- Runners-up (1) : 1950
Coupe de France
- Winners (1) : 1959
- Runners-up (1) : 1920
USFSA Championnat
- Winners (3) : 1899, 1900, 1919
Challenge international du Nord
- Winners (1) : 1900
Coupe Nationale
- Winners (2) : 1918, 1919
Challenge des Champions
- Winners (1) : 1959

Managerial history

3

References

^ http://www.lemonde.fr/sports/article/2009/05/15/avec-louvel-le-havre-est-devenu-un-club-de-ligue-2-selon-les-supporters_1193671_3242.html
^ "Historical Rugby Milestones – 1870s". The Daily Telegraph. UK. Retrieved 14 May 2006.
^ www.rsssf.com
^ "Effectif". hac-foot.com. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
^ "France – Trainers of First and Second Division Clubs on RSSSF". Retrieved 23 July 2007.

External links

Official site Template:Fr icon

[1] ttp://www.lemonde.fr/sports/article/2009/05/15/avec-louvel-le-havre-est-devenu-un-club-de-ligue-2-selon-les-supporters_1193671_3242.html

[1870s-2] "Historical Rugby Milestones – 1870s". The Daily Telegraph. UK. Retrieved 14 May 2006.

[3] www.rsssf.com

[4] "Effectif". hac-foot.com. Retrieved 2 September 2016.

[5] "France – Trainers of First and Second Division Clubs on RSSSF". Retrieved 23 July 2007.

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v t e Division 2 / Ligue 2 seasons
Division 2 (1933–2002)	1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02
Ligue 2 (2002–present)	2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
List of French second division champions