AC Ajaccio

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AC Ajaccio

Full name	Athletic Club Ajaccien
Nickname(s)	L'ours (The Bears)
Founded	1910; 111 years ago (1910)
Ground	Stade François Coty
Capacity	10,446
Chairman	Christian Leca
Manager	Olivier Pantaloni
League	Ligue 2
2020–21	13th
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

Athletic Club Ajaccio (Corsican: Athletic Club Aiacciu), commonly referred to as AC Ajaccio, ACA 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 plays in Ligue 2. The club president is Christian Leca, and the first-team is coached by manager Olivier Pantaloni,^[1] following the sacking of Christian Bracconi in October 2014.^[2] Ajaccio play their home matches at the Stade François Coty and are rivals with fellow Corsican club Bastia, with whom they contest the Corsica derby (Derby Corse).

Historical information[]

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 , father-in-law of club president . 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. 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.^[3]

In November 2014, Olivier Pantaloni returned for a third spell as manager.^[4] 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,^[5] before losing the final to Toulouse.^[6] 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.^[7]

Players[]

Current squad[]

As of 31 August 2021.^[8][9]

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 Benjamin Leroy 2 DF  COD Gédéon Kalulu 3 DF  CIV Ismaël Diallo 4 MF  FRA Mickaël Barreto 5 MF  FRA Riad Nouri 6 MF  FRA Mathieu Coutadeur (captain) 7 FW  FRA Mounaïm El Idrissy 8 MF  FRA Vincent Marchetti 9 FW  FRA Gaëtan Courtet 10 MF  ALB Qazim Laçi 11 FW  CGO Bevic Moussiti-Oko 12 FW  FRA Taïryk Arconte

No. Pos. Nation Player 14 FW  BFA Cyrille Bayala 15 DF  FRA Clément Vidal (on loan from Montpellier) 16 GK  FRA François-Joseph Sollacaro 18 FW  BFA Kouamé Botué 19 MF  FRA Alassane N'Diaye 20 MF  COM Mohamed Youssouf 21 DF  GLP Cédric Avinel 22 MF  FRA Yanis Cimignani 25 DF  CMR Oumar Gonzalez 29 FW  FRA Florian Chabrolle 33 MF  FRA Everson 40 GK  FRA Ghjuvanni Quilichini

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 — DF  GAB Sidney Obissa (on loan at Olympic Charleroi) — MF  FRA Tony Njiké (on loan at Cholet) — MF  FRA Lucas Pellegrini (on loan at Bastia-Borgo)

No. Pos. Nation Player — FW  FRA Simon Elisor (on loan at Villefranche) — FW  COM Faiz Mattoir (on loan at Cholet)

Notable past players[]

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

Reserve squad[]

As of 12 October 2020. ^[10]

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 Dumenicu Borelli — GK  FRA Lucas Marsella — DF  FRA Pierre-Joseph Bucchini — DF  FRA Théo Emmanuelli — DF  FRA Baptiste Susini — MF  FRA Lucien Alessandri — MF  FRA Mala Baro

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  FRA Paul-Baptiste Behe Leonardi — MF  FRA Pierre-Ange De Franchi — MF  FRA Noé Messin — FW  FRA Florian Danho — FW  FRA Zakariy Naili — FW  BFA Kouamé Botué — FW  FRA Taïryk Arconte

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[]

• Soccerway Profile