Gazélec Ajaccio

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GFC Ajaccio
Gazelec Ajaccio logo.svg
Full nameGazélec Football Club Ajaccio
Nickname(s)Le Gaz (The Gas)
Le Bistrot (The Bistro)
I diavuli rossi (The Reds Devils)
Les Gaziers (The Gasmen)
Founded1960; 61 years ago (1960)
GroundStade Ange Casanova
Ajaccio (Corse-du-Sud)
Capacity8,000
PresidentFrancois Tagliaglioli
CoachDavid Ducourtioux
LeagueNational 3 Group D
2019–2017th (relegated)
WebsiteClub website

Gazélec Football Club Ajaccio (Corsican: Gazélec Football Club Aiacciu), commonly referred to as GFC Ajaccio, GFCA, Gazélec Ajaccio or simply Gazélec (French: [ɡazelɛk]), is a French football club from Ajaccio, Corsica. Founded in 1960, Gazélec play in the Championnat National 3, the fifth tier of football in France.

History[]

The club was founded in 1960 as result of the merger of two small Ajaccio clubs, Football Club Ajaccien (commonly known as FC Ajaccio), founded in 1930 and Gazélec Corse Club, founded in 1910.

Gazélec reached the semi-finals of the 2011–12 Coupe de France, while playing in the third-tier Championnat National. They hosted home games in the later rounds at the larger Stade François Coty, home of AC Ajaccio.[1]

On 15 May 2015, Gazélec were promoted to Ligue 1 for the first time in the club's history, following a 3–2 win over Niort with two goals by John Tshibumbu. It was their second consecutive promotion and fourth in five years. Gazelec Ajaccio started off the 2015–16 Ligue 1 season as one of the smallest teams to compete in the division's history.[2] They were instantly relegated, in 19th place.[3] In June 2019, the club went back down to the third tier after a play-off loss to Le Mans.[4] They were relegated again at the end of the truncated 2019–20 Championnat National season, after being in the relegation places when the season was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5] In 2021, they suffered administrative relegation to Championnat National 3 for financial reasons.[6][7]

Honours[]

  • Championnat de France Amateurs
    • Champions: 1963, 1965, 1966, 1968, 2002–03, 2010–11
  • Corsican Championship
    • Champions: 1937, 1938, 1956, 1957, 1961

Rivalries[]

The club has rivalries with the other two Corsican professional clubs: SC Bastia and AC Ajaccio, the latter one playing the Ajaccio Derby with Gazélec. For many years, Gazélec played in a lower division than their city rivals. The side also has rivalry with another smaller club on the island, FC Bastia-Borgo.[8][9][10][11]

Players[]

Current squad[]

As of 1 January 2021[12]''

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 France FRA Arnaud Balijon
3 DF France FRA Alexandre Durimel
4 DF France FRA Rodéric Filippi
6 DF France FRA Grégoire Pineau
7 FW Guinea GUI Ismaël Camara
8 MF France FRA Matthieu Guerbert
9 FW France FRA Maxime Pélican
10 FW Belgium BEL David Pollet
11 MF France FRA Ludovic Gamboa
14 DF France FRA Jean-Pierre Morgan
No. Pos. Nation Player
16 GK France FRA
17 DF Portugal POR
20 MF France FRA Charly Pereira-Lage
21 DF France FRA Malick Lopy
22 DF France FRA
23 MF France FRA
28 FW France FRA Maxime Penneteau (on loan from Reims)
29 MF France FRA Lucas Daury
30 GK France FRA Thibault Cottes
31 MF France FRA Christian Gyeboaho

Coaches[]

  • 1960–1961:
  • 1961–1971: Pierre Cahuzac
  • 1971–1976:
  • 1976–1978: Jean Luciano
  • 1978–1979:
  • 1979–1980:
  • 1980–1982:
  • 1982–1988:

References[]

  1. ^ "Football : Lyon en finale de la Coupe" [Football: Lyon in the Cup final]. Le Figaro (in French). Reuters. 10 April 2012. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  2. ^ "French Ligue 1: Gazelec Ajaccio complete fairytale rise from obscurity to win promotion". The Daily Telegraph. AFP. 16 May 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  3. ^ "Lorient 1–0 Gazélec Ajaccio" (in French). Football 365. 14 May 2016. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  4. ^ "France: Fodé Camara et Gazelec descendent en National 1, le Mans monte en Ligue 2 !" [France: Fodé Camara and Gazélec relegated to National 1, Le Mans promoted to Ligue 2!] (in French). Firawa Sport. 2 June 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  5. ^ "National : Il y aura deux promus et quatre relégués affirme Noël Le Graët" (in French). foot-national.com. 29 April 2020.
  6. ^ "DNCG : un club de N2 rétrogradé, les décisions de la semaine" (in French). foot-national.com. 15 June 2021.
  7. ^ "La relégation en N3 confirmée en appel pour le GFC Ajaccio" (in French). maligue2.fr. 9 July 2021.
  8. ^ Métairie, Romain (22 May 2018). "Les tristes dérapages du football corse" [The sad moments of lawlessness in French football]. Le Parisien (in French). Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  9. ^ "Ligue 2 : Brest accroché, le Gazélec remporte le derby d'Ajaccio" [Ligue 2: Brest held, Gazélec win the Ajaccio derby] (in French). France Info. 2 November 2018. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  10. ^ O'Keefe, Chris (22 November 2015). "Corsican derby falls foul of bad weather". Sports Mole. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  11. ^ "Derby della Corsica a porte chiuse: Ajaccio dietro la neo-promossa Bastia" [Corsica Derby behind closed doors: Ajaccio against newly promoted Bastia] (in Italian). Derby Derby Derby. 23 August 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  12. ^ "Le Groupe Professionnel". gfca-foot.com. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  13. ^ "Ajaccio GFC : Ciccolini nommé entraîneur (off)" (in French). foot-national.com. 18 June 2019.
  14. ^ "Gazélec Ajaccio : François Ciccolini n'est plus l'entraîneur (off)" (in French). foot-national.com. 15 May 2020.
  15. ^ "Gazelec : David Ducourtioux nommé entraîneur !" (in French). foot-national.com. 25 May 2020.
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