AC Ajaccio

Athletic Club Ajaccio (French pronunciation: ​[aʒaksjo]; commonly referred to as AC Ajaccio or simply Ajaccio) is a French association football club based in the city of Ajaccioon the island of Corsica. The club was founded in 1910 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the first division of French football, having finished 2nd in the 2010–11 campaign in Ligue 2. The club president is Alain Orsoni and the first-team is currently coached by interim manager and former youth coach Christian Bracconi,^[1] following the sacking of Fabrizio Ravanelli on 2 November 2013.^[2] Ajaccio play their home matches at the Stade François Coty and are rivals with fellow island club SC Bastia, with whom they contest theDerby Corse (English: Corsica derby).

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Historical information[edit]

Depending on sources, it is agreed that Ajaccio began playing in 1909–10. Their adopted colours 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 withGazélec Ajaccio and SC 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 as cause and limitation of violence. This final was abandoned and replayed much later.

A.C.A. became a professional team in 1965 thanks to the ambitious assembly of a team by leaders of the club. 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.

Players[edit]

Current squad[edit]

As of 14 January 2014.^[3]

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Guillermo Ochoa 2 DF Cédric Hengbart 3 DF Grenddy Perozo 4 MF Ricardo Faty 5 DF Denis Tonucci 6 DF Ronald Zubar 7 MF Benjamin André 9 FW Eduardo 11 MF Sigamary Diarra 13 FW Aboubacar Camara 14 MF Mehdi Mostefa 15 DF Claude Dielna (on loan from Olympiacos)

No. Position Player 16 GK Oumar Sissoko 17 DF Laurent Bonnart 18 MF Johan Cavalli 19 MF Paul Lasne 21 FW Salim Arrache 22 FW Gadji Tallo (on loan from Roma) 23 DF Joshua Nadeau 24 MF Claude Gonçalves 27 FW Yuriy Yakovenko 28 MF Benoît Pedretti 29 FW Dennis Oliech 30 GK Anthony Scribe

Out on loan[edit]

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

No. Position Player — MF Fabrice Begeorgi (at Uzès Pont du Gard) 25 MF Brandon Deville (at Westerlo)

No. Position Player 20 FW Chakhir Belghazouani (at R. White Star Bruxelles)

Notable past players[edit]

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

•  Carl Medjani
•  François M'Pelé
•  Dado Pršo
•  Dominique Baratelli
•  Rolland Courbis
•  Sébastien Squillaci
•  Marius Trésor

Managers[edit]

Jean Pietri (pre–1955)  Félix Pironti (1955–57)  Michel Brusseaux (1957–58)  Jean Laune (1958–59)  Jean-Pierre Knayer (1959–63)  Mohammed Azzouz (1963–64)  Ernst Stojaspal (1964–65)  Alberto Muro (1965–70)  Louis Hon (1970–71)  Antoine Cuissard (1971–72)  André Mori (1972–73)

Louis Hon (1973–74)  Lulu Accorsi (1974–75)  Alain Mistre (1975–76)  François Paoli (1976–78)  Mohammed Azzouz (1978–79) 1979–92 : unknown  Baptiste Gentili (July 1, 1992–June 30, 2001)  Rolland Courbis (July 1, 2001–June 30, 2003)  Dominique Bijotat (July 1, 2002–Sept 21, 2004)  Olivier Pantaloni (2004)  Rolland Courbis (Feb 8, 2005–Jan 11, 2006)

Oliver Pantoni (interim) (Jan 11, 2006–Jan 12, 2006)  José Pasqualetti (Jan 12, 2006–June 30, 2006)  Ruud Krol (July 1, 2006–June 30, 2007)  Gernot Rohr (July 1, 2007–Aug 30, 2008)  José Pasqualetti (Sept 1, 2008–Feb 23, 2009)  Olivier Pantaloni (Feb 23, 2009–June 13, 2012)  Alex Dupont (June 22, 2012–Dec 17, 2012)  Albert Emon (Dec 21, 2012–May 28, 2013)  Fabrizio Ravanelli (June 7, 2013–Nov 2, 2013)  Christian Bracconi (interim) (Nov 3, 2013–)

Honours[edit]

• 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