AC Ajaccio explained

Clubname:Ajaccio
Upright:0.6
Fullname:Athletic Club Ajaccien
Nickname:L'ours (The Bears)[1]
Ground:Stade Michel-Moretti
Capacity:10,446
Owner:Holding Ajaccio Imperial Corse Investissement
Chrtitle:President
Chairman:Daniele Bufano[2]
Mgrtitle:Head coach
Manager:Mathieu Chabert
Website:https://www.ac-ajaccio.corsica
Current:2024–25 AC Ajaccio season
Pattern La1:_ajaccio2425h
Pattern B1:_ajaccio2425h
Pattern Ra1:_ajaccio2425h
Pattern Sh1:_ajaccio2425h
Pattern So1:_3_stripes_red
Leftarm1:FFFFFF
Body1:FFFFFF
Rightarm1:FFFFFF
Shorts1:FFFFFF
Socks1:FFFFFF
Pattern La2:_ajaccio2425a
Pattern B2:_ajaccio2425a
Pattern Ra2:_ajaccio2425a
Pattern Sh2:_ajaccio2425a
Pattern So2:_bayern2122al
Leftarm2:000000
Body2:000000
Rightarm2:000000
Shorts2:000000
Socks2:000000

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

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

Current squad

[13] [14]

Notable past players

For a complete list of AC Ajaccio players, see .

Club officials

PositionStaff
President Christian Leca
Sports coordinator Johan Cavalli
Sporting Director Patrick Vernet
Head Coach [Vacant |- | Assistant Head Coach ||{{flagicon|FRA}} Vacant |- | Goalkeeping Coach ||{{flagicon|FRA}} [[Thierry Debès]]|-| Fitness Coach || Joseph Leandri|-| Youth Coach || |-| Doctor || Guillaume Lotito|-| Physiotherapist || Jean-Xavier Stefanaggi
Florian Renucci
Ghjuvan Andria Piereschi|}

Honours

  • 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

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site:
    1. 324 – AC Ajaccio : l'Orsu
    . 15 November 2020 . fr . Footnickname . 31 August 2022.
  2. Web site: DANIELE BUFANO, NOUVEAU PRÉSIDENT DE L'AC AJACCIO . 28 June 2024 . 13 July 2023 . AC Ajaccio . fr.
  3. Web site: 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 . 27 March 2023.
  4. News: Berbatov inspires Monaco to win, Ajaccio relegated . 3 May 2020 . Taipei Times . AFP . 22 April 2014.
  5. News: Olivier Pantaloni joins AC Ajaccio on two year deal . 3 May 2020 . Get Football News France . 6 November 2014.
  6. News: Four sent off as Ajaccio win chaotic Le Havre play-off . 3 May 2020 . 21 May 2018.
  7. News: Ligue 1. Toulouse, vainqueur face à Ajaccio, est maintenu. Ligue 1. Toulouse, winner against Ajaccio, stay up . 3 May 2020 . Ouest-France . 27 May 2018 . fr.
  8. News: AC Ajaccio : le président persiste et signe pour les barrages !. AC Ajaccio: the president persists and points towards playoffs!. 3 May 2020 . Onze Mondiale . 30 April 2020 . fr.
  9. Web site: AC Ajaccio bring Ligue 1 football back to Corsica. ligue1.com.
  10. Web site: PSG close on title with Ajaccio win. ligue1.com.
  11. Web site: Rossi . Patrick . 27 June 2024 . Ligue 2 : l'AC Ajaccio relégué en national par la DNCG . 29 June 2024 . . Fr.
  12. Web site: Football. L'AC Ajaccio réintégré en Ligue 2 par la DNCG. corsematin.com. 11 July 2024.
  13. Web site: I ghjucatori . AC Ajaccio. fr. 23 November 2019.
  14. News: L'heure de la reprise a sonné! . AC Ajaccio. fr. 3 July 2021.