Grenoble Foot 38 Explained

Clubname:Grenoble
Fullname:Grenoble Foot 38
Nickname:GF38
Ground:Stade des Alpes
Capacity:20,068
Chairman:Joël Avignon
Manager:Laurent Peyrelade
Website:https://www.gf38.fr
Current:2023–24 Grenoble Foot 38 season
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Grenoble Foot 38, commonly referred to as simply Grenoble or GF38, is a French association football club based in Grenoble. The club plays its home matches at the Stade des Alpes, a sports complex based in the heart of the city, and wears white and blue.

The original incarnation of the club was founded in 1911 and, in 1997, was formed into the club that exists today as a result of a merger. Grenoble currently plays in Ligue 2, the second level of French football, after having gone into bankruptcy and relegation to the fifth level of French football in 2011.

History

The club was founded in 1911 as Football Club de Grenoble. In 1997, a merger of Olympique Grenoble Isère and Norcap Olympique led to the Grenoble Foot 38 incarnation. Olympique Grenoble Isère played in Ligue 1 in the 1960–61 and 1962–63 seasons.

In 2004, Grenoble Foot was acquired by Index Holdings, a Japanese mobile software company, therefore becoming the first French football club to have foreign owners. The price of the deal was around €2 million.[1] [2] The new owners invested in the Stade des Alpes, a new ground with an initial capacity of 20,000 which opened in February 2008.[3] Grenoble finished the 2007–08 Ligue 2 season in third place, thus returning to Ligue 1 for the first time since 1963.

In the 2008–09 Ligue 1 season, Grenoble finished 13th.[2] However, after losing their first eleven games of the following season, they were eventually relegated with six games remaining amidst severe financial problems.[4] [5] In the same season, Grenoble reached the semi-finals of the Coupe de France for the only time, defeating Monaco 2–0 at home in the quarter-finals on 18 March 2009,[6] and losing by a single goal to Rennes in the semi-finals on 21 April.[7]

The professional football club was liquidated in July 2011 with debts of €2.9 million, and relegated administratively to Championnat de France Amateur 2, the fifth tier.[8] [9] Index provided false financial statements during their ownership of the club.[2] [10]

Now an amateur side, Grenoble won promotion from Championnat de France Amateur 2 at the first attempt in 2012, and were champions of the 2016–17 Championnat de France Amateur, returning to Championnat National for the 2017–18 season.[11] They secured their second successive promotion to Ligue 2 on 27 May 2018, after an aggregate play-off victory over Bourg-en-Bresse.[12]

Name changes

Players

Notable players

See main article: category.

Coaching staff

Position Name
ManagerVincent Hognon
Assistant ManagersFrédéric Guéguen
Marama Vahirua
Goalkeeping CoachArnaud Genty

Managers

Honours

Notes and References

  1. News: Football. Il était une fois... le GF38, le rêve de Grenoble. Football. Once upon a time there was... GF38, Grenoble's dream . 21 June 2018 . France 3 . 4 January 2015 . fr.
  2. News: La tragique déroute du Grenoble Foot 38 . The tragic decline of Grenoble Foot 38. 21 June 2018 . France 24 . 8 July 2011 . fr.
  3. Web site: Grenoble Foot 38 celebrates the long awaited opening of its new professional soccer stadium, "Stade des Alpes" . Index Holdings . 17 May 2008 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090122082151/http://www.index-hd.com/english/group/groupnews.php?id=105 . 22 January 2009 .
  4. News: Grenoble relégué en L2. Grenoble relegated to L2 . 21 June 2018 . Le Figaro . 10 April 2010 . fr.
  5. News: Le GF38 relégué en Ligue 2... Grenoble, et maintenant ? . GF38 relegated to Ligue 2... Grenoble, and now?. 21 June 2018 . Le Dauphiné . 12 April 2010 . fr.
  6. News: [EN IMAGES] Coupe de France : quand Grenoble sortait Monaco en 2009 et se qualifiait pour les demi-finales]. [IN IMAGES] Coupe de France: when Grenoble eliminated Monaco in 2009 and qualified for the semi-finals. 24 January 2023 . Le Dauphiné . 9 February 2021 . French.
  7. News: Historic final spot for Rennes . 24 January 2023 . Sky Sports . 21 April 2009.
  8. Web site: Le club de football de Grenoble en liquidation judiciaire. Grenoble's football club in judicial liquidation. Le Monde. fr. 7 July 2011. 8 November 2017.
  9. Web site: Grenoble: Le GF38 relégué en CFA2. Grenoble: GF38 relegated to CFA2. Canal+. fr. 27 July 2011. 8 November 2017.
  10. News: Guiho . Mickael . Arrestation du président d'Index, ex-propriétaire japonais du Grenoble foot 38 . Arrest of president of Index, Japanese former owner of Grenoble Foot 38. 21 June 2018 . France 3 . 28 May 2014 . fr.
  11. News: Le GF38 officiellement promu en National ! . GF38 officially promoted to National!. 21 June 2018 . Le Dauphiné . 13 May 2017 . fr.
  12. News: Grenoble monte en L2, Bourg-en-Bresse descend en National. Grenoble climb to L2, Bourg-en-Bresse fall to National . 21 June 2018 . L'Équipe . 27 May 2018 . fr.