AC Ajaccio

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Ajaccio

Full name	Athletic Club Ajaccien
Nickname(s)	L'ours (The Bears)[1]
Founded	1910; 114 years ago (1910)
Ground	Stade François Coty
Capacity	10,446
Owner	Holding Ajaccio Imperial Corse Investissement
President	Daniele Bufano
Head coach	Olivier Pantaloni
League	Ligue 2
2022–23	Ligue 1, 18th of 20 (relegated)
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 professional 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,^[2] following the sacking of Christian Bracconi in October 2014.^[3] 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).^[4]

History[edit]

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.^[5]

In November 2014, Olivier Pantaloni returned for a third spell as manager.^[6] 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,^[7] before losing the final to Toulouse.^[8] 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.^[9] In the 2021–22 Ligue 2 season, Ajaccio were promoted back to Ligue 1 after finishing second.^[10] However, with three games in hand, the club were relegated directly back down.^[11]

Players[edit]

Current squad[edit]

As of 30 January 2024^[12][13]

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 Mathieu Michel 2 DF  LUX Maxime Chanot 3 DF  FRA Stephen Quemper 4 MF  FRA Mickaël Barreto 5 DF  FRA Clément Vidal 6 MF  FRA Thomas Mangani 7 MF  FRA Riad Nouri 9 FW  TUN Yoann Touzghar 10 MF  FRA Valentin Jacob 11 FW  CIV Ben Hamed Touré 14 FW  BFA Cyrille Bayala 16 GK  FRA François-Joseph Sollacaro 17 FW  FRA Everson Junior 18 FW  FRA Christopher Ibayi

No. Pos. Nation Player 19 FW  AUS Al Hassan Toure 20 MF  COM Mohamed Youssouf 21 DF  GLP Cédric Avinel 22 FW  FRA Moussa Soumano 25 DF  FRA Julien Benhaim 26 MF  FRA Tim Jabol-Folcarelli 27 DF  FRA Thibault Campanini 29 MF  MAR Hamza Sakhi 30 GK  FRA Ghjuvanni Quilichini 31 DF  ROU Tony Strata 35 DF  ALG Anthony Khelifa 37 MF  ALG Mehdi Puch-Herrantz 39 DF  FRA Salomon Abergel 44 DF  FRA Josué Escartin (on loan from Brest)

Out on loan[edit]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  ALG Ivane Chegra (at Cholet until 30 June 2024)

Notable past players[edit]

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

Club officials[edit]

As of 6 November 2014

Position	Staff
President	Christian Leca
Sports coordinator	Johan Cavalli
Sporting Director	Patrick Vernet
Head Coach	Olivier Pantaloni
Assistant Head Coach	Jordan Galtier
Goalkeeping Coach	Thierry Debès
Fitness Coach	Tom Frère
Youth Coach	Damien Tibéri
Doctor	Guillaume Llotito
Physiotherapist	Jean-Xavier Stefanaggi Florian Renucci Ghjuvan Andria Piereschi
Intendent	Jean-André Paccioni

Coaches[edit]

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

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to AC Ajaccio.

• AC Ajaccio at Soccerway