Gazélec Ajaccio

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 1910, Gazélec play in the Championnat National 2, the fourth tier of football in France.

GFC Ajaccio

Full name	Gazélec Football Club Ajaccio
Nickname(s)	Le Gaz (The Gas) Le Bistrot (The Bistro) I diavuli rossi (The Reds Devils) Les Gaziers (The Gasmen)
Founded	1910 (1910)
Ground	Stade Ange Casanova Ajaccio (Corse-du-Sud)
Capacity	8,000
President	Olivier Miniconi
Coach	David Ducourtioux
League	National 2 Group B
2019–20	17th (relegated)
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours

History

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]

Honours

• Ligue 2
  • Runners-up: 2014–15

• 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.[6][7][8][9]

Players

Current squad

As of 24 January 2020.[10]

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 Arnaud Balijon 3 DF  NGA Ibrahim Usman 4 DF  FRA Rodéric Filippi 5 DF  FRA Ahmed Guettaf 6 DF  FRA Grégoire Pineau 7 FW  FRA Keelan Lebon (on loan from Paris FC) 8 MF  FRA Virgile Piechocki 9 FW  FRA Maxime Pélican 10 MF  SEN Mayoro N'Doye 11 FW  BFA Souleymane Sawadogo 13 DF  GUI Fodé Camara (on loan from Olympiacos) 15 MF  FRA Giovanni Haag (on loan from Nancy) 16 GK  FRA Cyril Fogacci

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 MF  MTQ Dominique Pandor 18 DF  FRA Dominique Guidi 19 FW  BEL David Pollet 20 DF  FRA Anthony Lippini 21 DF  FRA Théo Sainte-Luce (on loan from Nîmes) 22 MF  FRA Aurélien Nguiamba (on loan from Nancy) 23 MF  FRA Julien Anziani 24 DF  FRA Paul-Antoine Finidori 26 MF  FRA Clément Goguey 27 MF  FRA Thibault Campanini 28 DF  FRA Jean-Baptiste Pierazzi 29 FW  FRA Scott Kyei (on loan from Reims) 30 GK  FRA Clément Maury — DF  FRA Morgan Jean-Pierre — MF  FRA Lucas Daury — MF  FRA Matthieu Guerbert

Managers

1960–1961: Fernand Berthon 1961–1971: Pierre Cahuzac 1971–1976: Guy Calléja 1976–1978: Jean Luciano 1978–1979: Jacques Berthommier 1979–1980: Paul Orsatti 1980–1982: Guy Calléja 1982–1988: Guy Calléja

1988–1989: Baptiste Gentili 1989–1990: Guy Calléja 1990–1991: Jean-Michel Cavalli 1991–1994: Pierre Garcia 1994: Marcel Husson 1995: Philippe Anziani 1995–1998: Paul Orsatti 1998–1999: Jean-Michel Cavalli

1999–2000: Patrice Buisset 2000: Jean-Michel Cavalli 2000–01: Hubert Velud 2001–03: Jean-Luc Luciani 2003–2004: Jean-Luc Luciani 2004: Albert Vanucci 2004–2005: Baptiste Gentili 2005–2010: Patrick Leonetti

2010–2012: Dominique Veilex 2012–2013: Jean-Michel Cavalli 2013–2016: Thierry Laurey 2016–2017: Jean-Luc Vannuchi 2017–2018: Albert Cartier 2018–2019: Hervé Della Maggiore 2019–2020: François Ciccolini[11][12] 2020–: David Ducourtioux[13]

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. 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.
7. "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.
8. O'Keefe, Chris (22 November 2015). "Corsican derby falls foul of bad weather". Sports Mole. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
9. "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.
10. "Le Groupe Professionnel". gfca-foot.com. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
11. "Ajaccio GFC : Ciccolini nommé entraîneur (off)" (in French). foot-national.com. 18 June 2019.
12. "Gazélec Ajaccio : François Ciccolini n'est plus l'entraîneur (off)" (in French). foot-national.com. 15 May 2020.
13. "Gazelec : David Ducourtioux nommé entraîneur !" (in French). foot-national.com. 25 May 2020.