AJ Auxerre

Auxerre

Full name	Association de la Jeunesse Auxerroise
Nickname(s)	AJA
Founded	1905
Ground	Stade de l'Abbé-Deschamps, Auxerre (Capacity: 24,493)
Chairman	Alain Dujon
Manager	Jean Fernandez
League	Ligue 1
2009–10	L1, 3rd
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Association de la Jeunesse Auxerroise (French pronunciation: [a.sɔ.sja.sjɔ̃ də la ʒœ.nɛs osɛʁ], commonly known as AJ Auxerre or simply Auxerre), is a French football club based in the commune of Auxerre in Burgundy. The club was founded in 1905 and plays its home games at the Stade l'Abbé-Deschamps on the banks of the Yonne River. Auxerre, alongside newly-promoted Arles-Avignon, are the only clubs from the top flight in France to have never been relegated. AJ Auxere has a reputation as one of the world's best small-town clubs.

History

The club Association de la Jeunesse Auxerroise was founded in 1905, by the priest Father Ernest Abbé Deschamps. The club quickly tasted success, becoming a force in the Catholic league F.G.S.P.F. In 1908, the club even reached the F.G.S.P.F. French Championship final, losing 8–1 however. At the end of the First World War, the club was expelled from its ground. Father Deschamps acquired several pieces of land along the Yonne on the Vaux road, which later formed the Abbé Deschamps Stadium.

Auxerre made its first steps in Division 1 on 24 July 1980 against Bastia in Toulon. Auxerre lost the match 2–0. On 20 November 1980, Andrzej Szarmach signed for Auxerre having received consent from the Polish Football Association. He started two days later at home against Lyon and scored the first of his ninety-four goals in Division 1. AJA's first season in Division 1 was remarkable for two particular performances: on December 13, 1980, at Parc des Princes against Paris Saint-Germain (3–2), and then on April 7, 1981, at Stade Marcel Saupin against FC Nantes for a 1–0 win, notable as Nantes had not lost a home game for five years and 92 games (between April 15, 1976 and April 7, 1981). In the next two seasons, AJA finished fifteenth and eighth respectively.

During the 1983–1984 season, AJA climbed for the first time onto the podium in finishing third. Patrice Garande finished top scorer with twenty-one goals. A few weeks later, Garande won the gold medal at the Olympics in Los Angeles with the French Olympic football team while Joel Bats and Jean-Marc Ferreri were part of the victorious French team at UEFA Euro 1984. That summer, Auxerre recruited Michel N'Gom. An international prospect, he left Paris Saint-Germain. During pre-season, he scored five goals in ten games. On the last weekend before the start of the season, he visited his former teammates in Paris. Tragically, he died following a traffic accident on August 12, 1984. To pay tribute, one of the stands at Abbé Deschamps bears his name. The 1984–1985 season saw Auxerre in European competition for the first time in its history by participating in the UEFA Cup, albeit with an unfavourable first round draw with Sporting Clube de Portugal. On September 19, 1984 at Estádio José Alvalade, AJA took its bow in European football with a 2–0 defeat. The return leg took place on October 3, 1984. AJA managed to retrieve the two goal deficit with a double by Szarmach, but eventually succumbed with two goals in extra time. However, by virtue of the victory of AS Monaco in the French cup, AJA qualified for the UEFA Cup the year after also.

The 1985 offseason saw Joel Bats join Paris Saint-Germain. Auxerre recruited Bruno Martini as his successor. In the UEFA cup, AJA were drawn against AC Milan. In the first leg, Auxerre won 3–1. Both teams missed a penalty and Paolo Maldini made his debut in European competition. In the return match, AJA lost 3–0 and was therefore eliminated. Seventh in the league and quarter-finalist in the French cup, AJA did not manage a third straight season in Europe. Auxerre finished fourth in 1986–1987, and was once again eliminated in the first round of the UEFA Cup the following season with a 2–0 away defeat to Panathinaikos too much to overcome in the return leg (which Auxerre won 3–2). The 1988–1989 season saw AJA finish fifth in the league and reach the semi-finals of the Coupe de France before elimination by Olympique Marseille, the future winner of the event. With fifth place in the league, AJA made the UEFA Cup and there made its first decent run. During the preliminary round, AJA managed its first victory. Beaten 0–1 at home by Dynamo Zagreb, it registered 3–1 in Yugoslavia and qualified for the first round proper. Auxerre beat successively Albanians KS Apolonia Fier, Finns RoPS and Olympiakos Piraeus of Greece before being eliminated in the quarterfinals by Fiorentina. In parallel with this, AJA managed sixth place in the league. During the summer of 1990, the AJA sold Basile Boli and recruited Enzo Scifo, Alain Roche and Zbigniew Kaczmarek. Auxerre finished in third place after leading the championship for two weeks.

In 1991–1992, Auxerre was eliminated in the second round of the UEFA Cup by Liverpool and then finished fourth in Division 1. That summer, the AJA sold Alain Roche and Jean-Marc Ferreri while recruiting Frank Verlaat and Gerald Baticle. Auxerre then journeyed again into UEFA. Auxerre eliminated Lokomotiv Plovdiv and the newly formed FC Copenhagen. In the third round, AJA eliminated Standard Liege. In the quarterfinals, AJA faced Ajax, the defending champion and undefeated in the European Cup for two years. Before facing Ajax, Auxerre had suffered five consecutive league defeats. Auxerre managed a 4–2 home win. In the second leg Ajax could only manage a 1–0 win and so Auxerre had qualified for the semifinals, to face Borussia Dortmund. In the first leg in Germany, AJA lost 2 goals to 0. A fiercely contested second leg levelled the aggregate score, but Auxerre were finally eliminated on penalties.

While finishing sixth in the championship, Auxerre again qualified for the UEFA Cup after the VA-OM case. But unlike the epic run of the previous season, AJA was eliminated in the first round by Tenerife. AJA made progress in the league, with a third place finish, but notably captured its first major trophy, the French cup. Having made it past the lower division teams in the early rounds, AJA eliminated Nantes in the semifinals before winning 3 goals to 0 at Parc des Princes in the final against Montpellier. The following season, Auxerre finished fourth in the league and was a quarter-finalist of the Cup Winners' Cup: Auxerre was eliminated by Arsenal in the Abbe-Deschamps (1–0) having achieved a 1–1 draw at Highbury.

Players

Current squad

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 Olivier Sorin 2 DF Cédric Hengbart 4 DF Stéphane Grichting 5 MF Dariusz Dudka 6 DF Adama Coulibaly 7 MF Kamel Chafni 8 FW Anthony Le Tallec 9 FW Valter Birsa 10 FW Alexandre Licata 11 FW Julien Quercia 12 DF Jean-Pascal Mignot 14 FW Dennis Oliech 16 GK Remy Riou 17 MF Benoît Pedretti (captain) 18 FW Roy Contout 19 FW Yaya Sanogo

No. Position Player 20 DF Amadou Sidibé 21 MF Steeven Langil 22 FW Ireneusz Jeleń 23 DF Jérémy Berthod 25 FW Maxime Bourgeois 26 FW Anicet Andrianantenaina 27 MF Alain Traoré 28 DF Amara Morikè Kallé 29 MF Delvin Ndinga 31 DF Soumahoro Johnson 34 MF Vincent Acapandié 39 MF Christopher Missilou 40 GK Willy Maeyens — FW Frédéric Sammaritano

Current reserve squad

As of 19 June 2010 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 GK Donovan Léon DF Mohamed Diakité Kaba DF Harold Ebrard DF Mimille Okiélé DF Bernard Onanga Itoua DF Fabien Bridon MF Clément Goux MF Mame Ousmane Cissokho FW Nicolas Lemaigre MF Cecil Filanckembo FW Loïc Puyo GK Jeffrey Baltus MF Stéphane Madeira MF David Camps MF Philippe Poulain MF Maxime Bourgeois DF Jessie Londas FW Karim Touré MF Nathaniel Virayie FW Paul-Georges Ntep de Madiba MF Pierrick Méreglier MF Damien Dufour FW Rémi Platel MF André Auras DF Cédric Chevasson MF Vafougbe Dosso

No. Position Player MF Félix Gomis MF Christopher Missilou FW Soumaila Keita MF Alexis Bruches DF Willy Boly MF Stéphane Jover FW Karim Azamoun DF Thomas Monconduit DF Jérémy Messiba MF Yassine Ziani MF Thibault Picard FW Ibrahima Diallo FW Hamada Hezmi GK Olivier Noël DF Kaster Bindoumou DF Guillaume Donnat DF Youssef El Mokhtari MF Robin Courtois DF Abdel Knioine MF Abdel Haddaoui FW Alexandre Marie MF Johan Mangin FW Léo Gashi DF Cédric Mengual FW Fabien Cotant

Notable players

For a complete list of AJ Auxerre players, see Category:AJ Auxerre players

A poll was conducted amongst fans who voted for the greatest AJ Auxerre team ever.^[1]

• Bruno Martini
• Laurent Blanc
• Basile Boli
• Philippe Mexès
• Jean-Alain Boumsong
• Vincenzo Scifo
• Corentin Martins
• Yann Lachuer
• Djibril Cissé
• Eric Cantona
• Andrzej Szarmach

Coaching staff

• Head coach: Jean Fernandez
• Assistant coach: David Carre
• Goalkeeper coach: Attila Farkas
• Goalkeeper coach: Xavier Poitrinal
• Team Chef: Bernard David
• Director of Sport: Christophe Grosso
• Physiotheapist: Guillaume Colin
• Medic: François Darras
• Medic: Mathieu Debain
• Medic: Didier Laurens
• Medic: Rudy Slepko
• Director of Youth: Bernard Mangin
• Coach Equipe B: Jean-Yves Grégoire
• Assistant Coach Equipe B: Luigi Puggioni
• Coach Equipe C: Claude Barret
• Coach U-15: Jérémy Spender
• Coach E-Youth: Zbigniew Szlykowicz
• Coach D-Youth: Mario Zaccardi

Honours

Ligue 1

• Champions: 1995-96

Ligue 2

• Champions: 1979-80

Coupe de France

• Winners: 1994, 1996, 2003, 2005^[2]
• Finalists: 1979

Intertoto Cup

• Winners: 1997, 2006
• Runners-up: 2000

Coppa delle Alpi

• Winners: 1985, 1987

France DH Bourgogne

• Champions: 1908-09, 1969-70

France FGSPF:

• Champions:1908-09

Bourgogne FGSPF

• Champions: 1905-06, 1906-07, 1907-08, 1908-09, 1909-1910, 1910-11, 1911-12, 1912-13, 1913-14

Coupe Gambardella

• Winners: 1982, 1985, 1986, 1993, 1999, 2000
• Finalists: 1991, 2007

Managers

• Pierre Grosjean (1946–47)
• J. Pastel (1947–48)
• Jacques Boulard and Bruneau (1948–50)
• Georges Hatz (1950–52)
• Marc Olivier (1952–53)
• M. Pignault: (1953–55)
• Pierre Meunier (1955–56)
• Jacques Boulard (1956–58)
• J. Helmann (1958–59)
• Christian Di Orio (1959–61)
• Guy Roux (1961–62)
• Interim by Gagneux and Jacques Chevalier (1962–64) (Guy Roux was on conscription)
• Guy Roux (1964–00)
• Daniel Rolland (2000–01)
• Guy Roux (2001–05) (interim by Alain Fiard from November 2001 to January 2002, Guy Roux underwent a Coronary artery bypass surgery)
• Jacques Santini (2005–06)
• Jean Fernandez (2006–)^[3]

References

External links

• (French) Official website