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 played one season in Ligue 1 in the 2015–16 season. As of the 2023–24 season, it competes in the Régional 2, the seventh tier of the French football league system.

Gazélec Ajaccio
Full nameGazélec Football Club Ajaccio
Nickname(s)Le Gaz (The Gas)
Le Bistrot (The Bistro)[1]
I diavuli rossi (The Reds Devils)
Les Gaziers (The Gasmen)
Founded1910 (1910)
GroundStade Ange Casanova
Capacity8,000
OwnerLouis Poggi
ChairmanLouis Poggi
ManagerJean-Marie Ferri
LeagueRégional 2
2022–23National 3 Group D, 14th of 14 (relegated)
WebsiteClub website

History

The club was founded in 1960 as result of the merger of two small Ajaccio clubs, Football Club Ajaccien (commonly known as FC Ajaccio), founded in 1930 and Gazélec Corse Club, founded in 1910.

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.[2]

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. The team started off the 2015–16 Ligue 1 season as one of the smallest teams to compete in the division's history.[3] They were instantly relegated, in 19th place.[4] In June 2019, the club were relegated to the third tier after a play-off loss to Le Mans.[5] 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.[6] In 2021, they suffered administrative relegation to the fifth-tier Championnat National 3 for financial reasons.[7][8]

On 20 December 2022, following the initiation of criminal proceedings against its president of two months, receivership proceedings were commenced by the commercial court of Ajaccio.[9] On 23 January 2023 the club appeared at the commercial court again, where a decision to liquidate it was tabled, under advisement for one week.[10] A week later, the court confirmed the decision, leading to the suspension of the two senior teams of the club from Championnat National 3 and Régional 2, and their results for the season being expunged.[11] On 13 July 2023, the French Football Federation decided that Gazélec Ajaccio could participate in the upcoming season's Régional 2.[12]

Honours

Rivalries

The club had 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 had a rivalry with another smaller club on the island, FC Borgo, a club formed when CA Bastia and Borgo FC merged.[13][14][15][16]

Coaches

    References
    1. "#407 – Gazélec FC Ajaccio : le Bistro" (in French). Footnickname. 31 January 2021. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
    2. "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.
    3. "French Ligue 1: Gazelec Ajaccio complete fairytale rise from obscurity to win promotion". The Daily Telegraph. AFP. 16 May 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
    4. "Lorient 1–0 Gazélec Ajaccio" (in French). Football 365. 14 May 2016. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
    5. "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.
    6. "National : Il y aura deux promus et quatre relégués affirme Noël Le Graët" [National: There will be two promoted teams and four relegated, Noël Le Graët confirms] (in French). foot-national.com. 29 April 2020.
    7. "DNCG : un club de N2 rétrogradé, les décisions de la semaine" [DNCG: an N2 club relegated, decisions of the week] (in French). foot-national.com. 15 June 2021.
    8. "La relégation en N3 confirmée en appel pour le GFC Ajaccio" [Relegation to N3 confirmed on appeal for GFC Ajaccio] (in French). maligue2.fr. 9 July 2021.
    9. "National 3. Le Gazélec Ajaccio placé en redressement judiciaire" [National 3. Gazélec Ajaccio placed in administration] (in French). footamateur.fr. 20 December 2022.
    10. "En liquidation judiciaire, le Gazelec Ajaccio ne finira pas la saison" [In liquidation, Gazélec Ajaccio will not finish the season] (in French). footamateur.fr. 24 January 2023.
    11. "Placé en liquidation judiciaire, c'est fini pour le Gazelec Ajaccio !" [Placed in liquidation, it;s over for Gazélec Ajaccio!] (in French). footamateur.fr. 30 January 2023.
    12. "Football : le GFCA repartira en Régional 2 la saison prochaine". France 3 Corse ViaStella (in French). 2023-07-12. Retrieved 2023-07-15.
    13. 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.
    14. "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.
    15. O'Keefe, Chris (22 November 2015). "Corsican derby falls foul of bad weather". Sports Mole. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
    16. "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.
    17. "Ajaccio GFC : Ciccolini nommé entraîneur (off)" (in French). foot-national.com. 18 June 2019.
    18. "Gazélec Ajaccio : François Ciccolini n'est plus l'entraîneur (off)" (in French). foot-national.com. 15 May 2020.
    19. "Gazelec : David Ducourtioux nommé entraîneur !" (in French). foot-national.com. 25 May 2020.


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