VALENCIENNES FC

The 'Valenciennes Football Club' (known as "Valenciennes FC" or as "USVA", the acronym of a previous name) is a French football club founded in 1915. In the 2005-06 season, it competed in Ligue 2 (Division 2), with Francis Decourrière as general manager and Antoine Kombouaré as head coach. In 2006, they return to the top flight after more than a decade's exile and they maintained in Ligue 1 at the end of this season.

Contents

Trophies

Chronology

The beginnings of the Valenciennes club

Timeline

Current squad 2007-2008

Great players of the past

International success of its players

Managerial history

Trivia

External links

Trophies

★ Champions Division 2 : 1972, 2006.

★ Champions Division 3: 2005.

★ Runners-up Division 2 : 1935, 1937, 1962, 1975, 1992.

★ Division 4 Champions: 1998.

★ French Cup: Finalists: 1951.

Chronology

The beginnings of the Valenciennes club

Valenciennes FC was founded in 1915 by a group of young men, notably Mssrs Colson, Joly and Bouly. With the Great War in progress, the club made little impact at first. However, in 1916 another group of sportsmen made contact with the directors of the club with a view to creating the "Union Sportive Valenciennes-Anzin" (Valenciennes-Anzin Sports Union, known by its French initials USVA) under which name they then participated in the Escaut Département championships. Under the leadership of their president, M. Lélithouard, USVA attained professional status in 1933.

Timeline

★ 1915: Foundation of Valenciennes Football Club (FCV).

★ 1916: The club is renamed Union Sportive Valenciennes-Anzin (USVA), and retains this name until 1996.

★ 1933: Creation of a professional section.

★ 1993: Valenciennes and Marseille are involved in a match fixing scandal. Marseille chairman Bernard Tapie is believed to have bribed Valenciennes players to ensure a Marseille win so that the club could have more time to prepare for the UEFA Champions League final. Both clubs suffer a forced relegation as a result of this incident.

★ 1994: Valenciennes relegated to Division 3.

★ 1996: End of the professional section.

★ 1996: The club is renamed as "Valenciennes Football Club" .

★ 2005: Professional section refounded .

★ 2005: Valenciennes promoted to Ligue 2

★ 2006: Valenciennes promoted to Ligue 1

Current squad 2007-2008

Players in 'bold' have international caps.
'Confirmed future transfers 2007-2008'
;In:
;Out:

Great players of the past

For a complete list of Valenciennes FC players, see

★ France Joseph Bonnel ★ Montenegro Goran Bošković ★ Argentina Jorge Burruchaga ★ France Bernard Chiarelli ★ France Thadée Cisowski ★ France Dominique Dropsy ★ Cameroon Eugène Ekéké

★ France Armand Fouillen ★ France Jacques Glassmann ★ France Wilfried Gohel ★ France Bolec Kocik ★ Terje Kojedal ★ Kálmán Kovács ★ France Ignace Kowalczyk

★ France Daniel Leclercq ★ France Yves Mangione ★ France Serge Masnaghetti ★ Cameroon Roger Milla ★ France Daniel Moreira ★ France Hocine Lachaab ★ France Jean-Pierre Papin

★ France Jean-Claude Piumi ★ France Louis Provelli ★ USA David Regis ★ France Ismaël Pobanonga ★ France Didier Six ★ Serbie Živko Slijepčević ★ France Jean-Pierre Tempet ★ France Pascal Zaremba

International success of its players

★ Jorge Burruchaga, World Cup 1986 with Argentina

★ Didier Six, last Valenciennes team member to date to play for France.

★ David Regis, having acquired (by marriage) American citizenship, participated in the `1998 World Cup representing the USA.

★ Thomas Dossevi, from Togo, played for Togo in the 2006 World Cup.

Managerial history

★ Tison 1948-1951 ★ Parmentier 1951 ★ H Perus 1951 ★ Demeillez 1951-1953 ★ Lemaître 1953 ★ Robert Domergue 1953-1966 ★ G Robert 1966-1970 ★ Louis Provelli 1970 ★ Robert Domergue 1970-1972 ★ Jean-Pierre Destrumelle 1972-1979 ★ Erwin Wilczek 1979-1982 ★ Léon Desmenez 1983-1986

★ Daniel Leclercq 1986-1987 ★ Victor Zvunka 1987-1988 ★ Georges Peyroche 1988-1991 ★ Francis Smerecki 1991-1992 ★ Boro Primorac 1992-1993 ★ Bruno Metsu 1993-1994 ★ Robert Dewilder 1994-1996 ★ Ludovic Batelli 1996-2000 ★ Didier Ollé-Nicole 2000-2003 ★ Daniel Leclercq 2003-2005 ★ Antoine Kombouaré Since 2005-

Trivia

★ Attendance record: 21,268 spectators (14 March 1955, Sedan)

★ Home office: 43 bis Avenue de Reims, 59300 Valenciennes

★ In the Video Game FIFA 06, Valenciennes are 1 of 2 one-star rated teams in the game.

External links

★ Official FCV web site