Tours FC

Football club infobox
clubname = Tours FC


fullname = Tours Football Club
nickname = "TFC"
founded = 1919
ground = Stade de la Vallée du Cher, Tours, France
capacity = 13,500 | chairman = Frédéric Sebag
manager = Daniel Sanchez
league = Ligue 2
season = 2007-08
position = Championnat National, 2nd (promoted)
pattern_la1=|pattern_b1=|pattern_ra1=
leftarm1=87ceeb|body1=87ceeb|rightarm1=87ceeb|shorts1=000000|socks1=000000
pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=000000|body2=000000|rightarm2=000000|shorts2=F5F5DC|socks2=000000

Tours Football Club (a.k.a. Tours FC) is a French football club based in Tours. It was founded in 1919. They play at the Stade de la Vallée du Cher.

The club had its best years in the eighties, playing four seasons in Ligue 1 (1980-1983 and 1984-1985).

Honours

*Champion of France Division 2 : 1984.
*Runner-up Division 2 : 1980.
*Runner-up National : 2006.
*Semi-finalist of Coupe de France : 1982, 1983.
*Champion of Division d'Honneur (DH) Ligue du Centre : 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1930, 1932, 1949, 1952, 1960, 1965, 1968, 1973.

tadium

The club has been playing at the Stade de la Vallée du Cher since 1978.In 1979, its capacity was 22000 people but now just 13500. The stadium was built thanks to former mayor Jean Royer, as he wanted a decent venue for the club. Before, Tours FC used to play at the Stade de Grammont.

History

The team was founded in 1919 as AS Dock du Centre and quickly changed its name to AS du Centre in 1921.In 1951, the Docks du Centre withdrew from the club, which changed its name to FC Tours.The team enjoyed some successes thanks to player-coach Alfred Aston who lead the club to round of 64 of the Coupe de France.

The team got promoted in Division 1 in 1980 and signed best goalscorer Delio Onnis from AS Monaco FC, who helped the team for three years.But in 1983, the team was relegated. However, the team reached twice the semi-finals of the Coupe de France, in 1982 [cite web
publisher = FFF
title = Coupe de France demi-finales 1982
url=http://www.fff.fr/www/coup/historique/pages/hist1982_2.shtml
accessdate=2008-04-12] and 83 [cite web
publisher = FFF
title = Coupe de France demi-finales 1983
url=http://www.fff.fr/www/coup/historique/pages/hist1983_2.shtml
accessdate=2008-04-12] , being eliminated twice by Paris SG.In 1984, the team won the Division 2 title and came back in Division 1 but was relegated after one season at the top level.Since 1985, Tours never managed to come back in Division 1. [cite web
publisher = Tours FC.net
title = De l'AS du Centre au Tours FC
url=http://historique.toursfc.net/
accessdate=2008-04-12]

The club was relegated from Ligue 2, finishing last after a desastrous season, despite some individuality such as Cédric Collet, Mehdi Benatia or Michel Rodriguez. During the season, Albert Falette, manager for eight years was sacked. At the end of the season, the club released or sold almost all its players, including captain David Fleurival. The club only kept long-time goalkeeper Armand Raimbault and young prospect Rudy Wendling. The team for the 2007-2008 season has a new look, with the arrival of Diego Sebastian Gomez or Anthony Robic.

Colours and logos

The logo is inspired by the city coats of arms with three towers and Fleur-de-lis. It bears the club's motto "Turonorum civitas libera" which means in Latin "Free city of Turones", the celtic tribes which gave its name to Tours. The motto was found engraved on a rock which is now in the undergrounds of the Beaux Arts museum of the city. [cite web
publisher = Collège Montaigne de Tours
title = Tours antique - une ville derrière son rempart
url=http://ecl.ac-orleans-tours.fr/clg-montaigne-tours/classe_pat/page103.htm
accessdate=2008-04-12] The salamander is a reference to king François 1er.

upporters

In France, Tours is not a town fond of football because of the lack of football tradition.Moreover, supporters were disappointed of the poor results of the club for years.However, the accession to Ligue 2 in 2006 has created some interest in the city and audiences in the stadium are gradually getting bigger.There are 3 groups of supporters:
* Amicale des supporters
* Kop 37
* Supras Tours

Current squad

"As of September 1, 2008"Fs player|no=19|nat=Senegal|name=Gaëtan Bong|pos=DF "(loan from FC Metz)" [cite web
publisher = Tours FC
title = Tours FC-L'équipe fanion
url=http://www.toursfc.fr/affiche_page.php?IdSite=1&IdRub=38&Id=89
accessdate=2008-04-12]

Famous past players

For a complete list of Tours FC players, see

Coaches

*flagicon|France Yvon Jublot :1969-1976
*flagicon|France Pierre Phelippon :1976-1981
*flagicon|Netherlands Hennie Hollink :1981-1983
*flagicon|France Guy Briet: 1983-March 1985
*flagicon|France Serge Besnard : March 1985-1986
*flagicon|France Yvon Jublot : 1986-1988
*flagicon|France Jean Sérafin : 1988-1992
*flagicon|France Raymond Kéruzoré : 1992-1993
*flagicon|France Philippe Leroux : 1993-1995
*flagicon|France Christian Letard : 1995-March 1999
*flagicon|France Albert Falette : March 1999-2007
*flagicon|France Philippe Bizeul : 2007
*flagicon|France Daniel Sanchez : 2007- [cite web
publisher = RSSSF
title = France - Trainers of First and Second Division Clubs
url=http://www.rsssf.com/players/trainers-fran-clubs.html#t
accessdate=2008-04-12]

References

External links

* [http://www.toursfc.fr/ Official website]
* [http://www.toursfc.net/ Unofficial website]