AS Saint-Étienne

Football club infobox
clubname = Saint-Étienne


fullname = Association Sportive
Saint-Étienne Loire
nickname = "Les Verts"
founded = 1919
ground = Stade Geoffroy-Guichard,
Saint Étienne
capacity = 35,616 [ [http://www.asse.fr/asse-pages/asse-stade-plan.php www.asse.fr] ]
Co-chairman = Bernard Caiazzo and Roland Romeyer
manager = flagicon|France Laurent Roussey
league = Ligue 1
season = 2007-08
position = Ligue 1, 5th
pattern_la1=_whiteshoulders|pattern_b1=_thinwhitesides|pattern_ra1=_whiteshoulders
leftarm1=00936B|body1=00936B|rightarm1=00936B|shorts1=FFFFFF|socks1=00936B
pattern_la2=_shoulder_stripes_black_stripes|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=_shoulder_stripes_black_shirt
leftarm2=D4FF00|body2=000000|rightarm2=D4FF00|shorts2=D4FF00|socks2=000000

Association Sportive de Saint-Étienne Loire, (ASSE or A.S. Saint-Étienne) are a French football team founded in 1920. They play their home games at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in the city of Saint Étienne. They are also one of the most successful teams in French Football history, with honours including 10 French First Division championship wins. Their primary rivals are Olympique Lyonnais, from nearby Lyon.

History

Early days

A.S. Saint-Étienne was created in 1919 by members of the "Amicale des employés de la Société des magasins Casino": members of the employees' Union of the Casino grocery chain. Since green was the colour of the chain, green jerseys were also adopted. Due to FFF regulations, the commercial name Casino was dropped from the club's name in 1920. In order to keep the initials A.S.C, however, the club was re-named "Amical Sporting Club".

In 1928, Pierre Guichard (the son of the head of Casino Geoffroy Guichard) took over the club and renamed it "Association Sportive Stéphanoise". In 1933, the team turned professional and the name was changed again to the form it presently holds: Association Sportive de Saint-Étienne. The club was first promoted to the French First Division for the 1937-1938 season.

"Apogée"

In 1955 ASSE won their first trophy, the Charles Drago Cup. In 1958, three seasons later, the club claimed the French First Division title for the first time. As French Champions, Saint-Étienne subsequently participated in their first European Cup campaign against Rangers.

Roger Rocher became president of the club in 1961. The following year, the team won the French Cup, but also were relegated to the Second Division. ASSE won the Second Division the following year, and were promoted back to the First Division. The team then continued a surprising ascent, winning the French First Division trophy the following year (1964). Between 1967 and 1970, Saint-Étienne won four championships consecutively, and added two additional French Cups to their trophy cabinet (1967, 1970).

Robert Herbin was named manager in 1972, and lead the team to the double in 1974 and 1976. The team won a ninth championship in 1976. That same year, the club lost in the finals of the European Cup against Bayern Munich. People are used to say that it was because of the square posts. ASSE followed that season by winning the French Cup again in 1977. Their last championship (and major silverware) win came in 1981, with their tenth First Division Championship.

Decline

In 1982, a financial scandal lead to the decline in the club's performance. The president, Roger Rocher, was forced to leave the club , and spent several months in jail. Since then, the club has spent much of its time in the bottom half of the First Division and the Second Division. Although its sporting performances have been inconsistent, the club has still benefited from the unconditional support of its fans.

The club came back to the first division in 1999, finishing 6th. Supporters hoped a return to success with Brazilian strikers Aloisio and Alex celebrating his goals by imitating a panther (Emblem of the club), but in 2001, Alex and the Ukrainian goalkeeper Maksym Levytsky, were suspended for four months for the use of fake Portuguese and Greek passports, respectively. At the end of a judicial inquiry, which linked some of the management staff to the passport forgeries, seven championship points were subtracted from Saint-Étienne's tally, causing them to be relegated to the Second Division.

Renouveau ?

After relegation Saint-Étienne struggled, with mixed results in the Second Division/Ligue 2. They finally won the Ligue 2 championship in 2004, achieving promotion to Ligue 1. The club finished 6th in Ligue 1 the following season, which enabled them to participate in a European tournament, the Intertoto Cup, for the first time in many years. Having finished the 2007-08 Ligue 1 season in 5th place, Saint-Étienne will be playing in the 2008-09 UEFA Cup after 27 years of absence. Saint-Étienne have been drawn against Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C. of the Ligat ha'Al in the first knockout round of the 2008-09 UEFA Cup.

Honours

* Ligue 1:
** Winners (10): 1957, 1964, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1981

* Ligue 2:
**Winners (2): 1963, 1999, 2004

* French Cup:
** Winners (6): 1962, 1968, 1970, 1974, 1975, 1977

*Coupe Gambardella
**Winners (3): 1963, 1970, 1998

*Coupe Drago
**Winners (2): 1955, 1958

Current squad

"As of September 23,2008" [http://www.asse.fr/index.php?menu=pros&page=effectif_pro&teamId=1 Effectif professionnel] ]

Out on loan

Reserves

Notable players

For a complete list of AS Saint-Étienne players, see ;France flagicon|France
*Claude Abbes
*Sylvain Armand
*Dominique Bathenay
*Patrick Battiston
*Georges Bereta
*Laurent Blanc
*Bernard Bosquier
*Zoumana Camara
*Georges Carnus
*Patrice Carteron
*Jean Castaneda
*Michaël Citony
*Grégory Coupet
*Antoine Cuissard
*Jean-Pierre Cyprien
*Christophe Deguerville
*Pascal Despeyroux
*Gérard Farison
*René Ferrier
*flagicon|Algeria Kader Firoud
*Laurent Fournier
*Bernard Genghini
*Robert Herbin
*Sylvain Kastendeuch
*Aimé Jacquet
*Gérard Janvion
*Jean-François Larios
*Jean-Michel Larqué
*Christian Lopez
*Laurent Paganelli
*Gérald Passi
*Frédéric Piquionne
*Michel Platini
*Lionel Potillon
*Hervé Revelli
*Patrick Revelli
*Dominique Rocheteau
*Laurent Roussey
*Julien Sablé
*Willy Sagnol
*Jacques Santini
*Christian Sarramagna
*Jean Snella
*Christian Synaeghel
*Philippe Tibeuf
*Maryan Wisnieski
*Yoann Folly

;Algeria flagicon|Algeria
*Karim Fellahi
*flagicon|France Kader Ferhaoui
* Rachid Mekloufi

;Argentina flagicon|Argentina
*Oswaldo Piazza
*flagicon|Croatia Daniel Bilos

;Brazil flagicon|Brazil
*Alex
*Aloisio

;Bulgaria flagicon|Bulgaria
*Georgi Slavkov

;Cameroon flagicon|Cameroon
*Joseph-Antoine Bell
*Idriss Kameni
*flagicon|France Lucien Mettomo
*Roger Milla
*Eugène N'Jo Léa

;Côte d'Ivoire flagicon|Ivory Coast
*Tchiressoua Guel
*Didier Zokora

;Czech Republic flagicon|Czech Republic
*Marek Heinz
*Milan Luhový

;Denmark flagicon|Denmark
*Miklos Molnar
*John Sivebæk

;Ghana flagicon|Ghana
*Ibrahim Abdul Razak

;Guinea flagicon|Guinea
*Titi Camara
*Pascal Feindouno

;Israel flagicon|Israel
*Giora Spiegel

;Mali flagicon|Mali
*Salif Keïta

;Morocco flagicon|Morocco
*Mohammed Chaouch
*Mustapha El Haddaoui
*Nabil El Zhar( [Saint-Étienne B);The Netherlands flagicon|Netherlands
*Johnny Rep
*Kees Rijvers
*Rob Witschge

;Norway flagicon|Norway
*Bjorn Tore Kvarme

;Poland flagicon|Poland
*Marcin Kuzba
*Piotr Świerczewski

;Portugal flagicon|Portugal
*Hélder Postiga

;Russia flagicon|Russia
*Aleksandr Panov

;Slovakia flagicon|Slovakia
*L'ubomír Moravčík

;Switzerland flagicon|Switzerland
*Alain Geiger
*Christophe Ohrel
*flagicon|Argentina Nestor Subiat

;Ukraine flagicon|UKR
*Maxym Levitsky

;Yugoslavia flagicon|Yugoslavia
*Ivan Ćurković
*Vladimir Durković

Club officials

Board of Directors
*President: Bernard Caiazzo
*Vice-President: Roland Romeyer
*General Director: Vincent Tong-Cuong
*General Manager:
*Directors: Didier Lacombe , Eric Fages , Philippe Lyonnet & Nicolas Jacq

Management
*Manager: Laurent Roussey
*Assistant Manager: David Guion & Gerard Fernandez
*Fitness Coach: Thierry Cotte
*Coach: Frederic Emile
*Goalkeeping Coach: Jean Dees
*Physios: Laurent Bensadi & Hubert Largeron

Academy Coaching Staff
*Director of Youth Academy: Luc Bruder & Alain Blachon
*Reserves Coach: Jean-Philippe Primard
*Under 18's Coach: Abdelaziz Bouhazama
*Under 16's Coach: Romain Revelli
*Under 15's Coach: Gilles Rodriguez
*Goalkeeping Coach: Gilbert Ceccarelli

Managerial history

*1933-33 : flagicon|England Albert Locke
*1934-34 : flagicon|England Harold Rivers
*1934-35 : flagicon|Scotland William Duckworth
*1935-36 : flagicon|Hungary Zoltan Vago
*1936-40 : flagicon|Scotland William Duckworth
*1940-43 : flagicon|France Émile Cabannes
*1943-50 : flagicon|Austria flagicon|France Ignace Tax
*1950-59 : flagicon|France Jean Snella
*1959-60 : flagicon|France René Vernier
*1960-61 : flagicon|France François Wicart
*1961-62 : flagicon|France Henri Guérin
*1962-63 : flagicon|France François Wicart
*1963-67 : flagicon|France Jean Snella
*1967-72 : flagicon|France Albert Batteux
*1972-83 : flagicon|France Robert Herbin
*1983 : flagicon|France Guy Briet
*1983-84 : flagicon|France Jean Djorkaeff
*1984 : flagicon|France Robert Philippe
*1984-87 : flagicon|Poland Henryk Kasperczak
*1987-90 : flagicon|France Robert Herbin
*1990-92 : flagicon|France Christian Sarramagna
*1992-94 : flagicon|France Jacques Santini
*1994-96 : flagicon|France Élie Baup
*1996 : flagicon|France Maxime Bossis
*1996 : flagicon|France Dominique Bathenay
*1996-97 : flagicon|France Pierre Mankowski
*1997-98 : flagicon|France Pierre Repellini
*1998-2000 : flagicon|France Robert Nouzaret
*2000 : flagicon|France Gérard Soler
*10/2000-01/2001 : flagicon|Wales John Toshack
*01/2001-2001 : flagicon|France Rudi Garcia and flagicon|France Jean-Guy Wallemme
*2001 : flagicon|France Alain Michel
*2001-04 : flagicon|France Frédéric Antonetti
*2004-06 : flagicon|France Élie Baup
*2006-2007 : flagicon|Czech Republic Ivan Hašek
*2007- : flagicon|France Laurent Roussey [ [http://www.rsssf.com/players/trainers-fran-clubs.html#s France - Trainers of First and Second Division Clubs ] ]

References

External links

*fr icon [http://www.asse.fr Official website]
*fr icon [http://www.asse-live.com/index.php Asse-Live, Lettre des Verts]
*fr icon [http://www.asse-world.com Asse-World, l'actualité des verts en temps réel]
*fr icon [http://asse.agnc.fr ASSE Spéciales Stats]
*fr icon [http://perso.orange.fr/archivesdelasse/ Archives de l'ASSE]
*fr icon [http://www.poteaux-carres.com/ Poteaux Carrés]
*fr icon [http://www.asse-live.com/forum/index.php Asse-Live, Lettre des Verts (forum)]
*fr icon [http://www.poteaux-carres.com/forum/index.php Poteaux Carrés (forum)]
*en icon [http://www.midfielddynamo.com/clubs/profiles/stetienne.htm AS Saint-Étienne 'Cult' club profile on midfield dynamo cult website]