FC Lorient
Bill Foley (minority shareholder) | ||||
President | Loïc Féry | |||
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Head coach | Régis Le Bris | |||
League | Ligue 1 | |||
2022–23 | Ligue 1, 10th of 20 | |||
Website | Club website | |||
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Football Club Lorient Bretagne Sud (French pronunciation: [lɔʁjɑ̃ bʁətaɲ syd]; commonly referred to FC Lorient or simply Lorient; Breton: An Oriant) is a French professional association football club based in Lorient, Brittany. The club was founded in 1926[3] and currently competes in Ligue 1, the top flight of French football, following promotion from Ligue 2 in the 2019–20 season. Lorient plays its home matches at the Stade Yves Allainmat, named after the former mayor of Lorient. The stadium is surnamed Stade du Moustoir because of its location within the city. The team is managed by Régis Le Bris.
Lorient had a relatively bleak history nationally before 1998 when the club made its first appearance in
Lorient has most notably served as a springboard club for several present-day internationals such as
History
Football Club Lorient was founded on 2 April 1926. Lorient was formed off of La Marée Sportive, a club founded a year earlier by Madame Cuissard, a store patron who originated from Saint-Étienne, and her son Joseph. In 1929, The club began play as an amateur club under the Czechoslovakian manager Jozef Loquay and won the Champions de l'Ouest,[4] which placed the club into the Division d'Honneur of the Brittany region, which placed the club into the Division d'Honneur of the Brittany region. In 1932, Lorient won the league and, four years later, repeated this performance. The onset of World War II limited the club's meteoric rise in the region and the departure of several players who either joined the war effort or left to play abroad effectively disseminated the club.
Following the war,
In the second division, Lorient struggled in the early seventies to consistently stay up in the league table. In the 1974–75 and 1975–76 seasons, the club came close to promotion to Division 1, finishing 3rd in its group on each occasion, one place short of the promotion play-offs. However, the following season, Lorient was relegated to Division 3. The potential of that team had proved above its classification when the club qualified for its first French FA Cup quarter-finals in history. The club subsequently struggled financially and domestically. It went bankrupt in 1978. During this period, under the name "Club des Supporters du FC Lorient" (the supporters legally took over to keep the FC Lorient name alive), Lorient played in the Division Supérieure Régionale (sixth tier of the French football pyramid). In the early 1980s, Georges Guenoum took over the club as president and hired former Lorient player Christian Gourcuff as manager. Surprisingly, under Gourcuff, Lorient quickly climbed back up the French football ladder. In 1983, the club won the Brittany Division d'Honneur title and, the following season, won Division 4. In 1985, they won Division 3 and so were back in Division 2 eight years after their demise at that level! Gourcuff left the club after its first Division 2 campaign, with relegation only being effective through an unfavourable goal difference. Lorient spent the next five years in Division 3 playing under two managers. It went financially bust again in 1990 but was nevertheless allowed to stay in Division 3. In 1991, Gourcuff returned to the club and after almost a decade playing in Division 3, Lorient earned promotion back to Division 2 after winning the second edition of the Championnat National.
Lorient spent two seasons in the second division and, in the
Despite the initial issues, Lorient strengthened its squad in preparation for its return to the first division by recruiting players such as
Lorient returned to the first division, now called Ligue 1, in 2006 with a completely revamped team. Instead of spending money on players, the club focused its efforts on improving its academy and promoted several players to the first-team such as André-Pierre Gignac, Virgile Reset, Jérémy Morel, and Diego Yesso during the club's stint in Ligue 2. Lorient was also influenced by the arrival of the Malian international Bakari Koné. The club, in its return to Ligue 1, finished mid-table in three straight seasons. In the 2009–10 season, Lorient performed well domestically. In October 2009, the club reached 5th place in the table; its highest position that late in the season ever. Lorient eventually finished the campaign in 7th place; its best finish in Ligue 1.
In the 2016-2017
On 30 April 2020, Lorient were promoted to Ligue 1 after the LFP decided to end the seasons of both Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 early due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Lorient were top of the Ligue 2 table at the time of the decision.[7]
Players
Current squad
- As of 5 February 2024.[8]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Former players
For a complete list of FC Lorient players with a Wikipedia article, see Category:FC Lorient players
Management and staff
Club officials
- Senior club staff[9]
- President: Loïc Féry
- General Director: Arnaud Tanguy
- Sports coordinator: Aziz Mady Mogne
- Manager: Régis Le Bris
- Assistant manager: Julien Outrebon, Ingo Goetze
- Goalkeeper coach: Olivier Lagarde, Ronald Thomas
- Scout: Stéphane Pédron, Baptiste Drouet, Jérôme Fougeron
- Club doctor: Vincent Detaille
- Medical Director Physiotherapy: Régis Bouyaux
Coaching history
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Honours
Domestic
- Ligue 2
- Champions: 2019–20
- Championnat National
- Champions: 1994–95
- Coupe de France
- Champions: 2001–02
- Champions:
- Coupe de la Ligue
- Runners-up: 2001–02
- Runners-up:
- Trophée des Champions
- Runners-up: 2002
Regional
- Division d'Honneur (Bretagne)
- Champions (5): 1932, 1936, 1957, 1983, 1995[12]
- Coupe de Bretagne
- Champions (6): 1958, 1970, 1982, 1990, 2000, 2002
European football
Season | Competition | Round | Country | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate |
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2002–03 | UEFA Cup | First round | Denizlispor | 3–1 | 0–2 | 3–3 (a) |
References
- ^ "#250 – FC Lorient : les Merlus" (in French). Footnickname. 12 September 2020. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
- ^ "#364 – FC Lorient : les Tangos et Noirs" (in French). Footnickname. 28 December 2020. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
- ^ "Club profile Lorient". www.transferhunt.com. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
- ^ "France - List of Regional Champions 1919-1932". www.rsssf.org. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
- ^ "Troyes promoted to Ligue 1". beIN SPORTS Australia.
- ^ "French Football League - FC LORIENT BRETAGNE SUD". www.ligue1.com. Archived from the original on 20 October 2010.
- ^ "Paris St-Germain awarded French title as season finished early". BBC Sport.
- ^ "L'équipe professionnelle 2023-24". FC Lorient. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
- ^ "Présentation". FC Lorient. Archived from the original on 4 December 2010. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
- ^ "France – Trainers of First and Second Division Clubs". RSSSF. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
- ^ "Entraîneurs". FC Lorient. Archived from the original on 13 March 2011. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
- ^ The 1995 title was won by the club's reserve team.