Sporting Olympique Avignon

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SO Avignon
Club information
Full nameSporting Olympique Avignon
Nickname(s)Bisons
Founded1916; 109 years ago (1916)
WebsiteOfficial Site
Current details
Ground(s)
ChairmanEric Bissiere
CoachRenaud Guigue
ManagerBernard Imbert
CompetitionSuper XIII
2024–2510th
Uniforms
Home colours

Sporting Olympique Avignon also known as Avignon XIII or SO Avignon are a semi-professional

French rugby league championship. The club plays its home matches at the Parc des Sports (Avignon). The current head coach is their former player and ex French international Renaud Guigue

History

On March 16, 1916 Sporting Olympique Avignon were formed as a rugby and athletics club by Viscount du Tertre and Marius Bremond who would be the club's first president and vice president respectively. After the war and when Rugby League could be played again in France following the Vichy government's banning of the game, SO Avignon decided to join Rugby League under the leadership of head coach and captain Francois Riviere. It was during the 1950s that the club would have its most successful period, they reached their first

Lord Derby Cup
in 1955 and 1956 and being runner up in 1958 and 59, during this time they played in front of crowds of more than 10,000 and were well known for playing local youth players.

Since their boom years the club has experienced both highs and lows. They won the

AS Saint-Estève
.

In November 2001 the club's president

Limoux Grizzlies 38-37[1]

Colours and Badge

SO Avignon play in blue and white hooped shirts with white shorts. The club adopted the Bison, nickname and emblem, during the late 1990s as the trend for British Rugby League clubs at that time was to adopt a moniker. The emblem was so obviously heavily modeled from the

NHL ice hockey team's logo at the time. The Bison is a reference to the famous Bison of Vaucluse which was the nickname given to their former player André Savonne
a winger with the club during the 1950s.

Stadium

SO Avignon have used apart from a brief spell in 2008 when they used the Parc des Sports across town. During their heyday in the 1950s more than 10,000 spectators would crowd together along the wooden benches and grassy bank. Adjacent to the ground there used to be a local brewery but that has long gone and has been replaced by a bypass. A new stand was built after a fire destroyed the original wooden stand. In 2008 an artificial pitch was laid. The main stand is now right up to the pitch and has VIP and press facilities along with a bar and a club shop. All the seats are undercover.[2]
The club currently use Parc des Sports (Avignon) where it plays its home matches.

Players

Internationals

Below is a list of every player to have been capped while at

SO Avignon
(All France)

Honours

  • Elite One Championship (1): 2017-18[3]
  • Lord Derby Cup (5): 1954-55, 1955–56, 1981–82, 1988–89, 2012–13[4]

References

  1. ^ "Historique - Sporting Olympique Avignon XIII". www.soavignon.com. Archived from the original on 23 February 2011. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  2. ^ http://www.soavignon.com/histoire.html[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ "France Elite 1 Championship: Charts". Treize Mondial. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
  4. ^ "Winners Coupe de France Lord Derby". Treize Mondial. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
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