FC Lorient

Lorient

Full name	Football Club Lorient-Bretagne Sud
Nickname(s)	Les Merlus, Le FCL
Founded	1926 (1926)
Ground	Stade du Moustoir, Lorient
Capacity	18,500
Chairman	Loïc Fery
Manager	Mickaël Landreau
League	Ligue 2
2017–18	Ligue 2, 7th
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Football Club Lorient-Bretagne Sud (French pronunciation: ​[lɔʁjɑ̃ bʁətaɲ syd]; commonly referred to FC Lorient or simply Lorient) is a French association football club based in Lorient, Brittany. The club was founded in 1926 and will play in Ligue 2 in the 2017-18 season after relegation from Ligue 1 in the 2016-17 season. Lorient plays its home matches at the stade Yves Allainmat, former mayor of the city located within the city. The stadium is surnamed Stade du Moustoir because of his location within the city. The team is managed by Mickaël Landreau.

Lorient had a relatively bleak history nationally prior to 1998 when the club made its first appearance in Ligue 1 in the 1998–99 season. Prior to that, Lorient spent the majority of its life as an amateur club. Lorient's achieved its biggest honour in 2002 when the club won the Coupe de France defeating Bastia 1–0 in the final. Lorient has never won Ligue 1, but has won the Championnat National earning this honour in 1995. Regionally, the club has won five Brittany Division d'Honneur titles and six Coupe de Bretagne.

Lorient has most notably served as a springboard club for several present-day internationals such as Laurent Koscielny, André-Pierre Gignac, Michaël Ciani, Kevin Gameiro, Karim Ziani, Bakari Koné and Seydou Keita. French international Yoann Gourcuff, the son of Christian Gourcuff, began his career at the club before moving to Derby Breton rivals Rennes. Most recently, the club was relegated to Ligue 2.

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. The club began play as an amateur club under the Czechoslovakian manager Jozef Loquay and won the Champions de l'Ouest in 1929, 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, Antoine Cuissard, the grandson of Madame Cuissard, joined the club as a player with intentions of rebuilding it in honour of his grandmother. Lorient began play in the Division d'Honneur. Cuissard began one of the first Lorient players to maintain a place in the France national team while playing with the club. In 1954, he played on the team that qualified for the 1954 FIFA World Cup. Lorient quickly recovered and, by 1948, was playing in the Championnat de France amateur (CFA). The club spent two years in the league before falling back to the Division d'Honneur. In 1957, Lorient was promoted back to the CFA, but struggled due to being limited financially. Subsequently, the club sought sponsors with the hopes of becoming professional. In 1967, under the chairmanship of both Jean Tomine and René Fougère, Lorient placed a bid to turn professional and was elected to Division 2 by the French League. Incoming president Henri Ducassou agreed to do his best to make professionalism prosper in Lorient.

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 different 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.

Jean-Claude Darcheville scored the game-winning goal for Lorient in the 2002 Coupe de France final.

Lorient spent two seasons in the second division and, in the 1997–98 season, surprised many by running away with the league alongside champions Nancy. The 1998–99 season marked Lorient's first appearance in Division 1 in the club's history. The appearance was brief with Lorient struggling to meet the financial demands and stronger competition of the league. The club finished in 16th place and were relegated. Amazingly, Lorient finished equal on points with Le Havre with both clubs having the same number of wins, losses, and draws. However, due to Le Havre having a better goal difference, Lorient was relegated. After only two seasons in Division 2, Lorient were back in the first division for the 2001–02 season. Prior to the promotion, in April 2001, a takeover of the club led by Alain Le Roch led to internal problems, which resulted in the departure of Gourcuff and one of the club's best players, Ulrich Le Pen, soon after. The club hired Argentine manager Ángel Marcos to replace Gourcuff. However, Marcos lasted only a few months.

Despite the initial issues, Lorient strengthened its squad in preparation for its return to the first division by recruiting players such as Pascal Delhommeau, Moussa Saïb, Johan Cavalli, and Pape Malick Diop. Led by Yvon Pouliquen, the new signings joined the likes of Jean-Claude Darcheville, Arnaud Le Lan, and Seydou Keita and surprised many by reaching the final of the Coupe de la Ligue. Lorient was defeated by Bordeaux in the final. Lorient continued its impressive cup form by winning the Coupe de France just two months later. In the match, Lorient faced Bastia and defeated the Corsicans 1–0 courtesy of a goal from Darcheville. The title was the club's first major honour. The celebration would however end on a sourer note as Lorient was relegated from league play in the same season.

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 Ligue 1 season, Lorient played against Ligue 2 side ES Troyes in the promotion/relegation play off match. Lorient lost the tie 2-1 and were relegated to Ligue 2 after an 11 year stay in the top flight. ^{[1] [2]}

Players

Current squad

As of 19 September 2018.^[3]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Ilan Meslier 2 DF Houboulang Mendes 3 DF Mamadou Kamissoko 4 DF Joris Sainati 6 MF Sidy Sarr (on loan from Châteauroux) 7 DF Jonathan Martins Pereira 8 MF Malcom Edjouma 9 FW Gaëtan Courtet 10 FW Alexis Claude-Maurice 11 MF Mohamed Mara 12 FW Moussa Guel 13 DF Felipe Saad 14 DF Lindsay Rose 17 MF Maxime Etuin

No. Position Player 18 MF Fabien Lemoine 19 FW Yoane Wissa 20 DF Matthieu Saunier 21 FW Jason Lokilo (on loan from Crystal Palace) 22 MF Jonathan Delaplace 24 MF Franklin Wadja 25 DF Vincent Le Goff (captain) 27 MF Jimmy Cabot 29 FW Pierre-Yves Hamel 30 GK Danijel Petković 37 MF Julien Ponceau 39 MF Sylvain Marveaux 40 GK Maxime Pattier

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player — DF Ibrahima Conté (on loan to Niort) — DF Stéphane Lambese (on loan to Laval) — DF Quentin Lecoeuche (on loan to Orléans)

No. Position Player — DF Bradley Mazikou (on loan to Cholet) — DF Mathieu Peybernes (on loan to Sporting) — FW Ibrahim Sissoko (on loan to Béziers)

Reserve squad

As of 10 octobre 2018.^[4]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player GK Teddy Bartouche GK Abdoul Coulibaly GK Lenny Montfort GK Carlo Maxcambo DF Ruddy Ebondo DF Adrien Julloux DF Wilfried Ebane DF Dylan Olliveaux DF Peter Ouaneh DF Pierre-Étienne Lemaire DF Tom Renaud DF lois mouyokolo MF Tristan Boubaya MF Paul Bellon

No. Position Player MF Simon Bourhis MF Maxime Carneiro MF Maxence Fortier MF Milan Guendouzi MF Enzo Le Fée MF Ilyes Nakoubi MF Makan Sidibé FW Kemy Amiche FW Abdoul Bila FW Junior Burban FW Christian Kitenge FW Jérémy Le Saos FW Tuta Phalange FW Baptiste Mouazan

Management and staff

Honours

References

External links

• Official website (in French)