FC Girondins de Bordeaux

Beginnings

The club took its name Girondins from a group of French Revolutionaries from the region, and was founded on 1 October 1881 as a gymnastics and shooting club. The club, chaired by André Chavois, later added sports such as rowing, equestrian, and swimming, among others. It was not until 1910 when football was officially introduced to the club following strong urging from several members within the club, most notably club president Raymond Brard, though it was only available on a trial basis. The experiment with football lasted only a year before returning almost a decade later in 1919. The club contested its first official match in 1920 defeating Section Burdigalienne 12–0.^[6]

Bordeaux achieved professional status in football on 2 July 1936, partly due to the club's merger with fellow Bordelais outfit Girondins Guyenne Sport, which resulted in the club that exists today. Bordeaux's rise to professionalism came about alongside the French Football Federation's plea to increase professionalism in French football, which prior to 1932, had been non-existent. The club was inserted into the second division of French football and made its debut appearance during the 1937–38 season. The club's first manager was Spaniard Benito Díaz. Diaz brought fellow Spanish players Santiago Urtizberea and Jaime Mancisidor to the team with the latter serving as captain. The club's most prominent Frenchmen on the team were homegrown attacker Henri Arnaudeau and goalkeeper André Gérard. Bordeaux played its first official match on 23 May 1937 defeating Rhône-Alpes-based FC Scionzier 2–1 at the Stade de Colombes. The club's first ever league match was contested on 22 August losing away to Toulouse 3–2. Bordeaux recorded its first league win against Nîmes. Unfortunately for the club, the team finished 6th in the Southern region of the division. Bordeaux's disappointing finish inserted the club into the relegation playoff portion of the league where the team finished a respectable 3rd. A year later, Bordeaux moved into a new home, the Stade Chaban-Delmas, which had previously been known as, simply Parc Lescure. The facility was built specifically for the 1938 FIFA World Cup and, following the competition's completion, was designated to Bordeaux. The club had formerly played its home matches at the Stade Galin, which today is used as a training ground.^[6]

Success and stability

Trophy of the centenary tournament of Girondins de Bordeaux

On 15 October 1940, Bordeaux merged with local club AS Port and took on one of the club's most prestigious traditions, the scapular. Bordeaux ASP, which the club was now known, adorned the scapular during its run to the 1941 edition of the Coupe de France final. The match, played in occupied France at the Stade Municipal in Saint-Ouen, saw Bordeaux defeat SC Fives 2–0 with Urtizberea netting both goals. The Coupe de France triumph was the club's first major honour. Following the liberation of France, Bordeaux returned to league play and earned promotion to the first division following its 2nd-place finish during the 1948–49 season. After the season, André Gérard, now manager of the club, signed Dutchman Bertus de Harder. Led by the three-headed monster of De Harder, Édouard Kargu, and Camille Libar, Bordeaux captured its first-ever league championship, in just the club's first season in the first division, winning by six points over second place Lille. The league success led to Bordeaux being selected to participate in the second edition of the Latin Cup. In the competition, Bordeaux reached the final drawing 3–3 with Portuguese outfit Benfica. The draw forced a second match with Benfica claiming victory following an extra time goal after over two hours and 25 minutes of play.^[6]

Bordeaux maintained its title-winning aspirations finishing runners-up to Nice two seasons after winning its first title. The club also performed well in cup competitions reaching the Coupe de France final in 1952 and 1955. In 1952, Bordeaux suffered defeat to the team it finished runner-up to the same year, Nice, following a thrilling match in which eight goals were scored with five of them coming in the first 40 minutes. Bordeaux drew the match at 3–3 following a 55th-minute goal from Henri Baillot, but Nice countered minutes later with two goals in a span of four minutes to go up 5–3, which was the final result. In 1955, Bordeaux were trounced 5–2 by Lille who went up 4–0 within 35 minutes. The resulting struggles in the cup competitions led to struggles domestically with the club suffering relegation in the 1955–56 season. The club returned to the first division for the 1959–60 season, but failed to make an impact falling back to Ligue 2 after finishing last in the standings with 21 points.^[6]

Bordeaux returned to its former selves in the 1960s under new manager and former player Salvador Artigas. Under the helm of Artigas, Bordeaux returned to the first division and finished in a respectable fourth place for the 1962–63 season. The following season, Bordeaux returned to the Coupe de France final where the club faced off against Lyon. Bordeaux, once again, were defeated 2–0 courtesy of two goals from the Argentine Nestor Combin. The club's runner-up finish resulted in the team qualifying for the 1964–65 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. The appearance was brief with the club losing 4–3 on aggregate to German club Borussia Dortmund. Four seasons later, Bordeaux again reached the final of the Coupe de France, the club's seventh appearance overall. The team faced Saint-Étienne and, again failed to match the achievement reached in 1941 losing 2–1. The following season, Bordeaux earned another appearance in the final, but again, failed to win the trophy losing 2–0 to Marseille. The team suffered an extreme decline during the 1970s, despite the arrival of Alain Giresse. The club played under seven different managers during the decade and consistently finished at the bottom half of the table. In 1979, the club was sold to the influential and ambitious real estate mogul Claude Bez, who positioned himself as president of the club. In the summer of 1983, Girondins de Bordeaux organised a centenary tournament; Bordeaux won a 2–0 victory over Barcelona in the semi-finals of this tournament, and in the final, the club was defeated by VfB Stuttgart.^[6][7]

Return to prominence in the 1980s

Bordeaux's home kit of their victorious 1984-85 Ligue 1 season

Alain Giresse, influential Bordeaux player in the '70s and '80s and the club's all-time top scorer.

Under the helm of Claude Bez, who injected millions into the club, Bordeaux flourished winning three league championships, two Coupe de France titles, and also performed well in European competitions. During Bez's run presiding over the team, he recruited several French internationals such as Bernard Lacombe, Jean Tigana, René Girard, Jean-Christophe Thouvenel, and Thierry Tusseau. Bez also brought in established manager Aimé Jacquet. Led by 1970s mainstays Giresse and Gernot Rohr, Bordeaux captured its first league championship since 1950 in the 1983–84 season finishing equal on points with Monaco, however, due to having a better head-to-head record, Bordeaux were declared champions. The next season, Bordeaux again won the league claiming the title by four points over second place Nantes. In Europe, Bordeaux played in the 1984–85 European Cup and reached the semi-finals, defeating Spanish club Athletic Bilbao, Romanian club Dinamo București, and Soviet outfit Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk before losing to Italian club Juventus. In the Coupe de France, Bordeaux finally achieved cup glory defeating Marseille 2–1 in the 1986 edition of the final with Tigana and Giresse recording both goals. The Coupe de France trophy was the club's first since 1941 after eight agonising attempts in finals. The following year the club responded by winning the trophy again; in a re-match with Marseille, Bordeaux won its second consecutive cup courtesy of goals from Philippe Fargeon and Zlatko Vujović. Bordeaux then capped off the 1986–87 season by winning its fourth league title and achieving the double as well.

In 1989, Bordeaux ended the decade with a consecutive runners-up medal in their 1989 Ligue 1 campaign and getting up towards the semi-final in a strong European Cup run that season.^[8]

Rising from the ashes in the 1990s

Due to administrative problems, the club was relegated just two years thereafter. In 1992, however, Les Girondins won that year's Ligue 2 title, thus being elevated to the top tier of French football. In the emergence of young and exciting players such as playmaker Zinedine Zidane, striker Christophe Dugarry and left back Bixente Lizarazu, the club ascended even higher to win the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 1995. With this talented trio, the club defeated Milan and Slavia Prague in the quarter- and semi-finals respectively to reach the UEFA Cup final of 1996. Bordeaux witnessed even further glory only three years later, winning their fifth title in that of the 1999 Ligue 1 with winger Sylvain Wiltord winning the Golden Boot of that season with 22 goals.^[8]

Into the 2000s

During the 1999–2000 season, the club played in the new UEFA Champions League for the first time. In two seasons time Bordeaux won another piece of silverware, beating Lorient 3–0 in the 2002 Coupe de la Ligue final. Le club au scapulaire then two seasons later defeated Club Brugge 4–1 on aggregate in the fourth round to reach the 2004 UEFA Cup quarter-finals, where the club fell to eventual winners Valencia.^[8] Bordeaux got to another final in 2007 where there were eventually victorious in winning the Coupe de la Ligue of that year. Bordeaux then achieved further honors in winning the Ligue 1 and Coupe de la Ligue titles of the 2008-09 French footballing season thus achieving the first ever double in the club's history.^[9]. In 2013, Bordeaux won the Coupe de France defeating Evian 3-2 in the final.^[10] In the 2013/2014 Ligue 1 season, Bordeaux finished 7th in the table.^[11] In 2015, Bordeaux appointed Willy Sagnol but in 2016 Sagnol was terminated after only winning one match in the first eight games of the season and was replaced by Ulrich Rame.^[12] On 27 May 2016, Rame was replaced by Jocelyn Gourvennec.^[13] On 20 January 2018, Gourvennec was terminated and was replaced by Gus Poyet. Poyet guided Bordeaux to a 6th placed finish at the end of the season.^[14] In July 2018, General American Capital Partners's CEO Joseph DaGrosa pursued the purchase of the French professional soccer team for seventy million euros after 19 years of M6's ownership.^[15][16]

Current squad

As of 31 August 2018.^[22]

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 Benoît Costil (captain) 2 DF Milan Gajić 3 DF Sergi Palencia (on loan from Barcelona) 4 DF Jules Koundé 5 MF Otávio 6 DF Igor Lewczuk 7 FW Jimmy Briand 8 FW Yann Karamoh (on loan from Inter Milan) 9 FW Andreas Cornelius (on loan from Atalanta) 10 MF Samuel Kalu 11 FW François Kamano 12 FW Nicolas de Préville 13 MF Younousse Sankharé 14 DF Vukašin Jovanović 15 FW Alexandre Mendy

No. Position Player 16 GK Gaëtan Poussin 17 MF Aurélien Tchouaméni 18 MF Jaroslav Plašil 19 MF Lukas Lerager 20 DF Youssouf Sabaly 21 DF Théo Pellenard 23 MF Valentín Vada 25 DF Pablo 26 MF Toma Bašić 28 MF Zaydou Youssouf 29 MF Maxime Poundjé 30 GK Jérôme Prior 35 MF Yassine Benrahou 40 GK Over Mandanda

Other players under contract

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

No. Position Player — DF Thomas Carrique — FW Ibrahim Diarra

No. Position Player — FW Michaël Nilor — FW Ervin Taha

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 — GK Paul Bernardoni (at Nîmes) — DF Paul Baysse (at Caen) — MF Daniel Mancini (at Auxerre)

No. Position Player — MF Jonathan Cafu (at Red Star Belgrade) — FW Aaron Boupendza (at Gazélec Ajaccio)

Most appearances

#	Name	Matches
1°	Alain Giresse	587
2°	Ulrich Ramé	525
3°	Jean-Christophe Thouvenel	490
4°	Guy Calléja	441
5°	Gernot Rohr	430
6°	René Gallice	390
7°	Marc Planus	381
8°	Edouard Kargulewicz	341
9°	Jean Tigana	326
10°	Christophe Dugarry	324

Top Scorers

#	Name	Goals
1°	Alain Giresse	182
2°	Edouard Kargulewicz	151
3°	Bernard Lacombe	138
4°	Laurent Robuschi	130
5°	Pauleta	91
6°	Johannes Lambertus de Harder	90
7°	Didier Couécou	89
8°	Marouane Chamakh	76
9°	Hector De Bourgoing	72
10°	Lilian Laslandes	70

^[23]

Managerial history

In its history, Bordeaux have had 36 managers. The first was the Spaniard Benito Díaz. Díaz was the first Bordeaux manager to achieve an honour when, in 1941, the club won the Coupe de France. The first Bordeaux manager to win the league was André Gérard. Gérard led the team to the league crown in 1950. He also has the honour of being the club's longest-serving manager having spent a decade with the club from 1947 to 1957. Gérard is followed by Aimé Jacquet who spent nine seasons with the club in the 1980s. Under Jacquet, Bordeaux won three league titles and two Coupe de France titles.

Dates Name 1937–42 Benito Díaz 1942–43 Santiago Urtizberea 1943 Eugen Stern 1943–45 Oscar Saggiero 1945–47 Maurice Bunyan 1947–57 André Gérard 1957 Santiago Urtizberea 1957–60 Camille Libar 1960–67 Salvador Artigas 1967–70 Jean-Pierre Bakrim 1970 Pierre Danzelle 1970–72 André Gérard 1972–74 Pierre Phelipon

Dates Name 1974–76 André Menaut 1976–78 Christian Montes 1978–79 Luis Carniglia 1979–80 Raymond Goethals 1980–89 Aimé Jacquet 1989 Didier Couécou 1989–90 Raymond Goethals Sept 1990–90 Gernot Rohr 1990–91 Gérard Gili 1991 – June 1992 Gernot Rohr July 1992 – June 1994 Rolland Courbis July 1994 – June 1995 Toni April 1995 – June 1995 Éric Guérit

Dates Name July 1995 – Feb 1996 Slavoljub Muslin Feb 1996 – June 1996 Gernot Rohr July 1996 – June 1997 Rolland Courbis June 1997 – Dec 1997 Guy Stéphan Dec 1997 – Oct 2003 Elie Baup Oct 2003 – June 2005 Michel Pavon July 2005 – June 2007 Ricardo Gomes July 2007 – May 2010 Laurent Blanc May 2010 – May 2011 Jean Tigana May 2011 – June 2011 Éric Bedouet (interim) June 2011 – May 2014 Francis Gillot May 2014 – March 2016 Willy Sagnol March 2016 – May 2016 Ulrich Ramé July 2016– January 2018 Jocelyn Gourvennec January 2018– September 2018 Gustavo Poyet

Domestic competitions

^[6][8]

• Ligue 1
  • Winners (6): 1949–50, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1986–87, 1998–99, 2008–2009
• Ligue 2
  • Winners (1): 1991–92
• Championnat National
  • Winners (3): 1937, 1944, 1953
• Coupe de France
  • Winners (4): 1940–41, 1985–86, 1986–87, 2012–13
• Coupe de la Ligue
  • Winners (3): 2001–02, 2006–07, 2008–09
• Trophée des champions
  • Winners (3): 1986, 2008, 2009

International competitions

^[6][8]

• European Cup/UEFA Champions League
  • Semi-finalists (1): 1984–85
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
  • Semi-finalists (1): 1986–87
• UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League
  • Runners-up (1): 1995–96
• UEFA Intertoto Cup
  • Winners (1): 1995
• Latin Cup
  • Runners-up (1): 1950
• Cup of the Alps
  • Winners (1): 1980
  • Runners-up (1): 1972

UEFA club coefficient ranking

As of 6 June 2017^[26]

Rank	Team	Points
101	Chornomorets Odesa	15.826
102	Molde	15.660
103	Bordeaux	15.266
104	Rijeka	15.050
105	West Ham United	14.863