Tours FC

Full name	Tours Football Club
Nickname(s)	TFC
Founded	1919
Ground	Stade de la Vallée du Cher, Tours, France (Capacity: 13,500)
Chairman	Frédéric Sebag
Manager	Daniel Sanchez
League	Ligue 2
2008-09	L2, 6th
Home colours Away colours

Tours Football Club (a.k.a. Tours FC) is a French football club based in Tours. It was founded in 1919. They play at the Stade de la Vallée du Cher.

The club had its best years in the eighties, playing four seasons in Ligue 1 (1980-1983 and 1984-1985).

[edit] Honours

• Champion of France Division 2 : 1984.
• Runner-up Division 2 : 1980.
• Runner-up National : 2006.
• Semi-finalist of Coupe de France : 1982, 1983.
• Champion of Division d'Honneur (DH) Ligue du Centre : 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1930, 1932, 1949, 1952, 1960, 1965, 1968, 1973.

[edit] Stadium

Tours FC - Paris Saint-Germain FC in a friendly match on 18 July 2007 (Tours won 1-0)

The club has been playing at the Stade de la Vallée du Cher since 1978.In 1979, its capacity was 22000 people but now just 13500. The stadium was built thanks to former mayor Jean Royer, as he wanted a decent venue for the club. Before, Tours FC used to play at the Stade de Grammont.

[edit] History

The team was founded in 1919 as AS Docks du Centre and quickly changed its name to AS du Centre in 1921.In 1951, the Docks du Centre withdrew from the club, which changed its name to FC Tours.The team enjoyed some successes thanks to player-coach Alfred Aston who lead the club to round of 64 of the Coupe de France.

FC Tours historical logo

The team got promoted in Division 1 in 1980 and signed best goalscorer Delio Onnis from AS Monaco FC, who helped the team for three years.But in 1983, the team was relegated. However, the team reached twice the semi-finals of the Coupe de France, in 1982^[1] and 83^[2], being eliminated twice by Paris SG.In 1984, the team won the Division 2 title and came back in Division 1 but was relegated after one season at the top level.Since 1985, Tours never managed to come back in Division 1.^[3]

The club was relegated from Ligue 2, finishing last after a desastrous season, despite some individuality such as Cédric Collet, Mehdi Benatia or Michel Rodriguez. During the season, Albert Falette, manager for eight years was sacked. At the end of the season, the club released or sold almost all its players, including captain David Fleurival. The club only kept long-time goalkeeper Armand Raimbault and young prospect Rudy Wendling. The team for the 2007-2008 season has a new look, with the arrival of Diego Sebastian Gomez or Anthony Robic.

[edit] Colours and logos

Tours Coat of arms

The logo is inspired by the city coats of arms with three towers and Fleur-de-lis. It bears the club's motto "Turonorum civitas libera" which means in Latin "Free city of Turones", the celtic tribes which gave its name to Tours. The motto was found engraved on a rock which is now in the undergrounds of the Beaux Arts museum of the city.^[4] The salamander is a reference to king François 1er.

[edit] Supporters

In France, Tours is not a town fond of football because of the lack of football tradition.Moreover, supporters were disappointed of the poor results of the club for years.However, the accession to Ligue 2 in 2006 has created some interest in the city and audiences in the stadium are gradually getting bigger. There are 3 groups of supporters:

• Amicale des supporters
• Kop 37
• Supras Tours

[edit] Current squad

As of November 2009^[5]

No. Position Player 1 GK Jérémy Sopalski 3 MF Gaëtan Englebert 4 DF Xavier Tomas 6 MF Julien François 7 DF Lionel Mallein 9 MF Gaëtan Belaud 10 MF Diego Gomez 11 DF Geoffrey Adjet 12 FW Olivier Giroud 14 MF Chakhir Belghazouani 14 FW Mohamed Ali Ghariani 16 GK Romain Salin 17 DF Francis N'Ganga

No. Position Player 18 FW Youssouf Touré 19 MF Florent Gache 20 DF Alexandre Dujeux 21 DF Karim Saidi 22 MF Fatih Atık 23 FW Yannick Yenga 24 MF Clément Fabre 25 DF Júlio Santos 27 DF Romain Genevois 28 MF Julien Cétout GK Benjamin Leroy GK Romain Mauger

[edit] Famous past players

For a complete list of Tours FC players, see Category:Tours FC players

Name	Nationality	Position	Tours career	Appearances	Goals	Other
Aston, FredFred Aston	France	FW	1951–1956			French international
da Fonseca, OmarOmar da Fonseca	Argentina	FW	1982–1985
Distin, SylvainSylvain Distin	France	DF	1998–1999			Later played for major clubs
Eydelie, Jean-JacquesJean-Jacques Eydelie	France	MF	1987–1988			Was involved in OM/VA bribery scandal, won the UEFA Champions League in 1993
Almirón, Sergio OmarSergio Omar Almirón	Argentina	DF				Won the 1986 FIFA World Cup
Lacombe, GuyGuy Lacombe	France	MF	1981–1983			Was integral to the team in Division 1
Madjer, RabahRabah Madjer	Algeria	MF	1985–1986			Algerian star who played 1982 and 1986 FIFA World Cup
Onnis, DelioDelio Onnis	Argentina	FW	1980–1983		64	Ligue 1 all-time goalscorer with 299 goals

[edit] Coaches

• Yvon Jublot :1969-1976
• Pierre Phelippon :1976-1981
• Hennie Hollink :1981-1983
• Guy Briet: 1983-March 1985
• Serge Besnard : March 1985-1986
• Yvon Jublot : 1986-1988
• Jean Sérafin : 1988-1992
• Raymond Kéruzoré : 1992-1993
• Philippe Leroux : 1993-1995
• Christian Letard : 1995-March 1999
• Albert Falette : March 1999-2007
• Philippe Bizeul : 2007
• Daniel Sanchez : 2007-

^[6]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• (French) Official website
• (French) Unofficial website