FC Balagne is a French

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club based in

L'Île-Rousse L'Île-Rousse (; co, Lìsula, , or , ; it, Isola Rossa, ; ) is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica. It was founded in 1758 by Pasquale Paoli to create a port that would not be in the hands of the Geno ...

Haute-Corse Haute-Corse (; co, Corsica suprana , or ; en, Upper Corsica) is (as of 2022) an administrative department of France, consisting of the northern part of the island of Corsica. The corresponding departmental territorial collectivity merged wi ...

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

. It was known as FB Île Rousse during the period between 2008 and 2018, and under other names prior to that. As of the 2022–23 season, the club play in

Championnat National 3 The Championnat National 3, commonly referred to as simply National 3 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur 2, is a football league competition. The league serves as the fifth division of the French football league system behind ...

, the fifth level of French football.

History

The club was founded as FA Île-Rousse in 1976. Their best period so far was in the mid-1990s, when they made it to the Championnat de France de football National, the third tier of

French football Association football is the most popular sport in France. The French Football Federation (FFF, Fédération Française de Football) is the national governing body and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of association football in the cou ...

. After gaining promotion in 1996, the club merged with ''AS Monticello'' and became known as FA Île-Rousse Monticello. They remained just one season at the third level, being relegated again in 1997. After a string of poor results and attendances, the club was forced to declare bankruptcy in 2008. It reformed in the Corsican regional league as Football Balagne Île-Rousse. The club climbed to

Division d'Honneur Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication * Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

Corsica in 2010, and to

Championnat de France Amateur 2 The Championnat National 3, commonly referred to as simply National 3 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur 2, is a football league competition. The league serves as the fifth division of the French football league system behind ...

in 2013. On 22 January 2014, in the Last 32 of the

Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...

, the club defeated top-flight club and tournament holders

Girondins de Bordeaux Football Club des Girondins de Bordeaux (), commonly referred to as Girondins de Bordeaux ( oc, Girondins de Bordèu) or simply Bordeaux, is a French professional football club based in the city of Bordeaux in Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine. The ...

4–3 on penalties after a 0–0 draw at

Stade Ange Casanova Stade Ange Casanova ( co, Stadiu Anghjulu Casanova) is a football stadium in Ajaccio, Corsica, France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas Fran ...

Ajaccio Ajaccio (, , ; French: ; it, Aiaccio or ; co, Aiacciu , locally: ; la, Adiacium) is a French commune, prefecture of the department of Corse-du-Sud, and head office of the ''Collectivité territoriale de Corse'' (capital city of Corsica). ...

. In July 2018, the club merged with ''Football Club Squadra Calvi'' to form Football Club Balagne. In May 2019 FC Balagne were champions of

Régional 1 The Régional 1 (previously known as ''Division d'Honneur'') is the common generic name for the highest level association football, football league competitions run by each of the 13 French football league system#Regional Leagues, Regional Lea ...

Corsica, and gained promotion to

. They were relegated after just one season at the higher level, being bottom of the group when the season was terminated early due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Important dates

* 1976: Club founded as FA Île-Rousse; played in Division d'Honneur in Corsica * 1986: Promoted to Championnat de France de football de Division 4 ( CFA2) as champions of Division d'Honneur in Corsica * 1993: Promoted to Championnat de France amateur de football ( CFA) as champions of Division 4 * 1995: Promoted to Championnat de France de football National after finishing third in the CFA * 1996: Merger with AS Monticello (founded in 1988 as FA IRM) * 1997: Relegated to CFA after finishing 11th in National Groupe B * 2005: Relegated to

CFA 2 The Championnat National 3, commonly referred to as simply National 3 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur 2, is a football league competition. The league serves as the fifth division of the French football league system behind ...

after finishing 17th in CFA Groupe C * 2006: Renovation of Stade Jacques Ambroggi (new pitch, new dressing rooms, new offices) * 2008: Bankruptcy of club after finishing 16th and last in CFA2 Groupe D; club reformed as FBIR * 2010: Promotion to DH (Division d'Honneur) of the Ligue Corse de Football * 2013: Champions of DH and promotion to CFA2 * 2018: Relegated from National 3 to Ligue Corse de Football Regional 1

Honours

* Champions of

Division 4 ''Division 4'' is an Australian television police drama series made by Crawford Productions for the Nine Network between 1969 and 1975 for 301 episodes. Synopsis The series was one of the first dramas to follow up on the enormous success o ...

Groupe H: 1993 * Champions of Ligue Corse de Football: 1984, 1985, 1986, 2013 * Winners of the Coupe de Corse: 1985, 1986, 1987 * Champions of PHA (Promotion Honneur A): 2010

References

Association football clubs established in 1976 Association football clubs established in 2008 Football clubs in Corsica Sport in Haute-Corse Football clubs in France Association football clubs disestablished in 2008 2008 establishments in France 2008 disestablishments in France 1976 establishments in France {{France-footyclub-stub