Thonon Evian Grand Genève Football Club, formerly Evian Thonon Gaillard FC (), commonly referred to as Thonon Evian or just Evian, is a French association football club based in

Thonon-les-Bains Thonon-les-Bains (; frp, Tonon), often simply referred to as Thonon, is a subprefecture of the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. In 2018, the commune had a population of 35,241. Thonon-les-Bains is ...

that was founded on 1 July 2007. It competes in the

Championnat National 2 The Championnat National 2, commonly known as National 2 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur (CFA), is a football league competition. The league serves as the fourth tier of the French football league system behind Ligue 1, Ligue ...

, the fourth tier of the

French football league system The French football league system is a series of interconnected leagues for club football in France and Monaco, and includes one Spanish side. At the top two levels of the system is the Ligue de Football Professionnel, which consists of two pro ...

. Evian's predecessor were known as ''FC Gaillard'' and existed from 1924 to 2003. Gaillard's only notable success was winning the Division d'Honneur of the

Rhône-Alpes Rhône-Alpes () was an administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it is part of the new region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the river Rhône an ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

in 1999. Evian proved more successful, ascending to the professional divisions after just three seasons. The club won the

Championnat de France Amateur The Championnat National 2, commonly known as National 2 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur (CFA), is a football league competition. The league serves as the fourth tier of the French football league system behind Ligue 1, Ligue ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, the

Championnat National The Championnat de France National ( en, French National Championship), commonly referred to as simply National or Division 3, serves as the third division of the French football league system behind Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. Contested by 18 clubs, t ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, and finally the

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

. Evian formerly played its home matches at the

Stade Joseph-Moynat Stade Joseph-Moynat is a multi-purpose stadium in Thonon-les-Bains, France. It is currently used for American football matches and is the home stadium of Thonon Black Panthers.http://www.elitefoot.com/france/equipes/d1/blacks/team.htm The stadium ...

in Thonon-les-Bains but moved to the Parc des Sports in nearby

Annecy Annecy ( , ; frp, Èneci or ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It lies on the northern tip of Lake Annecy, south of Geneva, Switzerland. Nicknamed ...

for the 2010–11 season as the Joseph-Moynat did not meet the standards of the

Ligue de Football Professionnel The Ligue de Football Professionnel (, ''Professional Football League''), commonly known as the LFP, is a French governing body that runs the major professional football leagues in France. It was founded in 1944 and serves under the authority o ...

. The move was a temporary measure while the club contemplated building a new facility or renovating the Stade Joseph-Moynat. Prior to moving to Annecy, Evian sought to play at the

Stade de Genève Stade de Genève, also called Stade de la Praille, is a stadium in Lancy, Canton of Geneva. It has a capacity of 30,084. Overview The stadium was completed in 2003 by Implenia, Zschokke Construction S.A. after nearly three years of construction. ...

over the Swiss border in nearby Geneva. Until the 2013–14 season, the club's main sponsor was

Groupe Danone A group is a military unit or a military formation that is most often associated with military aviation. Air and aviation groups The terms group and wing differ significantly from one country to another, as well as between different branches ...

, owner of the

Evian Evian ( , ; , stylized as evian) is a French company that bottles and commercialises mineral water from several sources near Évian-les-Bains, on the south shore of Lake Geneva. It produces over 2 billion plastic bottles per year. Today, Evia ...

brand of mineral water. Danone's CEO

Franck Riboud Franck Riboud (born 7 November 1955) is a French businessman. He served as the chairman of Danone. Biography Franck Riboud was born on 7 November 1955 in Lyon. He is the son of Antoine Riboud, the previous CEO, who transformed the former Europe ...

was honorary president of the club. At the end of the 2015–16 season, the club was relegated from Ligue 2, and further demoted by the DNCG to the Championnat de France Amateur, the fourth level of football in France. The club then entered receivership meaning that, even if it had survived, it would have suffered a further administrative relegation at the end of the 2016–17 season. The club withdrew from the competition on 9 August. The club reformed in the regional leagues, and won back-to-back promotions in 2019 and 2020 to gain a place 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 ...

for the 2020–21 season. In May 2021, it was announced that the club had become a member of the STRIVE football group, with US team

FC Miami City Founded in 2014 by Ravy Truchot, FC Miami City (FCMC) is an American soccer club based in South Florida. The club is owned and operated by Strive Football Group, the leading private owner and operator of football clubs and academies. The club ...

and Belgian team

Royal FC Mandel United Royal FC Mandel United, formerly KFC Mandel United, is a football club competing in the third-tier Belgian National Division 1. The club was originally founded in 1926, and is based in Izegem, Belgium which is located in the Flemish Region. Roy ...

History

Football in Gaillard

In 2003 Football Croix-de-Savoie 74 was formed as a result of a merger between FC Gaillard and FC Ville-la-Grand. Gaillard was founded in 1924 and spent most of its life playing in the Ligue Rhône-Alpes, while Ville-la-Grand was founded in 1928. The new club finished 3rd in the

Championnat de France amateur The Championnat National 2, commonly known as National 2 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur (CFA), is a football league competition. The league serves as the fourth tier of the French football league system behind Ligue 1, Ligue ...

(CFA) Groupe B section for the 2003–04 season. Normally, only the top club in each of the four amateur groups are promoted to the

; however, both the 1st and 2nd placed clubs in the group were reserve sides of professional teams, namely

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

and

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand E ...

. As such, Croix-de-Savoie was promoted. The club's first season in National saw them narrowly avoid relegation, finishing 14th out of 20, two points above relegated 17th place

Besançon Besançon (, , , ; archaic german: Bisanz; la, Vesontio) is the prefecture of the department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerl ...

. The 2005–06 season was less successful; Croix-de-Savoie finished 18th with 41 points, one point behind

SO Châtellerault Stade Olympique Châtellerault is a French association football club founded in 1914. It is based in Châtellerault, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France and plays in the Championnat National 3. It plays at the Stade de la Montée Rouge in Châtellerault ...

, thus falling back to the fourth division. Croix-de-Savoie's average attendance also dropped from 933 to 716.

The foundation

In 2007, a merger between Croix-de-Savoie 74 and Olympique Thonon Chablais created Olympique Croix-de-Savoie 74. Whilst the former club had been heavily associated with the

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

Gaillard Gaillard () is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. Gaillard lies on the border with Switzerland, 5 km east of the city centre of Geneva. The biggest border crossing is ca ...

, the new club moved to the nearby

because the stadium in Gaillard was, in August 2005, deemed unfit for use in the National division. The decision resulted in club being forced to move to

in Thonon, a facility with 2,700 seats and a total capacity of 6,000. The club returned to the Championnat National as the CFA Group B winners (with a record 108 points) for the 2008–09 season. In the summer of 2009, the president of the

, was made honorary president of the football club. Riboud yet again changed the name of the team to ''

Thonon Gaillard Football Club''. He also put money into the team to improve the youth system of the club and harboured aspirations of the side achieving promotion to

. On 16 April 2010, the club completed the feat in Riboud's first season presiding over the club achieving promotion to

, for the first time, following its 1–0 victory over

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...

. After earning promotion to

for the 2010–11 season, Evian was rumoured to be pursuing a move to play its home matches at the Stade de la Praille in Geneva, Switzerland after it was determined that the club's current facility, the

, did not meet the

's (LFP) standards.

, the

where the club situates itself, is a few kilometres from the Swiss border and is only , a 45-minute car drive, from the city of Geneva. It was reported that the club's president, Patrick Trotignon, had been advocating the move since the beginning of the

2009–10 Championnat National The 2009–10 Championnat National was the 17th edition of the 3rd division league. Play commenced on 7 August 2009 and ended on 21 May 2010. Promotion and relegation Teams relegated from 2008–09 Ligue 2 * 18th Place: Amiens * 19th Place: Rei ...

season just in case the club achieved promotion to the second division. The vice-president of Swiss club

Servette FC Servette FC is a Swiss football club based in Geneva, founded in March 1890 with rugby as its first sporting activity, and named after the Geneva district of the same name. The football section was created on 17 January 1900. They play in the S ...

, the regular occupant of the stadium, questioned the move citing possible schedule conflicts, as well as the health of the pitch if both clubs were to use the stadium on a weekly basis. However, Benoît Genecand, president of Fondation du Stade de Genève (FSG), which owned and operated the facility, disputed the claims of the Servette official. Servette responded immediately to Genecand's comments via a

press release A press release is an official statement delivered to members of the news media for the purpose of providing information, creating an official statement, or making an announcement directed for public release. Press releases are also considere ...

posted on the club's official website. Evian petitioned to the State Council of Geneva and obtained approval from the LFP for the move in early May. On 20 May 2010, Evian received a favourable ruling from the

French Football Federation The French Football Federation ( FFF; french: Fédération Française de Football) is the governing body of football in France. It also includes the overseas departments ( Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Mayotte and Réunion), the over ...

(FFF) with the Federal Council voting in favour of the move. According to the federation, the move now had to be agreed upon by a

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

executive committee. On 8 June, UEFA officially denied Evian's request to play at the Stade de la Praille meaning the club would play its home matches at the Parc des Sports in nearby

. On 9 January 2011, Evian recorded an upset victory over the defending French champions

Olympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; oc, Olimpic de Marselha, ), also known simply as Marseille or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional men's football club based in Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. Founded in 1899, the club pl ...

in 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 ...

, defeating the Ligue 1 club 3–1 in the Round of 64. Strong form throughout the season saw Evian secure a second successive promotion as

champions A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the Victory, victor in a challenge, Competition, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and w ...

. In their first season in

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

, ''Les Roses'' finished in a respectable ninth place, one place above French giants Marseille. In the following season, the club finished in sixteenth position, avoiding relegation by just two points. Evian also reached the Coupe de France final for the first time in the club's history, where they were beaten 3–2 by

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

, falling victim to a last-minute winner by Cheick Diabaté.

Relegation and dissolution

At the end of the

2015–16 Ligue 2 The 2015–16 Ligue 2 season was the 77th season since its establishment. Teams There are 20 clubs in the league, with three promoted teams from Championnat National replacing the three teams that were relegated to the same level, and three rel ...

season, the club finished in the relegation places. The DNCG imposed an additional relegation for the subsequent season, which would place Evian in the fourth tier of the French football pyramid, the

(CFA). On 2 August 2016 the club was placed in receivership, given a probationary period of two months to save itself, and assessed a further administrative relegation at the end of the 2016–17 season. On 9 August, the French Football Federation confirmed Evian's decision to cease operation in the CFA and it collapsed and folded.

Reformation, merger, rise

On 7 December 2016, Evian was renamed Thonon Evian Savoie Football Club. In 2018, Thonon Evian Savoie FC and Union Sportive Evian Lugrin FC merged to form Thonon Evian FC. In 2019, the new club won promotion from the Régional 2 to the

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 ...

of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes league. This was followed in 2020 by promotion to

, and promotion to the

in 2022.

Honours

Domestic

League

: **Winners (1):

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

: **Winners (1): 2009–10 *

: **Winners (1): 2007–08 *

: **Winners (1): 2021–22 *

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes: **Winners (1): 2019–20 *

Régional 2 The French football league system is a series of interconnected leagues for club football in France and Monaco, and includes one Spanish side. At the top two levels of the system is the Ligue de Football Professionnel, which consists of two pro ...

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes: **Winners (1): 2018–19

Cups

: **Runners-up (1):

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

Players

First team squad

''As of 8 July 2022.''

Managerial history

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thonon Evian F.C. Association football clubs established in 2007 2007 establishments in France Sport in Haute-Savoie Works association football teams Football clubs in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Ligue 1 clubs