Le Havre Athletic Club (; commonly referred to as Le Havre) is a French association football club based in

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very ...

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

. The club was founded as an athletics and

rugby club Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union and rugby league. Canadian football and, to a lesser extent, American football were once considered forms of rugby football, but are seldom now referred to as such. The ...

in 1872, making Le Havre AC the oldest professional French football club. Le Havre is one of the oldest French football clubs, but the oldest is Standard Athletic Club of Paris.Archives municipales du Fort de Tourneville (Le Havre), statuts du HAC, fonds de Sanvic, R3 1 L.2. Le Havre plays in Ligue 2, the second 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 ...

, and plays its home matches at the

Stade Océane The Stade Océane (or Grand Stade du Havre) is a football stadium in Le Havre, France. Its capacity is 25,178 all-seated and it is the home ground of Le Havre AC. It replaces the Stade Jules Deschaseaux as the club's home stadium. Its inaugura ...

. Le Havre made its football debut in France's first-ever championship in 1899 and, on its debut, became the first French club outside Paris to win the league. The club won the league the following season in 1900. Le Havre has yet to win the current first division of French football, Ligue 1, but has participated in the league 24 times; its last stint being during the 2008–09 season. The club's highest honour to date was winning 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 ...

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

. The main rivalries of Le Havre are the "Derby Normand" with

SM Caen Stade Malherbe Caen (; commonly known as SM Caen, SMC, or simply Caen) is a French professional football team, based in the city of Caen in Normandy, that competes in the Ligue 2. The club was founded on 17 November 1913 by the merger of ''Clu ...

and an always heated clash with

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements ...

, located in the region of

Nord-Pas-de-Calais Nord-Pas-de-Calais (); pcd, Nord-Pas-Calés); is a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Hauts-de-France. It consisted of the departments of Nord and Pas-de-Calais. Nord-Pas-de-Calais ...

History

It was in 1884 that a group of British residents formed Le Havre Athlétique, which played a hybrid form of football, a cross between

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

and association football, called "combination". The oldest French football club is Standard Athletic Club founded by British in Paris. ''Association'' football began being played in Le Havre in 1894. In 1899, Le Havre became the first club from outside Paris to become

French football champions The French football champions are the winners of the highest league of football in France, Ligue 1. Since the National Council of the French Football Federation voted in support of professionalism in French football in 1930, the professional foot ...

. At the time the championship was organised by the

USFSA U.S. Figure Skating is the national governing body for the sport of figure skating in the United States. It is recognized as such by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee "USOPC" under the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act an ...

. After being awarded a win over Iris Club Lillois in the semi-final by walkover, they were awarded the title after also receiving a walkover in the final against

Club Français Club Français was a French association football club based in Paris which was founded in 1890. Club Français won the 1896 USFSA Football Championship and Coupe de France Final 1931. In 1900 the USFSA elected players from Club Français to ...

. They would also win the following year, with the final being a "re-match" of the forfeited 1899 final. The club is famous for its notable youth investment program which develops and nurtures young talent, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show enough promise. A vast amount of good young talent has gone on to make an impact at international level including

Benjamin Mendy Benjamin Mendy (born 17 July 1994) is a French professional footballer who plays as a left-back for club Manchester City. He played for the France national team from 2017 until 2019. After coming through Le Havre's youth academy, Mendy began ...

, Ibrahim Ba,

Jean-Alain Boumsong Jean-Alain Boumsong Somkong (born 14 December 1979) is a French former professional footballer who played as a defender. He began his senior career with French club Le Havre in 1997 before joining AJ Auxerre in 2000. His performances at Auxerre ...

Lassana Diarra Lassana Diarra (born 10 March 1985) is a French former professional footballer. His predominant position was as a defensive midfielder but he could also play in a more advanced role and has played at right back, which he occasionally has done ...

Riyad Mahrez Riyad Karim Mahrez ( ar, رياض كريم محرز, Riyāḍ Karīm Maḥraz; born 21 February 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for club Manchester City and captains the Algeria national team. Mahrez began his career ...

Steve Mandanda Steve Mandanda Mpidi (; born 28 March 1985) is a French professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Ligue 1 club Rennes. Mandanda spent most of his professional career with Marseille, making over 600 appearances across all competition ...

Vikash Dhorasoo Vikash Rao Dhorasoo (born 10 October 1973) is a French former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Dhorasoo spent most of his career with Lyon, winning Ligue 1 twice in 2003 and 2004, and also had a loan at Bordeaux and a spell ...

Paul Pogba Paul Labile Pogba (born 15 March 1993) is a French professional footballer who plays for club Juventus and the France national team. He operates primarily as a central midfielder, but can be deployed as a left winger, attacking midfielder, d ...

and

Dimitri Payet Dimitri Payet (; born 29 March 1987) is a French professional footballer who plays for Ligue 1 club Marseille. A set-piece specialist, known for his accurate, bending free kicks, he primarily plays as an attacking midfielder, and is described a ...

. The club was on the receiving end of some high-profile illegal transfers, by which

Charles N'Zogbia Charles Humphrey N'Zogbia (born 28 May 1986) is a French former professional Association football, footballer who played as a right or left Midfielder#Winger, winger, but also as an Midfielder#Attacking midfielder, attacking midfielder. He was ca ...

, Matthias Lepiller and

were signed by other clubs, allegedly without the proper compensation being paid. The first two were arbitrated by FIFA, who ordered Newcastle United and

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fol ...

to pay training compensation.

Club culture

Le Havre is known as 'les ciel et marine' in France, which translates as 'the sky and navy blues'. These colours were chosen by the club's English founders as they were those of their alma maters, the universities of Oxford and Cambridge: the anthem of the club is played to the melody of "

God Save the Queen "God Save the King" is the national and/or royal anthem of the United Kingdom, most of the Commonwealth realms, their territories, and the British Crown Dependencies. The author of the tune is unknown and it may originate in plainchant, bu ...

" to mark the English origins of the club: "''A jamais le premier''
''de tous les clubs français''
''ô H.A.C.''
''Fiers de tes origines''
''Fils d'Oxford et Cambridge''
''deux couleurs font notre prestige''
''Ciel et marine!''" English translation: "The first ever
of all French clubs
The H.A.C
Proud of your roots
Son of Oxford and Cambridge
two colours make our prestige
(the colours of the) sky and the sea!"

Players

Current squad

Out on loan

Honours

* Ligue 2 **''Winners'' (5): 1938, 1959, 1985, 1991, 2008 **''Runners-up'' (1): 1950 *

**''Winners'' (1): 1959 **''Runners-up'' (1): 1920 *

Championnat **''Winners'' (3): 1899, 1900, 1919 *Challenge international du Nord **''Winners'' (1): 1900 * Coupe Nationale **''Winners'' (2): 1918, 1919 *

Challenge des Champions Challenge may refer to: * Voter challenging or caging, a method of challenging the registration status of voters * Euphemism for disability * Peremptory challenge, a dismissal of potential jurors from jury duty Places Geography *Challenge, C ...

**''Winners'' (1): 1959

Club Staff

Managerial history

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Le Havre Ac Association football clubs established in 1872 Football clubs in Normandy French rugby union clubs 1872 establishments in France Football clubs in France Sport in Le Havre Ligue 1 clubs