Gazélec Football Club Ajaccio (), commonly referred to as GFC Ajaccio, GFCA, Gazélec Ajaccio or simply Gazélec (), is a French football club from

Ajaccio Ajaccio (, , ; French language, French: ; or ; , locally: ; ) is the capital and largest city of Corsica, France. It forms a communes of France, French commune, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Corse-du-Sud, and head o ...

Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...

. Founded in 1910, Gazélec played one season in

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

in the 2015–16 season. As of the 2024–25 season, it competes in the Régional 1, the sixth tier of the French football league system.

History

The club was founded in 1960 as result of the merger of two small Ajaccio clubs, Football Club Ajaccien (commonly known as FC Ajaccio), founded in 1930 and Gazélec Corse Club, founded in 1910. Gazélec reached the semi-finals of the 2011–12 Coupe de France, while playing in the third-tier

Championnat National The Championnat National (), commonly referred to as simply National or Division 3, is the third division of the French football league system behind Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. Contested by 18 clubs, the Championnat National operates on a system of ...

. They hosted home games in the later rounds at the larger Stade François Coty, home of AC Ajaccio. On 15 May 2015, Gazélec were promoted to

for the first time in the club's history, following a 3–2 win over

Niort Niort (; Poitevin: ''Niàu''; ; ) is a commune in the Deux-Sèvres department, western France. It is the prefecture of Deux-Sèvres. The population of Niort is 58,707 (2017) and more than 177,000 people live in the urban area. Geography T ...

with two goals by John Tshibumbu. It was their second consecutive promotion and fourth in five years. The team started off the 2015–16 Ligue 1 season as one of the smallest teams to compete in the division's history. They were instantly relegated, in 19th place. In June 2019, the club were relegated to the third tier after a play-off loss to

Le Mans Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...

. They were relegated again at the end of the truncated 2019–20 Championnat National season, after being in the relegation places when the season was halted due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In 2021, they suffered administrative relegation to the fifth-tier

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 financial reasons. On 20 December 2022, following the initiation of criminal proceedings against its president of two months, receivership proceedings were commenced by the commercial court of Ajaccio. On 23 January 2023 the club appeared at the commercial court again, where a decision to liquidate it was tabled, under advisement for one week. A week later, the court confirmed the decision, leading to the suspension of the two senior teams of the club from Championnat National 3 and Régional 2, and their results for the season being expunged. On 13 July 2023, the

French Football Federation The French Football Federation ( FFF and 3F; or Triple F; , ) is the governing body of football in France. It was formed in 1919 and is based in the capital, Paris. The FFF is a founding member of FIFA and is responsible for overseeing all aspec ...

decided that Gazélec Ajaccio could participate in the upcoming season's Régional 2. In the 2023–24 season, they achieved immediate promotion to the Régional 1.

Honours

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship reasons, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Prof ...

** ''Runners-up:'' 2014–15 * Championnat de France Amateurs ** Champions: 1963, 1965, 1966, 1968, 2002–03, 2010–11 * Régional 2 ** Champions: 2023–24 * Corsican Championship ** Champions: 1937, 1938, 1956, 1957, 1961

Rivalries

The club had rivalries with the other two Corsican professional clubs: SC Bastia and AC Ajaccio, the latter one playing the Ajaccio Derby with Gazélec. For many years, Gazélec played in a lower division than their city rivals. The side also had a rivalry with another smaller club on the island, FC Borgo, a club formed when CA Bastia and Borgo FC merged.

Coaches

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ajaccio, Gazelec Gazélec Ajaccio Association football clubs established in 1910 Football clubs in Corsica 1910 establishments in France Defunct football clubs in France Ajaccio Sport in Corse-du-Sud Ligue 1 clubs