FC Sète 34

Sète 34
Full name	Football Club de Sète 34
Nickname(s)	Les dauphins or Verts; blancs
Founded	1914; 110 years ago
Dissolved	2023; 1 year ago
Ground	Stade Louis Michel, Sète
Capacity	8,500
Website	http://fcsete34.com

FC Sète 34 was a French football club based in Sète and founded in 1901 as Olympique de Cette. The club won the French league title twice (in 1934 and 1939) and the French cup also twice (1930 and 1934). In 1934 they became the first club to win the French league and cup double. At the time, they were using the Georges-Bayrou Stadium.^[2] Until 1960, the club played a major role in the French football championship, but due to financial issues, it was forced to give up professional status. From the 1970s until 2005, the club played in secondary levels, before accessing Ligue 2 for one season after finishing at the 3rd rank of Championnat National. The club last played in Championnat National 2, the fourth tier of French football, at Stade Louis Michel in the town.

In July 2023 the club was placed into judicial liquidation, with the FFF refusing a newly formed association the rights to continue with the FC Sète name.

History

The club was founded in 1901 as Olympique de Cette. It ceased activities due to the war in 1914, restarting as FC de Cette. The club was champion of the Ligue du Sud-Est for seven consecutive years from the inception of the competition in 1920 until 1926. In 1928 the name of the town changed from Cette to Sète, and the football club was renamed FC Sète. The club reached consecutive Coupe de France finals in 1929 and 1930, losing 2–0 to SO Montpellier in the first before winning the trophy against Racing Club de France 3–1 after extra time.^[3]

In 1932 the club were founder members of the professional Division 1. They finished 4th in the group. The following season they won the Division 1 and Coupe de France [fr] double, becoming the first club to do so. They won their second Division 1 title in 1939, the last time the competition was played before World War II.^[3]

After the war, the club did not regain its previous heights, finishing no higher than 10th in Division 1, before relegation came in 1954. After six years in Division 2 the club relinquished its professional status and reformed as an amateur team at level two of the regional league (tier seven of the French league structure).^[3]

The club spent six years in the same regional division before securing three promotions in four years to return to national Division 2 for the 1970–71 season. A further six seasons followed before relegation to Division 3 in 1977. The club returned to Division 2 as champions of the south group of Division 3 in 1983 and spent six seasons at that level.^[3]

At the end of the 1988–89 season, FC Sète were administratively relegated for financial reasons after finishing 15th in group B. The club was officially renamed FC de Sète 34, restarted in Division 3, and moved to their current stadium Stade Louis Michel. They remained at the third level of French football until 1997 when a second administrative relegation dropped them to the fourth level, now named Championnat de France Amateur. After four seasons at this level, they won promotion back to Championnat National in 2001, as champions of group B. In 2005 a 3rd-place finish was enough for promotion to Ligue 2, but the club played just one season at this level before returning to the Championnat National at the end of the 2005–06 season.^[3]

A third administrative relegation, again for financial reasons, followed in 2009, and the club reformed for the 2009–10 season in the Division d'Honneur of the Languedoc-Roussillon regional league (tier 6).^[4] In 2012 they were promoted to Championnat de France Amateur 2 as champions of the Division d'Honneur and in 2014 they won promotion to Championnat de France Amateur, now called Championnat National 2.^[3] The club gained promotion to the Championnat National in the 2019–20 season, after being placed at the top of 2019–20 Championnat National 2 Group C when the season was terminated early due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[5]

The club were relegated from the Championnat National by the Direction Nationale du Contrôle de Gestion at the end of the 2021–22 season, on the grounds of financial mismanagement.^[6]^[7]

The club hit financial troubles again during the 2022–23 season, being placed in receivership in April 2023 after a failed takeover, and estimated year-end debt of €700,000.^[8] Placed in judicial liquidation on 6 July 2023, the French Football Federation refused permission for the new organisation to continue the FC Sète name, and a new association Sporting Club Sétois was formed.^[9]

Former players

Managerial history

Ivan Bek 1928–1931, 1932–1935
Sydney Regan 1929–1933
René Dedieu 1933–1936
Joseph Azema 1936–1937
Jean Marmiès 1937–1939
Louis-Pierre Cazal 1939–1940
Elie Rous 1940–1943
Ljubiša Stefanović 1943–1946
Gabriel Féron 1946–1947
Pierre Danzelle 1947–1948
Emile Féjean 1948–1949
Elie Rous 1949–1950
Marcel Tomazover 1950–1954
István Závodi 1954–1955
Désiré Koranyi 1955–1956
Gaston Plovie 1956–1958
Domènec Balmanya, 1958–60
Marcel Tomazover 1960–1965
René Mandaron and Gaston Plovie 1965–1969
Jacky Bernard 1969–1970
Dominique Marc and Gaston Plovie 1970–1972
Xercès Louis 1972–1974
Slobodan Milosavljević 1974–1976
Jules Miramond 1976–1977
Gyula Nagy and Marcel Tomazover 1977–1978
Camille Passi 1978–1980
Claude Calabuig 1980–1983
Yves Herbet 1983–1985
Slobodan Milosavljević 1985–1986
Dominique Bathenay 1986–1988
Claude Calabuig and Slobodan Milosavljević 1988–1989
Claude Calabuig 1989–1990
Otmar Pellegrini 1990–1991
Claude Calabuig 1991–1996
Marc Bourrier 1996–1997
Claude Calabuig 1997–2000
Patrick Lebeau et Laurent Scala 2000–2001
Laurent Scala 2001–2002
Albert Rust 2002–2003
Gilles Beaumian et Claude Calabuig 2003–2005
Ludovic Batelli January 2006 – March 2006
Robert Buigues March 2006 – June 2006
Christian Sarramagna 2006–2007
Thierry Laurey 2007–2008
Frédéric Rémola 2008–2009
Gilles Beaumian 2009–2010
Mathieu Chabbert et Christophe Rouve 2010–2011
Laurent Scala 2011–2015
Jean-Luc Muzet 2016–2018
Nicolas Guibal 2018– ^[10]

^[3]

Honours

Champion of France (highest level) : 1934, 1939
Winner of the French Cup : 1930, 1934
Finalist of Coupe de France : 1923, 1924, 1929, 1942
Champion of Division d'Honneur Sud-Est : 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1968.
Champion of USFSA Languedoc : 1907, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1914.
Champion of Division d'Honneur Languedoc-Roussillon : 2012
Champion CFA2 Group G: 2014
Champion CFA Group B: 2001
Champion Division 3 South Group: 1983

References

^ "#714 – FC Sète : les Dauphins" (in French). Footnickname. 19 February 2022. Archived from the original on 20 September 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
^ "Enceintes mythiques : le stade Georges Bayrou de Sète " la mecque du football "" (in French). Docteur ès sport. 27 September 2013. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "Historique" (in French). FC Sète 34 Official site. Archived from the original on 27 August 2018. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
^ Sete Ca sera en DH Archived 29 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine foot-national.com.
^ "Arrêt du football amateur, le FC Sète est promu en National" (in French). Midi Libre. 16 April 2020. Archived from the original on 23 April 2020. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
^ "DNCG. Le FC Sète 34 est relégué en National 2 !" (in French). footamateur.fr. 28 June 2022. Archived from the original on 28 June 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
^ "DNCG. Sète jouera en National 2, Bastia-Borgo repêché en National" (in French). footamateur.fr. 12 July 2022. Archived from the original on 13 July 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
^ "Le FC Sète en redressement judiciaire : pourquoi c'est un moindre mal pour le club héraultais" (in French). Midi Libre. 11 April 2023. Archived from the original on 19 July 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
^ "Le Sporting Club Sétois va désormais remplacer le FC Sète !" (in French). Foot Amateur. 19 July 2023. Archived from the original on 19 July 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
^ "Nicolas Guibal (FC Sète): On a Capitalisé de la Confiance" (in French). actufoot.com. 8 August 2018. Archived from the original on 13 August 2018. Retrieved 5 May 2020.

External links

Official website (in French)

[1] "#714 – FC Sète : les Dauphins" (in French). Footnickname. 19 February 2022. Archived from the original on 20 September 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2022.

[2] "Enceintes mythiques : le stade Georges Bayrou de Sète " la mecque du football "" (in French). Docteur ès sport. 27 September 2013. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 18 December 2015.

[officialhist-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "Historique" (in French). FC Sète 34 Official site. Archived from the original on 27 August 2018. Retrieved 10 April 2018.

[4] Sete Ca sera en DH Archived 29 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine foot-national.com.

[5] "Arrêt du football amateur, le FC Sète est promu en National" (in French). Midi Libre. 16 April 2020. Archived from the original on 23 April 2020. Retrieved 5 May 2020.

[6] "DNCG. Le FC Sète 34 est relégué en National 2 !" (in French). footamateur.fr. 28 June 2022. Archived from the original on 28 June 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2022.

[7] "DNCG. Sète jouera en National 2, Bastia-Borgo repêché en National" (in French). footamateur.fr. 12 July 2022. Archived from the original on 13 July 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2022.

[8] "Le FC Sète en redressement judiciaire : pourquoi c'est un moindre mal pour le club héraultais" (in French). Midi Libre. 11 April 2023. Archived from the original on 19 July 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2023.

[9] "Le Sporting Club Sétois va désormais remplacer le FC Sète !" (in French). Foot Amateur. 19 July 2023. Archived from the original on 19 July 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2023.

[10] "Nicolas Guibal (FC Sète): On a Capitalisé de la Confiance" (in French). actufoot.com. 8 August 2018. Archived from the original on 13 August 2018. Retrieved 5 May 2020.

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