AC Ajaccio

Athletic Club Ajaccien (Athletic Club Aiaccini), commonly referred to as AC Ajaccio, ACA or simply Ajaccio, is a French professional association football club based in the city of Ajaccio on the island of Corsica. The club was founded in 1910 and plays in the Ligue 2, the second tier of the French football league system. Ajaccio play their home matches at the Stade Michel-Moretti and are rivals with fellow Corsican club Bastia, with whom they contest the Corsica derby (Derby Corse).

History
Depending on sources, it is agreed that Ajaccio began playing in 1909–10. Their adopted colors are red and white stripes. Though they used to play in what was previously utilised as a sand dump, they decided to move to another, cleaner, safer stadium upon the insistence of Jean Lluis, father-in-law of club president Louis Baretti. The new stadium that was chosen held 5,000 spectators and was in use until 1969.

AC Ajaccio were elected Corsican champions on eight occasions, in 1920, 1921, 1934, 1939, 1948, 1950, 1955 and 1964, and are one of three big "island" teams, along with Gazélec Ajaccio and Bastia, the competition between the three being kept no secret. Spectators during the 1946 Corsican Cup final, held between A.C.A. and Sporting Bastia, were handed umbrellas to shield themselves from the violence. Upon refusal of a penalty which would have been awarded to ACA, violence erupted between the fans, who used umbrellas both to cause and shield themselves from violence. This final was abandoned and replayed much later.

A.C.A. became a professional team in 1965 thanks to the ambitious efforts of the club's leaders. They initially adopted the symbol of the polar bear, but this has since been dropped in favour of a more stylised logo that uses a part of the Corsican flag.

In 1967, the team became the first Corsican club to play in France's top division. Prior to the 2022–23 season, they were most recently in Ligue 1 in the 2013–14 season, when they were relegated after finishing in last place, following a spell of three seasons in the top flight; the drop was confirmed with defeat at neighbours Bastia.

In November 2014, Olivier Pantaloni returned for a third spell as manager. His team came third in 2017–18, qualifying for the play-offs, where they beat Le Havre in a semi-final marred by violence on and off the pitch, before losing the final to Toulouse. The club were denied promotion in 2019–20 when the season was curtailed with ten games remaining due to the coronavirus pandemic; Ajaccio were one point off the top two, who were the only ones to go up as the play-offs could not be contested. In the 2021–22 Ligue 2 season, Ajaccio were promoted back to Ligue 1 after finishing second. However, with three games in hand, the club were relegated directly back down.

On 27 June 2024, Ajaccio was administratively relegated to the Championnat National by the Direction Nationale du Contrôle de Gestion (DNCG) due to financial issues. They appealed the decision, and on the 11th of July 2024, they were reinstated in Ligue 2 for the 2024–25 season.

Notable past players
For a complete list of AC Ajaccio players, see Category:AC Ajaccio players.

Coaches
• Jean Pietri (pre–1955)

• Félix Pironti (1955–57)

• Michel Brusseaux (1957–58)

• Jean Laune (1958–59)

• Jean-Pierre Knayer (1959–63)

• Mohamed Azzouz (1963–64)

• Ernst Stojaspal (1964–65)

• Alberto Muro (1965–70)

• Louis Hon (1970–71)

• Antoine Cuissard (1971–72)

• André Mori (1972–73)

• Louis Hon (1973–74)

• Lulu Accorsi (1974–75)

• Alain Mistre (1975–76)

• François Paoli (1976–78)

• Mohamed Azzouz (1978–79)

• Unknown (1979–92)

• Baptiste Gentili (1 July 1992 – 30 June 2001)

• Rolland Courbis (1 July 2001 – 30 June 2003)

• Dominique Bijotat (1 July 2002 – 21 September 2004)

• Olivier Pantaloni (2004)

• Rolland Courbis (8 February 2005 – 11 January 2006)

• Olivier Pantaloni (interim) (11 January 2006 – 12 January 2006)

• José Pasqualetti (12 January 2006 – 30 June 2006)

• Ruud Krol (1 July 2006 – 30 June 2007)

• Gernot Rohr (1 July 2007 – 30 August 2008)

• José Pasqualetti (1 September 2008 – 23 February 2009)

• Olivier Pantaloni (23 February 2009 – 13 June 2012)

• Alex Dupont (22 June 2012 – 17 December 2012)

• Albert Emon (21 December 2012 – 28 May 2013)

• Fabrizio Ravanelli (7 June 2013 – 2 November 2013)

• Christian Bracconi (interim) (3 November 2013 – 14 October)

• Thierry Debès  (interim)  (October 2014)

• Olivier Pantaloni (6 November 2014– 24 June 2024)

Honours

 * Division 2 (Second Division)
 * Champions (2): 1966–67, 2001–02
 * Championnat National (Third Division)
 * Champions (1): 1997–98
 * Ligue de Corse (Corsican League)
 * Champions (9): 1920, 1921, 1934, 1939, 1948, 1950, 1955, 1964, 1994