AJ Auxerre (France)

Association de la Jeunesse Auxerroise, from the town of Auxerre in France is a professional football club that was formed on the 5th November 1905 by the priest Father Ernest Abbé Deschamps.

The founder was good friends of Charles Simon who attended the opening match, in whose memory the Coupe de France would be created in 1917. Father Deschamps obtained some land near Pont de la Tournelle close to the town centre called l’Ocrerie for Auxerroise to play their home games.

In 1912 the club were forced to move from l’Ocrerie, so Father Deschamps purchased six hectares of land further south along the banks of the Yonne to build a permanent base for the club.

A temporary ground at Sainte-Nitasse was used until the new venue was opened on the 13th October 1918. In 1920 AJA became members of the la Ligue de Bourgogne-Franche-Comté and were also affiliated to the Fédération Française de Football (FFF).

In 1930 the first grandstand was opened at l’Yonne, with the team somewhat inspired by adding their first Bourgogne the year afterwards. Throughout World War Two the club competed in the local Yonne championship. During the conflict in 1944, goalkeeper Pierre Bureau died in gunfire, while Gaston Martin and Charles Paquot were killed by the French militia for being members of the Resistance.

Pierre Grosjean was appointed as Auxerre’s first official coach in 1946 as an academy was introduced at the club. On December 1st 1949 Abbé Deschamps died, with the stadium being named in his honour the following year. Georges Hatz became the new head coach in the same year.

Several coaches had spells at the club throughout the 1950’s as the club hit financial problems, which led to relegation to Promotion d’honneur de Bourgogne in 1958, before their previous status was regained the following year.

1961 would prove to be a turning point in the history of AJA as Jean Garnault became club president; appointing twenty three year old Guy Roux as the new head coach. The rest of the decade was spent building a strong base at the club, while Roux also served his national service.

In 1970 AJA won the Bourgogne championship, elevating themselves to the third level of French football for the first time. By 1974 Auxerre reached Ligue 2, before reaching the last sixteen of the Coupe de France for the first time in 1976 before being defeated by Olympique Marseille.

A year later a crowd of 15,000 flocked to Stade de l'Abbé-Deschamps for a last sixteen clash against the all conquering Saint Etienne side of the time. In 1979 AJA put together a magnificent run to go all the way to the final, where they eventually lost 4-1 after extra time at Parc des Princes to FC Nantes.

The following season Roux’s squad won promotion to Ligue 1, signing the legendary Polish international striker Andrzej Szarmach in November 1980. He would go on to score 94 goals in just 138 appearances in the next five years.

In 1983-84 Auxerre ended the season in third place with Patrice Garande the top goalscorer in the division. He was joined in the Ligue 1 select side by team mates Jean-Marc Ferreri and Joël Bats, while a young Eric Cantona continued to impress.

The club’s first ever European game took place in September 1984 in the UEFA Cup as the team were beaten away by Sporting Club de Portugal. Continued high finishes in the league gave Auxerre further UEFA Cup experiences, with defeats coming against Milan and Panathinaikos.

In 1989-90 a fine run in the same competition saw AJA defeat Dinamo Zagreb, KS Apolonia Fier of Albania, Finish side RoPS and Olympiakos before Fiorentina proved too strong in the quarter final.

Youth product Basile Boli departed the club in 1990, with Enzo Scifo and Alain Roche arriving in his place. The following season saw the club go out of the UEFA Cup to Liverpool.

In 1992-93 AJA embarked on another magnificent UEFA Cup run. Lokomotive Plovdiv, FC Kobenhavn, Standard Liège and Ajax were seen off with Gérald Baticle, Christophe Cocard and Corentin Martins amongst those weighing in with the goals. In the semi final Auxerre lost out to Borussia Dortmund after a penalty shoot out.

In May 1994, Auxerre lifted their first major honour following a 3-0 win over Montpellier HSC in the final of the Coupe de France at Parc des Princes as well as another third place finish in Ligue 1.

Laurent Blanc strengthened the playing squad by joining AJA in May 1995. This would prove to be a pivotal signing for his one season at the club as Auxerre went on to complete the League 1 and Cup double. The title was sealed with a home win against FC Nantes, while third tier Nîmes Olympique were overcome in the Paris cup final.

In the 1996-97 UEFA Champions League AJA saw off Grasshopper, Ajax and Rangers in the group stage before going out to eventual winners Borussia Dortmund in the quarter finals.

The following season Deportivo la Coruna, OFI Crête and FC Twente were defeated in the UEFA Cup. However Roux’s magnificent term in charge of the team was coming to an end. Relegation was averted on the final day of the 1998-99 campaign before he great man called it a day after an eighth place berth the season after. Daniel Rolland was appointed in his place.

Young players Philippe Mexès, Jean-Alain Boumsong, Olivier Kapo and Djibril Cissé burst onto the scene offering the side a promising new future. After heart bypass surgery Roux returned to the head coach role at the club.

The side finished in third place once again in 2001-02 with Cissé finished as joint top scorer in Ligue 1. This won a place in the Champions League in 2002-03 where Auxerre went out in the group stage, despite a fine win away to Arsenal.

The same season saw AJA lift the Coupe de France for a third time as Paris Saint-Germain were defeated 2-1 at Stade de France as late goals from Cissé and Boumsong in the last minute turned around a 1-0 deficit.

A top four finish in 2003-04 ended with their star quintet of stars departing; Mexès to AS Roma, Boumsong to Rangers, Kapo to Juventus and Cissé to Liverpool.

In 2005 the fourth Coupe de France landed in the Stade de l'Abbé-Deschamps trophy cabinet by courtesy of a 2-1 victory against CS Sedan thanks to goals from Benjani and a last minute winner from substitute Bonaventure Kalou. Roux retired as head coach at the same time.

Jaques Santini arrived as new coach, but was replaced by Jean Fernandez at the end of the 2005-06 campaign. After a close skirmish with relegation, the team returned to a strong finish before ending in third place in 2009-10.

Zenith St. Petersburg were defeated in the knock out round of the 2010-11 Champions League before AJA went out in a group containing Real Madrid, Milan and Ajax.

Fernandez departed when his contract ran out in May 2011, with Laurent Fournier taking over the team stewardship. Fournier was replaced by Jean-Guy Wallemme in March 2012, but he could not save the team as they were relegated after a spell of thirty two years in the top flight.

Bernard Casoni was appointed as head coach in December 2012. Relegation to the third tier was only just averted in 2013-14 as Jean-Luc Vannuchi arrived to replace Casoni, leading the side to an incredible late run to save their status.

Incredibly Vannuchi led the team all the way to the final of the 2015 Couple de France, where they were defeated by a solitary Edinson Cavani which settled the final against Paris Saint-Germain. The club’s second string reached the third tiered CFA following promotion.

The successful run was tempered with great sorrow as major shareholder Emmanuel Limido passed away.

In 2015-16 Auxerre finished in eighth place in the league, but Vannuchi departed to be replaced by Viorel Moldovan, who was in turn replaced by former French under 21 player Cédric Daury after a poor start to the 2016-17 campaign as the team escaped relegation at the end of the season.

Francis Gillot was appointed as the new Auxerre coach in June 2017, lasting until December when Pablo Correa replaced him as the side ended in mid table. Daury returned to replace the sacked Uruguayan in March 2019 as the side finished too close to relegation for comfort.

Jean-Marc Furlan came in as head coach in the summer of 2019, taking Les diplomates to eleventh place when the COVID-19 outbreak called a halt to the season.

AJ Auxerre will play in Ligue 2 in the 2020-21 season.

My visit

AJ Auxerre 0 Bourg-en-Bresse Peronnas 2 (Friday 20th January 2017) Ligue 2 (Att: 3,638)

Following a really enjoyable few hours on my first visit to Paris it was time to head south east to the town of Auxerre. My FlixBus ticket for €9 had been booked advance so I turned up at Port Mellot bus station ready to set off on a cold but lovely sunny day ready for the 1pm departure.

My basic room at the Hotel 2 Gares was just over the road from the station, so following a siesta I had a walk through the pretty but quiet town. Three fantastic large churches and the River Yonne were the main features along with narrow cobbled streets in the historic centre.

Nothing particularly stood out bar wise, but everyone seemed friendly in Bar De L’Auto, Bar Le Paul Bert and Le Mazagran as I tried a small beer in each establishment before heading through a park and then along Route de Vaux on the fifteen minute walk to the match.

Once my pre printed €12 match ticket was scanned I was free to walk around the inside perimeter of Stade de l'Abbé-Deschamps. Inside the turnstile I was handed a free A4 size four page programme.

It was a nice enough stadium, ideally suited to a club of AJA’s size, with double decker stands; Tribune Vaux and Tribune Leclerc behind either goal, a large raised Main Stand; Tribune D’Honneur with new corporate facilities built in at the back, with a smaller raised Tribune Tennis opposite. The corners were open.

The local ultras had a small souvenir stall underneath Tribune Tennis where I bought some much needed but rather expensive food. A thin merguez sausage and chips cost €5, with a small coffee a further €1.50.

My seat was in Tribune Tennis, and although the stewards made sure that tickets were for the correct section, the low crowd meant sitting wherever you could to try and keep warm. It was an increasingly freezing night with temperatures plummeting to -7.

The first half of my first live French match wasn't really too exciting. AJA played some nice enough stuff but over elaborated while FBBP were quick to snuff out threats and defended well.

The visitors went one up after a silly challenge from a home defender bundled over an attacker while going for a header he'd no real hope of reaching on twenty six minutes. The penalty from Jason Berthomier sent Zacharie Boucher the wrong way.

Ten minutes later a Kevin Hoggas header sneaked in at the near post. Boucher should really have done better. The Ultras stood downstairs in Tribune Leclerk were most unhappy, while the four away fans waved their flags with absolute delight.

Soon after the second goal, a daft frustrated challenge from AJA's Ludovic Obraniak led to mass handbags. Referee Thomas Léonard sensibly gave out a couple of yellows but was still receiving plenty of feedback from the locals.

At the break I bought another portion of frittes and had a walk around the ground to try and get my blood flowing.

After the interval, AJA had lots of ball and pressure without really ever looking like scoring. Bresse's left back Vital N'Simba impressed me in his work as he snuffed out threats on a part of the pitch which was rapidly freezing over.

A late Bourg-en-Bresse break could have made the score even more conclusive but the one on one was saved by Boucher. That would be the last of the meaningful action.

The weather was of great encouragement to help me have a quick march and occasional jog along the bank of the Yonne towards my hotel. The two bars over the road from the station were both closed, including the one below my room.

On the plus side it afforded me an early night for my 4.45 FlixBus back to Charles de Gaulle the following morning. I made the bus easily enough and caught the 9:55 flight back to Luton in readiness for my afternoon back home between Hendon and AFC Sudbury.