Stade Lavallois

Full name

Stade Lavallois Mayenne
Football Club

Nickname(s)

Les Tangos

Founded

17 July 1902

Ground

Stade Francis Le Basser
Laval

Capacity

18,739

Chairman

Philippe Jan

Manager

Denis Zanko

League

Ligue 2

2013–14

Ligue 2, 17th

Website

Club home page

Home colours

Away colours

Stade Lavallois Mayenne Football Club (French pronunciation: [stɑd laˈvalo majɛn]; commonly referred to as Stade Laval or simply Laval) is a French association football club based in Laval in western France. The club was formed on 17 July 1902 and currently play in Ligue 2, the second level of French football. Laval plays its home matches at the Stade Francis Le Basser located in the city and is managed by Denis Zanko, the former Le Mans manager. The captain of the team is midfielder Anthony Gonçalves.

History

The club was founded in 1902 after Joseph Germain, a passionate supporter of the sport of football. Émile Sinoir was installed as the club's first president. At that time, players were supplied with red tops and black shorts and matches were played at Senelle, a district of Laval. Laval's first official match was against nearby Rennes. In 1903, the club participated in the Breton championship, for the first time, and the red and black strip was disposed for a green and white combination. In 1918, the kit colour was changed again, to a bright orange strip. In 1930, the club began playing at the Stade Jean Yvinec, named in honour of a former player who died at the age of 26. By 1931, Laval had risen to the Division d'Honneur, the sixth level of French football. The club continued to rotate between the amateur leagues before finally winning the Division d'Honneur in 1964, which propelled the club to the Championnat de France amateur, France's highest division of amateur football.

The following season, Laval surprisingly won the league in its debut season. With the club heightening its ambitions, new aspirations came about and Laval named former club player and Breton Michel Le Milinaire manager. He was assisted by Henri Bisson. Together, the two made Laval into one of the best clubs in France. In 1976, Laval reached the top division of French football, thus becoming a professional team for the first time in the club's history. Despite being classed as outsiders, the club managed to stay in the top-flight division, even qualifying for the UEFA Cup in 1983 after finishing a commendable fifth in the league. In Laval's first season in Europe, it knocked Dynamo Kiev out of the competition, before being knocked out by FK Austria Wien. This would prove to be the club's only European experience. In 1989, the club was relegated to the second division, after 13 years in the elite division. In 2005, Laval became a SASP (Société Anonyme Sportive Professionnelle), roughly equivalent to going on the stock exchange. In the 2005–06 season, the club was relegated to the Championnat National. Laval remained in the third division for two seasons before managing promotion back to Ligue 2 after the 2008–09 season.

Current squad

As of 28 February, 2015. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Position	Player
1	GK	Maxime Hautbois
2	DF	Kévin Perrot
3	DF	Pierre-Yves Polomat
4	DF	Selim Ben Djemia
5	MF	Ludovic Guerriero
6	MF	Anthony Gonçalves (captain)
7	FW	Wesley Saïd
8	DF	Adrien Monfray
10	MF	César Zeoula
11	FW	Mamadou Diallo
14	MF	Maxime Bourgeois
15	MF	Hugo Boumous
16	GK	Lionel Cappone

No.	Position	Player
17	MF	Martin Mimoun
18	MF	Hassane Alla
19	FW	Sehrou Guirassy
21	DF	Malik Couturier
22	MF	Valentin Launay
23	MF	Anthony Robic
24	MF	Modibo Dembélé
25	MF	Sébastien Renouard
26	DF	Fouad Chafik
27	DF	Djibril Konaté
30	GK	Guillaume Lesec
	FW	Duckens Nazon

Notable players

Below are the notable former players who have represented Laval in league and international competition since the club's foundation in 1902. To appear in the section below, a player must have played in at least 80 official matches for the club.

For a complete list of Stade Laval players, see Category:Stade Lavallois players.

Managers

André Sorel (1954–58)^[1]
Robert Heuillard (1958–63)
Jean Barré (1963–68)
Michel Le Millinaire (1968 – October 1992)
Bernard Maligorne (October 1992–95)
Denis Troch (January 1995–97)
Hervé Gauthier (1997–2001)
Victor Zvunka (2001–03)
Francis Smerecki (2003–January 2004)
Alex Dupont (January 2004–June 2004)
Denis Troch (2004–07)
Philippe Hinschberger (2007–14)
Denis Zanko (2014–)

Honours

Coupe de la Ligue

Champions (2): 1982, 1984

Championnat de France Amateurs

Runners-up (1): 1965

Division d'Honneur (West):

Champions (1): 1964

Coupe Gambardella

Champions (1): 1984

References

↑ France – Trainers of First and Second Division Clubs

External links (in French)

(French) Official club site

Ligue 2 teams

2014–15 clubs	AC Ajaccio Gazélec Ajaccio Angers Arles-Avignon Auxerre Brest Châteauroux Clermont Créteil Dijon Laval Le Havre Nancy Nîmes Niort Orléans Sochaux Tours Troyes Valenciennes

Former teams	Abbeville Aix-en-Provence Alès Amiens Ancenis Angoulême Annecy Antibes Avignon CA Bastia SC Bastia Beauvais Besançon Béziers Blénod Blois Boulogne Bourges Bordeaux Caen Calais Cambrai Cannes Charleville Chaumont Cherbourg Club Français Colmar Creil Douai Dunkerque Épinal Évian Fives Fontainebleau Forbach Grenoble Gueugnon Guingamp Hazebrouck Hyères Istres La Roche-sur-Yon Le Mans Lens Le Puy Foot Libourne-Saint-Seurin Lille Olympique Lillois Limoges Foot Lorient Louhans-Cuiseaux Lucé Lyon Lyon OU Mantes Marignane Marseille Martigues Metz Monaco Montceau-les-Mines Montluçon Montmorillon Montpellier Mulhouse FC Nancy Nantes Nice Nœux-les-Mines Paris Paris-Charenton Paris Saint-Germain Racing Paris Red Star Paris Perpignan Poitevin Quevilly Quimper Rodez Reims Rennes Excelsior Roubaix Racing Roubaix Roubaix-Tourcoing Rouen Saint-Brieuc Saint-Dié Saint-Étienne Sedan Sète Stade Français Strasbourg Thionville Thonon-Chablais Toulon Toulouse Toulouse (1937) Troyes AF Troyes ASTS Valence Vannes Villefranche Wasquehal

Division 2 / Ligue 2 seasons

Division 2 (1933–2002)	1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02

Ligue 2 (2002–present)	2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15

List of French second division champions

Championnat de France amateur 2 — Group H · 2014–15 Clubs

Agde Anglet Angoulême Aurillac Balma Bassin Arcachon Bayonne Bergerac Blagnac Fabrègues Lege Capferret Toulouse Rodeo Toulouse FC (res.) Villenave