Vannes OC

Vannes Olympique Club (Breton: Klub Olimpek Gwened; commonly referred to as simply Vannes) is a professional French football club based in Vannes. The club was formed in 1998 as a result of the merger of Véloce vannetais founded in 1911 and FC Vannes known before 1991 as UCK Vannes founded in 1946 and currently competing in Championnat National 3, the fifth level of French football. Vannes plays its home matches at the Stade de la Rabine, located within the city.

Vannes OC

Full name	Vannes Olympique Club
Nickname(s)	The White-Blacks
Founded	1998; 26 years ago (1998)
Ground	Stade de la Rabine
Capacity	9,500
President	Maxime Ray
Manager	Pierre Talmont
League	National 3 Group E
2022–23	National 2 Group A, 14th (relegated)
Website	https://www.vannesoc.com
Home colours Away colours

In 2002, the club hired Stéphane Le Mignan as manager, reaching the quarter-finals of the Coupe de France in 2007, the Championnat National title in 2008, the Coupe de la Ligue final in 2009 and three seasons of Ligue 2 from 2008 to 2011. He was dismissed in 2012 and the club filed for bankruptcy in 2014, reforming in the seventh tier and achieving three promotions in four years.

History

In November 2002, after dismissing Denis Goavec, Vannes hired recently retired player Stéphane Le Mignan as manager.^[1] The team achieved promotion from the fourth-tier Championnat de France Amateur to the Championnat National under him in 2005.^[2] In the 2006–07 Coupe de France, Vannes won 2–0 after extra time in the last 16 away to Ligue 2 team Montpellier,^[3] then lost 5–0 at Ligue 1 Marseille in the quarter-finals.^[4]

Vannes won the 2007–08 Championnat National to earn promotion to Ligue 2 for the first time.^[5] This also meant a debut campaign in the Coupe de la Ligue, beating top-flight Valenciennes, Auxerre and Nice before a 4–0 final loss to Bordeaux at the Stade de France.^[6][7] In the 2010–11 Ligue 2, the team were relegated in 18th place on the final day, and the budget for the following season was thereby reduced from €8.5 million to €4 million, resulting in 14 players being released.^[8] On 27 December 2012, after over a decade in charge, Le Mignan was dismissed with the team 7th in the third tier, six points off Poiré-sur-Vie in third.^[9]

In June 2014, after narrowly avoiding relegation from the third tier, Vannes filed for bankruptcy, reforming in the Brittany Region Division Supérieure Elite in the seventh.^[10] The team won the regional Division d'Honneur in 2016 to reach the fifth level and return to national football,^[11] winning the renamed Championnat National 3 in 2017–18.^[12] In 2022–23, the team were relegated back with three games to play, following a 4–2 loss at Rouen.^[13]

Players

Current squad

As of 4 October 2020^[14]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  FRA Anthony Lamonge — GK  FRA Clément Pétrel — GK  FRA Mickäel Salamone — DF  FRA Cyril Benamara — DF  FRA Thibault Bouedec — DF  FRA Akim Djaha — DF  FRA Lilian Faye — DF  FRA Alexandre Lavenant — DF  GUF Grégory Lescot — DF  FRA Erwan Quintin — DF  FRA Sandro Tremoulet — MF  FRA Tresor Antonio — MF  FRA Achille Degan

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  FRA Nathan Epaillard — MF  COD Cecil Filanckembo — MF  FRA Jordan Henry — MF  FRA Virgile Piechocki — MF  FRA Aboubakar Touré — MF  FRA Sergen Uzun — FW  FRA Alexis Ebrard — FW  FRA Thibaut Horbette — FW  FRA Diedry Kouassi — FW  FRA Yohan Mboumba Mouyabi — FW  ANG Beni Nsango — FW  FRA Thibault Rambaud

Notable former players

For a list of former Vannes players, see Category:Vannes OC players.

Honours

• Coupe de la Ligue
  • Runners-up: 2008–09^[7]
• Championnat National
  • Winners: 2007–08^[5]
• Championnat de France Amateur
  • Winners: 2004–05^[2]
• Division d'Honneur (Brittany)
  • Winners: 1998, 2016^[11]
• Division Supérieure Elite (Brittany)
  • Winners: 2015^{[citation needed]}

References

1. "Football. Coupe de France : « Pour passer à Vannes, il faudra être plus que sérieux » selon Stéphane Le Mignan, entraîneur de l'US Concarneau" [Football. Coupe de France: "To get past Vannes, we have to be more than serious" says Stéphane Le Mignan, manager of US Concarneau]. Le Télégramme (in French). 28 October 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
2. "AMICAL. US Montagnarde (CFA2) - Vannes OC (nat. ) : 1-0 Un premier test intéressant" [FRIENDLY. US Montagnarde (CFA2) - Vannes OC (Nat.): 1–0 a first interesting test]. Le Télégramme (in French). 21 July 2005. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
3. "Montpellier - Vannes : 0-2 (a.p.). Ça sentait le KO..." [Montpellier - Vannes: 0-2 (a.e.t.). It felt like a knockout...]. Le Télégramme (in French). 31 January 2007. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
4. "Coupe de France. Vannes : retour sur terre" [Coupe de France. Vannes: back to planet Earth]. Le Télégramme (in French). 1 March 2007. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
5. Arnou, Maxime (30 July 2008). "Ils veulent rester en Ligue 2" [They want to stay in Ligue 2]. Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved 3 March 2023.
6. "Stunning Vannes to face Bordeaux in Cup final". France 24. 4 February 2009. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
7. "Bordeaux : Vannes ouvertes et premier titre de saison (4-0) en coupe de la Ligue" [Bordeaux: Vannes opened up and first title of the season (4-0) in Coupe de la Ligue]. La Dépêche du Midi (in French). 26 April 2009. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
8. "VOC en National. Quatorze joueurs sur la touche" [VOC in the National. Fourteen players laid off]. Le Télégramme (in French). 9 September 2011. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
9. "Foot. Vannes se sépare de Stéphane Le Mignan" [Football. Vannes separate from Stéphane Le Mignan]. Ouest-France (in French). 27 December 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
10. "Le Vannes OC dépose le bilan" [Vannes OC file for bankruptcy]. Ouest-France (in French). 6 June 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
11. "Trois clubs morbihannais rêvent des demies" [Three clubs from Morbihan dream of the semi-finals]. Ouest-France (in French). 5 May 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
12. "Foot à Vannes. Le VOC champion de France de National 3" [Football in Vannes. VOC champions of France in National 3]. Ouest-France (in French). 2 September 2018. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
13. "N2 : défait à Rouen, Vannes relégué en National 3" [N2: defeated at Rouen, Vannes are relegated to National 3]. Le Télégramme (in French). 6 May 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
14. "EFFECTIF". vannesoc.com. Retrieved 19 October 2018.