Grenoble
Full nameGrenoble Foot 38
Nickname(s)GF38
Founded1911 (1911)
GroundStade des Alpes,
Grenoble
Capacity20,068
ChairmanJoël Avignon
ManagerVincent Hognon
LeagueLigue 2
2022–23Ligue 2, 10th of 20
WebsiteClub website

Grenoble Foot 38, commonly referred to as simply Grenoble or GF38, is a French association football club based in Grenoble. The club plays its home matches at the Stade des Alpes, a sports complex based in the heart of the city, and wears white and blue.

The original incarnation of the club was founded in 1911 and, in 1997, was formed into the club that exists today as a result of a merger. Grenoble currently plays in Ligue 2, the second level of French football, after having gone into bankruptcy and relegation to the fifth level of French football in 2011.

History

The club was founded in 1911 as Football Club de Grenoble. In 1997, a merger of Olympique Grenoble Isère and Norcap Olympique led to the Grenoble Foot 38 incarnation. Olympique Grenoble Isère played in Ligue 1 in the 1960–61 and 1962–63 seasons.

In 2004, Grenoble Foot was acquired by Index Holdings, a Japanese mobile software company, therefore becoming the first French football club to have foreign owners. The price of the deal was around €2 million.[1][2] The new owners invested in the Stade des Alpes, a new ground with an initial capacity of 20,000 which opened in February 2008.[3] Grenoble finished the 2007–08 Ligue 2 season in third place, thus returning to Ligue 1 for the first time since 1963.

In the 2008–09 Ligue 1 season, Grenoble finished 13th.[2] However, after losing their first eleven games of the following season, they were eventually relegated with six games remaining amidst severe financial problems.[4][5] In the same season, Grenoble reached the semi-finals of the Coupe de France for the only time, defeating Monaco 2–0 at home in the quarter-finals on 18 March 2009,[6] and losing by a single goal to Rennes in the semi-finals on 21 April.[7]

The professional football club was liquidated in July 2011 with debts of €2.9 million, and relegated administratively to Championnat de France Amateur 2, the fifth tier.[8][9] Index provided false financial statements during their ownership of the club.[2][10]

Now an amateur side, Grenoble won promotion from Championnat de France Amateur 2 at the first attempt in 2012, and were champions of the 2016–17 Championnat de France Amateur, returning to Championnat National for the 2017–18 season.[11] They secured their second successive promotion to Ligue 2 on 27 May 2018, after an aggregate play-off victory over Bourg-en-Bresse.[12]

Name changes

  • Football Club de Grenoble (1911–1977)
  • Football Club Association Sportive de Grenoble (1977–1984)
  • Football Club de Grenoble Dauphiné (1984–1990)
  • Football Club de Grenoble Isère (1990–1992)
  • Football Club de Grenoble Jojo Isère (1992–1993)
  • Olympique Grenoble Isère (1993–1997)
  • Grenoble Foot 38 (1997–present)

Players

Current squad

As of 26 October 2023[13]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK France FRA Brice Maubleu (captain)
2 FW The Gambia GAM Abdoulie Sanyang
4 DF Senegal SEN Mamadou Diarra
5 DF France FRA Adrien Monfray
6 MF Belgium BEL Dante Rigo
7 FW Senegal SEN Pape Meïssa Ba
8 MF France FRA Jessy Bénet
10 MF France FRA Eddy Sylvestre
11 FW France FRA Amine Sbaï
12 FW The Gambia GAM Lamine Jarjou
13 GK Senegal SEN Mamadou Diop
14 DF Guadeloupe GLP Loïc Nestor
15 MF New Caledonia NCL Jekob Jeno
No. Pos. Nation Player
16 GK France FRA Bobby Allain
17 FW Moldova MDA Virgiliu Postolachi
18 MF Burkina Faso BFA Bachirou Yaméogo
19 FW France FRA Lenny Joseph
21 DF France FRA Allan Tchaptchet
22 FW France FRA Natanael Ntolla
23 MF France FRA Manuel Perez
25 MF France FRA Théo Valls
27 DF France FRA Matthéo Xantippe
29 DF France FRA Gaëtan Paquiez
39 DF Morocco MAR Mathys Tourraine
70 MF The Gambia GAM Saikou Touray
77 DF Senegal SEN Arial Mendy

Notable players

Coaching staff

Position Name
Manager Vincent Hognon
Assistant Managers Frédéric Guéguen
Goalkeeping Coach Arnaud Genty

Managers

Honours

References

  1. "Football. Il était une fois... le GF38, le rêve de Grenoble" [Football. Once upon a time there was... GF38, Grenoble's dream] (in French). France 3. 4 January 2015. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 "La tragique déroute du Grenoble Foot 38" [The tragic decline of Grenoble Foot 38] (in French). France 24. 8 July 2011. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  3. "Grenoble Foot 38 celebrates the long awaited opening of its new professional soccer stadium, "Stade des Alpes"". Index Holdings. Archived from the original on 22 January 2009. Retrieved 17 May 2008.
  4. "Grenoble relégué en L2" [Grenoble relegated to L2]. Le Figaro (in French). 10 April 2010. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  5. "Le GF38 relégué en Ligue 2... Grenoble, et maintenant ?" [GF38 relegated to Ligue 2... Grenoble, and now?]. Le Dauphiné (in French). 12 April 2010. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  6. "[EN IMAGES] Coupe de France : quand Grenoble sortait Monaco en 2009 et se qualifiait pour les demi-finales" [[IN IMAGES] Coupe de France: when Grenoble eliminated Monaco in 2009 and qualified for the semi-finals]. Le Dauphiné (in French). 9 February 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  7. "Historic final spot for Rennes". Sky Sports. 21 April 2009. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  8. "Le club de football de Grenoble en liquidation judiciaire" [Grenoble's football club in judicial liquidation]. Le Monde (in French). 7 July 2011. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  9. "Grenoble: Le GF38 relégué en CFA2" [Grenoble: GF38 relegated to CFA2] (in French). Canal+. 27 July 2011. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  10. Guiho, Mickael (28 May 2014). "Arrestation du président d'Index, ex-propriétaire japonais du Grenoble foot 38" [Arrest of president of Index, Japanese former owner of Grenoble Foot 38] (in French). France 3. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  11. "Le GF38 officiellement promu en National !" [GF38 officially promoted to National!]. Le Dauphiné (in French). 13 May 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  12. "Grenoble monte en L2, Bourg-en-Bresse descend en National" [Grenoble climb to L2, Bourg-en-Bresse fall to National]. L'Équipe (in French). 27 May 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  13. "Le groupe pro 2020-2021". gf38.fr. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
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