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| Full name | Le Havre Athletic Club | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Le Club Doyen (The Dean Club) Les Ciel et Marine (The Sky-and-Navy)[1] | |||
| Founded | 1884; 141 years ago (1884) (sports club) 1894; 131 years ago (1894) (football section) | |||
| Ground | Stade Océane | |||
| Capacity | 25,178[2] | |||
| President | Vincent Volpe | |||
| Head coach | Didier Digard | |||
| League | Ligue 1 | |||
| 2023–24 | Ligue 1, 15th of 18 | |||
| Website | hac-foot.com | |||
 Current season | ||||
Le Havre Athletic Club (French pronunciation:[ləɑvʁ]) is aFrench professional association football club based inLe Havre,Normandy. The football club was founded in 1894 as a section of the sports club of the same name, founded in 1884. Le Havre plays inLigue 1, the first tier ofFrench football, after securing promotion fromLigue 2 as winners of the2022–23 season, and plays its home matches at theStade Océane.
Le Havre made its football debut in France'sfirst championship in 1899 and, on its debut, became the first French club outside Paris to win the league. The club won the league the following season in 1900. Le Havre has yet to win the current first division of French football,Ligue 1, yet they won the second division,Ligue 2, for a record of six times. The club's highest honour to date was winning theCoupe de France in1959.
The main rivalries of Le Havre are the "Derby Normand" withSM Caen and an always heated clash withLens, located in the region ofNord-Pas-de-Calais.
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Contrary to what the club has long claimed, Le Havre AC was not founded in 1872. It was in 1884 that a group of British residents formed Le Havre Athlétique, which played a hybrid form of football, a cross betweenrugby andassociation football, called "combination". Association football began being played in Le Havre in 1894.[3][4]
In 1899, Le Havre became the first club from outside Paris to becomeFrench football champions. At the time the championship was organised by theUSFSA. After being awarded a win overIris Club Lillois in the semi-final by walkover, they were awarded the title after also receiving a walkover in the final againstClub Français.[5] They would also win the following year, with the final being a "re-match" of the forfeited 1899 final.
The club is famous for its notableyouth investment program which develops and nurtures young talent,[citation needed] with the vision of using them in the first team if they show enough promise. A vast amount of good young talent has gone on to make an impact at international level includingBenjamin Mendy,Ibrahim Ba,Jean-Alain Boumsong,Lassana Diarra,Riyad Mahrez,Steve Mandanda,Vikash Dhorasoo,Paul Pogba andDimitri Payet.
The club was on the receiving end of some high-profile illegal transfers, by whichCharles N'Zogbia,Matthias Lepiller andPaul Pogba were signed by other clubs, allegedly without the proper compensation being paid.[citation needed] The first two were arbitrated by FIFA, who orderedNewcastle United andFiorentina to pay training compensation.
In the2022–23 Ligue 2, Le Havre finished top of the league table to win their sixth title in the division and secure promotion to theLigue 1 for the first time since 2008.[6]
Le Havre is known as 'les ciel et marine' in France, which translates as 'the sky and navy blues'. These colours were chosen by the club's English founders as they were those of their alma maters, the universities of Cambridge and Oxford: the anthem of the club is played to the melody of "God Save the King" to mark the English origins of the club:
"A jamais le premier
de tous les clubs français
ô H.A.C.
Fiers de tes origines
Fils d'Oxford et Cambridge
deux couleurs font notre prestige
Ciel et marine!"
English translation:
"The first ever
of all French clubs
The H.A.C
Proud of your roots
Son of Oxford and Cambridge
two colours make our prestige
(the colours of the) sky and the sea!"
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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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| Name and Nationality | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| Vincent Volpe |  | President |
| Christopher Sargent | | Vice-President |
| Steve O'Connor | | Technical director |
| Ashton Smith | | Sporting director |
| Bruce Fallon | | Sports coordinator |
| Didier Digard |  | Head coach |
| Jérémy Collard | | Assistant coach |
| Gauthier Duchert | | First-team coach |
| Christophe Hoarau | | Goalkeeper coach |
| Jean Luc Pierrot | | Video analyst |
| Stéphane Meunier | | Video analyst |
| Corentin Rousseau | | Video analyst |
| Jules Delacroix | | Doctor |
| Auguste LeBlanc | | Academy Goalkeeping Co-ordinator |
| Grégory Proment | | Academy manager |
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French Football Federation (President:Philippe Diallo (interim))Ligue féminine de football professionnel (President:Jean-Michel Aulas) | |||||||
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