Le Havre

Full Name: Havre Athletic Club
City: Le Havre
Founded: 1872 (1894)
Stadium: Stade Municipal Jules Deschaseaux (16,454)
Colors: Dark Blue, Light Blue, White
Previous: Havre Football Club (1872-1884)
Nickname: Le HAC, Les Ciel et Marine

Official Website: hac-foot.com

Description:
We have to go all the way back to 1872 to find the birth of Le Havre, making them the oldest club in France. However much of that early period was spent playing rugby and it wasn't until 1894 that football became the primary obsession. They are sometimes referred to as club doyen du football français - basically the old man of French football - but this is a questionable title unlikely ever to be definitely resolved due to the limited historical data from that time frame and the regularity with which clubs bounced between the different football codes.

The initial French championship (organized by the Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques) was initially restricted to Paris. Le Havre finally entered in 1899 when a playoff was to be contested between various regional champions but Iris Club of Lille could not afford the travel for the match and Parisian champion Club Français boycotted their presence and Le HAC went on to win the championship without playing a single game. The following year they defended their title, even having to play a few matches along the way. Le Havre's 1959 Coupe de France title remains their only major title since those initial successes and in fact spent the years from 1964 to 1981 as an amateur club in the lower divisions of French football.

Le Havre takes its nickname Le Ciel et Marine from the its club colors - sky blue and navy blue. The club's founders had attended both Cambridge and Oxford, taking those two universities traditional colors for their ones. Cambridge are sky blue and Oxford are navy blue if you were wondering.Their present stadium, the Stade Municipal Jules Deschaseaux, was initially built as a city stadium in 1932 and Le Havre moved there from their old Stade de la Cavée Verte in 1971. It is named for a longtime municipal minister for sport in Le Havre.

Previous Stadiums: Stade de Sanvic (1884- 1918), Stade de la Cavée Verte (1918-1971).

Trophy Room:
* USFSA Championship (1899, 1900)
* Coupe Nationale (1918, 19)
* Coupe de France (1959)
* Trophée des Champions (1959)

Stade Deschaseaux Location