Football Club Avenir Beggen is a
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
club, based in
Beggen, a
quarter of
Luxembourg City
Luxembourg (; ; ), also known as Luxembourg City ( or ; ; or ), is the capital city of Luxembourg and the Communes of Luxembourg, country's most populous commune. Standing at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse rivers in southern Luxe ...
, in southern
Luxembourg
Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...
.
The club were founded in 1915 as FC Daring Beggen but changed their name to FC Avenir Beggen a year later. In 1940, they were renamed SV 1915 Beggen, but in 1944, it was changed again to FC Avenir Beggen.
Avenir Beggen had played in the
National Division in consecutive seasons since 1965–66, but were relegated in the
2005–06 season. Finishing second in their first season in the second-tier
Division of Honour, Avenir returned to the National Division at the first time of asking. In 2008/09 the club finished 14th and were relegated back to the
Luxembourg Division of Honour.
Honours
*
National Division
:Winners (6):
1968–69,
1981–82,
1983–84,
1985–86,
1992–93,
1993–94
:Runners-up (5):
1974–75,
1982–83,
1986–87,
1989–90,
1991–92
*
Luxembourg Cup
The Luxembourg Cup () is the national Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Luxembourgian Association football, football. It was first held in 1922, and has been held annually since, with the exception of the four seasons du ...
:Winners (7): 1982–83, 1983–84, 1986–87, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 2001–02
:Runners-up (4): 1973–74, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1997–98
European Competition
Avenir have qualified for
UEFA
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...
European competition sixteen times.
*
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...
:Qualifying round (2): 1993–94, 1994–95
:First round (4): 1969–70, 1982–83, 1984–85, 1986–87
*
UEFA Cup
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star.
Computer scientists and Mathematici ...
:Qualifying round (1): 2002–03
:First round (4): 1975–76, 1985–86, 1990–91, 1995–96
*
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...
:First round (4): 1983–84, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1992–93
:Second round (1): 1974–75
They have won three ties in European competition (although two were only on technicalities):
*In 1974–75, their Cup Winners' Cup first round opponents,
Enosis Paralimni of
Cyprus
Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...
, withdrew due to ongoing crisis in that country.
*In the same competition in 1992–93, Avenir beat the
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...
'
B36 Tórshavn 2–1 on aggregate in the qualifying round, before losing 5–1 on aggregate to
Spartak Moscow in the first round proper.
*In the 1995–96 UEFA Cup, Avenir lost on away goals to
Örebro SK, but Avenir were awarded a 3–0 victory when it transpired that the
Swedes
Swedes (), or Swedish people, are an ethnic group native to Sweden, who share a common ancestry, Culture of Sweden, culture, History of Sweden, history, and Swedish language, language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countries, ...
had fielded an ineligible player.
Throughout its history the team has won three rounds in Europe, including Champions League, UEFA Cup and Cup Winners' Cup. In 1969, Avenir Beggen won their first league title in Luxembourg, with a historic victory followed by 10,000 spectators, of 3-1 against
Jeunesse d'Esch. Moreover, thanks to this victory, the club qualified for the
Champions League for the first time where they played against
AC Milan
(), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...
(0-5 to Milan and 0-3 in Luxembourg city).
Another success for Avenir Beggen came on the 60th anniversary of the club, 1 September 1975, when Avenir Beggen played their first UEFA Cup tie (now Europa League) against
FC Porto
Futebol Clube do Porto, Order of Prince Henry, MHIH, Order of Merit (Portugal), OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional association footbal ...
(0-7 in Porto and 0-3 in Luxembourg city).
In addition to those three ties, Avenir has won one game in a tie that they eventually lost (2–1 at home against
Inter Bratislava in the 1990–91 UEFA Cup, before losing 5–0 in
Bratislava
Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...
).
Overall, Avenir's record in European competition reads:
Current squad
2023/2024 season
Eis Équipe fir d'Saison 2008/09
- Wichtelweb
Former coaches
* Marc Boreux (1966–72)
* Henri Cirelli (1973–76)
* Josy Kirchens (1976–77)
* Willi Macho (1979–80)
* Albert Adams (1980–82)
* Jean Bettinger (1982–83)
* Paul Philipp (1983–85)
* Michel Clement (1985–88)
* Louis Pilot (1988–90)
* Albert Adams (1990–95)
* Jacky Pérignon (1995–96)
* Theo Scholten (1996)
* Vinicio Monacelli (2000)
* Jeannot Reiter (2000–02)
* Gilbert Dresch (2002–03)
* Jean Fiedler (2003)
* Jacky Pérignon (2003)
* Michel Clement (2003–04)
* Florim Alijaj (2004–05)
* Fernando Gutiérrez (2004–05)
* Florim Alijaj (2005)
* Fernando Gutiérrez (2005–08)
* Manuel Peixoto (2008–09)
* Jos Steffen (2009–11)
* Dan Santos (2013–16)
* Gilles Wagner (2016)
* Paulo Gomes (2016–17)
* Carlo Feipel (2017)
* Jeannot Reiter (2017–18)
* Almir Civic (2018–)
References
External links
*
Football clubs in Luxembourg City
Association football clubs established in 1915
1915 establishments in Luxembourg
{{Luxembourg Division of Honour clubs