Istres Football Club (; commonly referred to as simply Istres) is a French association football club based in

Istres Istres (; Occitan: Istre) is a commune in southern France, some 60 km (38 mi) northwest of Marseille. It is in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, of which it is a subprefecture. Location I ...

. The club was formed in 1920 and currently play their home matches at the

Stade Parsemain Stade Parsemain is a Multi-purpose stadium in Fos-sur-Mer, France. It is currently used mostly for football (soccer), football matches and is the home stadium of FC Istres. The stadium is able to hold 12,500 people and was built in 2005. Referen ...

Fos-sur-Mer Fos-sur-Mer (, literally ''Fos on Sea''; Provençal: ''Fòs'') is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France. Geography Fos-sur-Mer is situated about north west of Marseille, on the Mediterranean coast, and to the w ...

, a commune in the Arrondissement of Istres.

History

FC Istres was founded in 1920 by Édouard Guizonnier as SS Istréenne. In 1969, SS Istréenne was merged into the more general sports club Istres Sports, who chose to keep Istréenne's distinctive purple and black colours. In 1977 the club made young entrepreneur Michel Aviet the club's president and ex-Yugoslav goalkeeper Georges Korac the club's manager. During the Aviet-Korac years, the club advanced from France's lower amateur regional divisions all the way up to Ligue 2. In the 2004–05 season, the club reached

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

for the first time in its history but finished last and was relegated to Ligue 2. Istres returned to

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship reasons, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Prof ...

in the 2009–10 season after winning the Championnat National 2008–09. After five seasons in Ligue 2, they were relegated at the end of the 2013–14 season after a 4–2 loss to

Dijon FCO Dijon Football Côte d'Or (; ), commonly referred to as Dijon FCO or simply as Dijon, is a French Football in France, football club based in Dijon. The club was founded in 1998 as a result of a merger between two local clubs in the city, and co ...

. They were briefly readmitted to Ligue 2 when Luzenac was denied promotion due to stadium requirements. However, on 11 July 2014, following the reversal of a ruling against

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; ; or ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced ...

, Istres' relegation was confirmed, and they returned to the

Championnat National The Championnat National (), commonly referred to as simply National or Division 3, is the third division of the French football league system behind Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. Contested by 18 clubs, the Championnat National operates on a system of ...

. In July 2015, the club was relegated to the seventh tier due to financial issues. On 12 March 2016, it was renamed Istres Football Club, with President Alain Christmann explaining, "The entity 'Ouest Provence' no longer exists, so this change is more logical. It's not a revolution, but it needed to be done." Successive promotions in 2017 and 2018 elevated the club to the

Championnat National 3 The Championnat National 3, commonly referred to as simply National 3 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur 2, is a football league competition. The league serves as the fifth division of the French football league system behind ...

, with another promotion to the

Championnat National 2 The Championnat National 2, commonly known as National 2 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur (CFA), is a Association football, football league competition. The league serves as the fourth tier of French football league system be ...

in 2024.

Naming history

*SS Istréenne (1920–1969) *Istres Sports (1969–1990) *FC Istres Ville Nouvelle (1990–2004) *FC Istres Ouest Provence (2004–2016) *Istres FC (2016–present)

Players

Current squad

None of the players have a fixed/assigned shirt number by the club.

Notable former players

''For a list of former Istres players, see below''

Rivalries

The club has two major rivalries. First is with neighbours

FC Martigues Football Club de Martigues, known as FC Martigues or just Martigues, is a French professional football club based in Martigues, Bouches-du-Rhône. It competes in Championnat National from 2025–26, the third level of football in France, having ...

, with many encounters over the years. The second is the Provence derby against

AC Arles-Avignon AC, A.C., A/C, or Ac often refers to: * Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C * Alternating current, a type of electrical current in which the current repeatedly changes direction AC, A.C. or Ac may also refer to: Arts and entertainment G ...

Honours

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

**''Champions'' (1): 2008–09 * Méditerranée Division d'Honneur **''Champions'' (2): 1982, 1990 * Coupe de Provence **''Champions'' (4): 1933, 1982, 1987, 1989

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Istres Association football clubs established in 1920 Sport in Bouches-du-Rhône Publicly traded sports companies 1920 establishments in France Football clubs in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur