L’Union Sportive Avranches Mont Saint Michel, shortly known as US Avranches is a French

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

Avranches Avranches (; ) is a commune in the Manche department, and the region of Normandy, northwestern France. It is a subprefecture of the department. The inhabitants are called ''Avranchinais''. History Middle Ages By the end of the Roman period, th ...

, in the department of

Manche Manche (, ; Norman language, Norman: ) is a coastal Departments of France, French ''département'' in Normandy (administrative region), Normandy on the English Channel, which is known as , literally "the sleeve", in French. Manche is bordered by ...

, and founded in 1897. Since 2014, it plays in 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 ...

, the third-tier of French football. The club has been

chaired The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

by Gilbert Guérin since 1990.

History

Football arrived in Avranches in the mid-19th century, due to an influx of

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

who brought their customs and lifestyle to the area. In 1895, Paul Lebedel and Auguste Desclos, with approval from Henri Goujon, formed the ''Association Sportive du Collège d'Avranches''. The club had several sections of sport, which included

gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

fencing Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fe ...

and

shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missile ...

, but the club specialized in football. The ASCA recruited most of their players from students who attended the university and players who lived nearby. The club endured difficulties following a match against Stade Rennais Université, now

Stade Rennais F.C. Stade Rennais Football Club (SRFC, ), commonly referred to as Stade Rennais () or simply Rennes,''Rennais'' and ''Stade Rennes'', used by some English-speaking media outlets and journalists, are not grammatically correct names for the club. is ...

, after the external players arrived home too late following the match. This caused a significant outrage from their parents and guardians and, eventually, the ASCA were forced to abandon signing players from outside the university. Due to this, a man named Alexandre Legrand concluded that the people outside the university should form their own club. After discussions, the club was formed in April 1897 as ''L’Union Sportive Avranches. Due to his input, Legrand was inserted as the club's

treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

. The club competed mainly against local colleges in Avranches and played their first official match against ''AS du Collège de Vire''.la Préhistoire (1897–1907)

Chairmen

Current state

The club's performance during the 20th century was mostly muted with the club often hovering in between the 7th, 6th, 5th, and 4th divisions until reaching the

during its inaugural season in 1993–94. The competition, at the time, involved two geographical areas and was mostly the top amateur clubs. The club won its first match, a 2–0 victory over

AS Cherbourg AS Cherbourg or the Association Sportive de Cherbourg Football is a French football team currently playing in Régional 3, the eighth tier of French football, after suffering expulsion from the national leagues in 2023. They are based in the city ...

, and went undefeated in their first nine matches. However, the club soon hit a slide and ended up finishing 9th. They remained in National for another three years before suffering relegation to the CFA, where they lasted only one year falling down to CFA 2 in 1998–99. After 10 years in CFA 2, the club finally returned to the CFA after their 2nd-place finish.

Team kit

The club's kit are manufactured by the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

sporting goods company

Umbro Umbro is an English sports equipment manufacturer founded in 1924 in Wilmslow, Cheshire, and based in Manchester. They specialise in football and rugby sportswear featuring their ''Double Diamond'' logo. Umbro products are sold in over 100 c ...

Notable coaches

Players

Current squad

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Avranches Association football clubs established in 1897 1897 establishments in France Sport in Manche Football clubs in France Football clubs in Normandy