Vannes Olympique Club (; commonly referred to as simply Vannes) is a professional French football club based in

Vannes Vannes (; , , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, French department of Morbihan, Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, northwestern mainland France. It was founded over 2,000 years ago. History Celtic ...

. The club was formed in 1998 as a result of the merger of ''Véloce vannetais'' founded in 1911 and ''FC Vannes'' known before 1991 as ''UCK Vannes'' founded in 1946 and currently competing in Championnat National 3, the fifth level of French football. Vannes plays its home matches at the Stade de la Rabine, located within the city. In 2002, the club hired Stéphane Le Mignan as manager, reaching the quarter-finals of the

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

in 2007, 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 ...

title in 2008, the Coupe de la Ligue final in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

and three seasons of

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 ...

from 2008 to 2011. He was dismissed in 2012 and the club filed for bankruptcy in 2014, reforming in the seventh tier and achieving three promotions in four years.

History

In November 2002, after dismissing Denis Goavec, Vannes hired recently retired player Stéphane Le Mignan as manager. The team achieved promotion from the fourth-tier Championnat de France Amateur to the

under him in 2005. In the 2006–07 Coupe de France, Vannes won 2–0 after extra time in the last 16 away to

team

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

, then lost 5–0 at

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 ...

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

in the quarter-finals. Vannes won the 2007–08 Championnat National to earn promotion to

for the first time. This also meant a debut campaign in the Coupe de la Ligue, beating top-flight

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 ...

Auxerre Auxerre ( , , Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Auchoirre'') is the capital (Prefectures in France, prefecture) of the Yonne Departments of France, department and the fourth-largest city in the Burgundy historical region southeast of Par ...

and

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million4–0 final loss to

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

at the Stade de France. In the 2010–11 Ligue 2, the team were relegated in 18th place on the final day, and the budget for the following season was thereby reduced from €8.5 million to €4 million, resulting in 14 players being released. On 27 December 2012, after over a decade in charge, Le Mignan was dismissed with the team 7th in the third tier, six points off Poiré-sur-Vie in third. In June 2014, after narrowly avoiding relegation from the third tier, Vannes filed for bankruptcy, reforming in the Brittany Region ''Division Supérieure Elite'' in the seventh. The team won the regional '' Division d'Honneur'' in 2016 to reach the fifth level and return to national football, winning the renamed Championnat National 3 in 2017–18. In 2022–23, the team were relegated back with three games to play, following a 4–2 loss at

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

Players

Current squad

Notable former players

''For a list of former Vannes players, see :Vannes OC players.''

Honours

* Coupe de la Ligue **Runners-up: 2008–09 *

**Winners: 2007–08 * Championnat de France Amateur **Winners: 2004–05 *Division d'Honneur (Brittany) **Winners: 1998, 2016 *Division Supérieure Elite (Brittany) **Winners: 2015

References

{{Championnat National 3 Group E Association football clubs established in 1998 1998 establishments in France Football clubs in Brittany