En Avant Guingamp (Breton: War-raok Gwengamp, English: Forward Guingamp), commonly referred to as EA Guingamp, EAG, or simply Guingamp (French: [ɡɛ̃ɡɑ̃]), is a French professional football club based in the commune of Guingamp, in France's Brittany region. The club was founded in 1912 and play in Ligue 2, the second tier of French football. The club has appeared in the Ligue 1, the top flight of French football, for 13 seasons, and is known for its relative success given Guingamp's small population of only 7,000 people.

Guingamp
Full nameEn Avant Guingamp
Nickname(s)Les Guingampais
Les Costarmoricains (The Costamoricans)
Les Rouge et Noir (The Red and Blacks)
L'En-Avant[1]
Short nameEAG
Founded1912; 112 years ago (1912)
GroundStade de Roudourou
Capacity19,033
PresidentFrédéric Legrand
Head coachSylvain Ripoll
LeagueLigue 2
2023–24Ligue 2, 9th of 20
Websitehttps://www.eaguingamp.com
Current season
En Avant Guingamp active departments

Football
(men's)

Football
(women's)

Guingamp are one of only two clubs who have won the Coupe de France while not being in the first division, doing so in 2009, by defeating Rennes, 2–1. They won the same competition in 2014, again with a victory against Rennes, 2–0.

History

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Having been an amateur club for a long time, playing in the regional leagues, the club got promoted three times under the presidency of Noël Le Graët, who took over in 1972. In 1976, Guingamp reached the Third Division (now called Championnat National), and the next season they were promoted to the Second Division (now called Ligue 2), where they stayed until 1993. The club became fully professional in 1984, and in 1990 the Stade de Roudourou was opened, with Guingamp hosting Paris Saint-Germain in the inaugural match.

The club's first major honour was winning the Coupe de France in 2009, the second team in history not from Ligue 1 to win the competition.[2] The team defeated Breton rivals Rennes 2–1 in the final. Also, in 2014, En Avant de Guingamp beat Stade Rennais F.C. 2–0 at the Stade de France. Aside from two years of Coupe de France triumph, the club's only other major feat was winning the 1996 UEFA Intertoto Cup.[citation needed]

The club has played in the French top flight before, having gained promotion only three times: 1995, 2000 and 2013. Their longest stay in the top flight was between 2013 and 2019. Following the 2012–13 season, the club was relegated back to Ligue 2 at the conclusion of the 2018–19 season finishing in 20th place.[citation needed]

Aside from winning the Coupe de France, Guingamp is known for having served as a springboard for prominent players that include Didier Drogba, Florent Malouda, Fabrice Abriel, and Vincent Candela. Managers such as Guy Lacombe, Francis Smerecki, and Erick Mombaerts also used the club as springboards during the infancy of their coaching careers. Guingamp is presided over by Bertrand Desplat. The former president, Noël Le Graët, is president of the French Football Federation. The club has a women's team who play in the Division 1 Féminine, and a reserve team in the CFA2.[citation needed]

In the 2018–19 season, Guingamp reached the Coupe de la ligue final against RC Strasbourg. Guingamp lost the final losing 4–1 on penalties after the match ended goalless during 120 minutes of play.[3]

On 12 May 2019, Guingamp were relegated to Ligue 2 ending a six-year stay in the top division after drawing 1–1 with rivals Stade Rennais F.C.[4]

Timeline

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  • 1912: Foundation of the club.
  • 1922: First match at Stade de Montbareil.
  • 1929: First promotion to the Division d'Honneur.
  • 1949: Second promotion to the Division d'Honneur.
  • 1974: Third promotion to the Division d'Honneur.
  • 1976: First promotion to Division 3.
  • 1977: First promotion to Division 2.
  • 1984: Adoption of professional status.
  • 1990: First match at Stade de Roudourou.
  • 1994: Second promotion to Ligue 2.
  • 1995: First promotion to Ligue 1.
  • 1996: Winner of the Intertoto Cup and first appearance in Europe.
  • 1997: Runner-up of the Coupe de France.
  • 2000: Second promotion to Ligue 1.
  • 2004: Relegation from Ligue 1.
  • 2009: Winner of the Coupe de France and second appearance in Europe.
  • 2010: Relegation from Ligue 2.
  • 2011: Promotion to Ligue 2.
  • 2013: Promotion to Ligue 1.
  • 2014: Winner of the Coupe de France and third appearance in the UEFA Europa League.
  • 2019: Finished runner up in the Coupe de la ligue final.
  • 2019: Relegated to Ligue 2.

League timeline

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Stadium

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Guingamp plays its home matches at the Stade de Roudourou in the city. It is unusual for a commune of 7,280 inhabitants to have a professional football club, let alone one that plays in the first tier. Also the stadium has a capacity of 18,000 spectators, roughly 2.5 times the commune's population.[citation needed]

Players

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Current squad

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First team

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As of 22 August, 2024.[5]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK   GLP Teddy Bartouche
2 DF   FRA Lucas Maronnier
4 MF   FRA Dylan Louiserre  
5 MF   RSA Lebogang Phiri
6 DF   FRA Lenny Vallier
7 DF   SEN Donatien Gomis
8 MF   FRA Kalidou Sidibé
9 FW   MTQ Brighton Labeau
10 MF   FRA Mehdi Merghem
11 FW   SEN Amadou Sagna
12 DF   SEN Abdallah Ndour
16 GK   FRA Enzo Basilio
17 FW   FRA Jacques Siwe
No. Pos. Nation Player
18 DF   FRA Sohaib Nair
19 FW   FRA Sabri Guendouz
20 MF   FRA Hugo Picard
22 DF   FRA Alpha Sissoko
23 MF   FRA Taylor Luvambo
24 DF   FRA Pierre Lemonnier
26 DF   FRA Matthis Riou
27 MF   MAR Rayan Touzghar
28 FW     NEP Sabitra Bhandari
29 FW   SEN Junior Mendes
30 GK   MTN Babacar Niasse
33 FW   CTA Tieri Godame
40 GK   FRA Noah Marec

Notable players

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Below are the notable former players who have represented Guingamp in league and international competition since the club's foundation in 1912. To appear in the section below, a player must have played in at least 80 official matches for the club.[6]

For a complete list of Guingamp players, see Category:En Avant Guingamp players

European record

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Season Competition Round Club 1st leg 2nd leg Aggregate
1996 UEFA Intertoto Cup Group 12   FK Zemun 1–0 1st  
  FF Jaro 0–0
  Dinamo Bucharest 2–1
  Kolkheti Poti 3–1
SF   KAMAZ 0–2 4–0(aet) 4–2  
Finals   Rotor Volgograd 1–2 1–0 2–21  
1996–97 UEFA Cup 1R   Internazionale 0–3 1–1 1–4  
2003 UEFA Intertoto Cup 3R   1. FC Brno 2–1 2–4(aet) 4–5  
2009–10 UEFA Europa League PO   Hamburg 1–5 1–3 2–8  
2014–15 UEFA Europa League Group K   Fiorentina 0–3 1–2 2nd  
  PAOK 2–0 2–1
  Dinamo Minsk 0–0 2–0
R32   Dynamo Kyiv 2–1 1–3 3–4  
Notes

1 Guingamp won the Final on away goals.

  • 1R: First round
  • 3R: Third round
  • PO: Play-off round
  • SF: Semi-finals

Ownership

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Club hierarchy

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As of 24 September 2019
Position Name
President Bertrand Desplat
Vice-President Frédéric Legrand
Association President Jean-Paul Briand
Head coach Stéphane Dumont
Assistant head coach Benjamin Genton
Goalkeeper coach Anthony Corre
Fitness coach Benjamin LeBrun
Video analyst Lucas Massello-Heuzé
Doctor Miguel Rosinet
Physiotherapist Quentin Beauvallet
Charly Pradeau
Intendant Arnaud Le Briand

Managerial history

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Honours

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Domestic

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Europe

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References

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  1. ^ "#774 – En Avant de Guingamp : En Avant" (in French). Footnickname. 5 June 2022. Archived from the original on 20 September 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  2. ^ "Ligue 2 side Guingamp stun Rennes in French Cup". The Guardian. 11 May 2009. Archived from the original on 31 October 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2009.
  3. ^ "COUPE DE LA LIGUE FINAL REACTIONS". Ligue1.com. Archived from the original on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  4. ^ "GUINGAMP RELEGATED AFTER DERBY DRAW". Ligue1.com. Archived from the original on 13 May 2019. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  5. ^ "L'effectif 2023–2024". Eaguingamp.com. Archived from the original on 1 August 2023. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  6. ^ "En Avant de Guingamp". Eaguingamp.com. Archived from the original on 8 November 2012. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  7. ^ "Communiqué Officiel Commun EAG / Jocelyn Gourvennec". Eaguingamp.com (in French). 22 May 2019. Archived from the original on 29 May 2019. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  8. ^ "EA Guingamp. Patrice Lair officiellement nommé entraîneur". Ouest-France.fr. 29 May 2019. Archived from the original on 30 May 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  9. ^ "Guingamp : Patrice Lair va partir" (in French). foot-national.com. 23 September 2019. Archived from the original on 24 September 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  10. ^ "EA Guingamp. Après le licenciement de Patrice Lair, Sylvain Didot pour au moins deux matches ?" (in French). Ouest France. 24 September 2019. Archived from the original on 24 September 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  11. ^ "Guingamp : Le nouvel entraîneur officialisé, le communiqué du club" (in French). foot-national.com. 7 October 2019. Archived from the original on 9 October 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  12. ^ "En Avant Guingamp. Mécha Bazdarevic entraîneur jusqu'en 2022". Ouest-France (in French). 30 August 2020. Archived from the original on 18 January 2021. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  13. ^ "Ligue 2 : Mecha Bazdarevic n'est plus l'entraîneur de Guingamp". France Football (in French). Archived from the original on 10 February 2021. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  14. ^ Guingamp's two Championnat de l'Ouest titles were won by the club's reserve team.
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