Olympique Football Club de Charleville-Mézières is a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 team from the city of Charleville-Mézières

Charleville-Mézières

Charleville-Mézières is a commune in northern France, capital of the Ardennes department in the Champagne-Ardenne region. Charleville-Mézières is located on the banks of the Meuse River.-History:...

, Ardennes, currently playing in Division d'honneur (6th division in the French football league system

French football league system

The French football league system is a series of interconnected leagues for club football in France. At the top two levels of the system is the Ligue de Football Professionnel, which consists of two professional national divisions, Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. Below that are a number of leagues run by the...

).

History

The team was founded in 1904 as Association Sportive des anciens élèves de Belair la Villette. The club was renamed Club Ardennais in 1910, Football Club de Charleville in 1927 and then Football Club Olympique Charleville (FCO Charleville) in 1932, in a merger with Olympique de Charleville.

The team became professional in 1935, and played in Division 2

Ligue 2

Ligue 2 , formerly known as Division 2, 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 Professionnel , the other being Ligue 1, the country's top football division...

 till 1939. In 1936, the club obtained its major achievement by qualifying to the Coupe de France

Coupe de France

The Coupe Charles Simon, commonly known as the Coupe de France , is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation...

 final, but lost against RC Paris. The team had a very defensive strategy for the era, thanks to captain Helenio Herrera

Helenio Herrera

Helenio Herrera Gavilán was a Franco-Argentine football player and manager.Although born in Argentina, Herrera's parents were both Spanish, his father being a well-known Spanish anarchist in exile...

.

After the World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, the club did not retrieve its professional status and found it difficult to get to Division 2

Ligue 2

Ligue 2 , formerly known as Division 2, 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 Professionnel , the other being Ligue 1, the country's top football division...

. The team was professional from 1994 to 1997, but was forced to forsake playing due to financial problems. The team was relegated to the 6th division, and changed its name as Olympique Football Club de Charleville-Mézières.

Current squad

As of Sun 25th Jan 2009

Notable players

Julien Darui

Julien Darui

Julien Darui was a French football goalkeeper, who had stints as a coach after his playing career.Born in Luxembourg during World War I, Darui was capped 25 times for France...

  Helenio Herrera

Helenio Herrera

Helenio Herrera Gavilán was a Franco-Argentine football player and manager.Although born in Argentina, Herrera's parents were both Spanish, his father being a well-known Spanish anarchist in exile...

 Roger Marche

Roger Marche

Roger Marche was a French football defender. He was part of the French national team during the 1954 and 1958 World Cup tournaments...

 Patrick Regnault

Patrick Regnault

Patrick Regnault is a retired French football goalkeeper.-External links:...

 Grégory Wimbée

Grégory Wimbée

Grégory Wimbée is a retired French footballer who played as a goalkeeper.-Football career:After graduating from AS Nancy-Lorraine's youth system and serving a loan to Ligue 2 side OFC Charleville, Wimbée became an undisputed starter for the former, helping it achieve promotion to the top level...

 Walter Vollweiler

Managerial history

Erich Bieber: 1935-1937 Pepi Lehner: 1938-1939 Segaux: 1951-1952 Claude Breny: 1982-1984 Etienne Martinot: 1986-1988 Denis Troch

Denis Troch

Denis Troch is a former French professional football player and now manager.Troch's last job in management was with Chamois Niortais, but he was sacked in June 2009 after the club were relegated to the Championnat de France amateur...

: January 1990-1991  Moussa Bezzaz: 1991-1997 Alex Dupont

Alex Dupont

Alex Dupont is a French former footballer and football manager. He is currently managing Brest.-Career:Dupont played as a midfielder for Dunkerque and Hazebrouck.-Coaching career:...

: 1997-October 1997 Miguel Vincent: 2003-2004 Marc Kopniaeff: 2004-

External links

• Official site