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Football Club de Lorient Bretagne Sud (French pronunciation"loRja BR@tan Syd also known as FC Lorient or simply Lorient) is an French association soccer club that is based in Lorient, Brittany. The club was established in 1926. It currently plays with Ligue 1, the top league of French football after being promoted out of Ligue 2 in the 2019-20 season. Lorient is home to its matches in the Stade Yves Allainmat, named after the former mayor of Lorient. The stadium's name is Stade du Moustoir because of its position within the city. The team is directed by Regis Le Bris.

Lorient had a rather bleak background before 1998 when the club made its debut participation in Ligue 1 in the 1998-99 season. Prior to it, Lorient spent most of its time being an amateur team. Lorient's greatest achievement came in 2002, when the club was crowned the Coupe de France defeating Bastia 1-1 during the championship final. Lorient hasn't had a win in Ligue 1, but has achieved its first Championnat National earning this honour in 1995. In the region Lorient has been awarded the title of five Brittany Division d'Honneur titles and six Coupe de Bretagne.

Lorient has been primarily used as a springboard team for a number of current internationals like Laurent Koscielny, Andre-Pierre Gignac, Michael Ciani, Kevin Gameiro, Karim Ziani, Bakari Kone, Matteo Guendouzi, and Seydou Keita. French world champion Yoann Gourcuff, the son of Christian Gourcuff, began his career with the club prior to making the move into Derby Breton rivals Rennes.

1. History

Soccer Club Lorient was established on April 2 in 1926. Lorient was founded on the back of La Maree Sportive, a club established a year prior through Madame Cuissard, a store patron who was from Saint-Etienne and their son Joseph. Lorient began playing as an amateur team in the hands of manager Czechoslovakian coach Jozef Loquay. The club was awarded the Champions de l'Ouest in 1929 which put the club in the Division d'Honneur of the Brittany region. The year 1932 saw Lorient was crowned the winner of this league, and the following year, it repeated the same feat. The beginning in World War II limited the team's explosive growth in the region . The deportation of several players who participated in the war effort or left for overseas effectively spread the word about the club.

After the conflict, Antoine Cuissard, the grandson of Madame Cuissard became a member of the team, with the intention of rebuilding it to honor his mother. Lorient began playing within the Division d'Honneur. Cuissard became one of the very first Lorient players to keep an appearance on the France national team, while also playing for the club. The year 1954 was the first time he was for the team which made it to the 1954 FIFA World Cup. Lorient rapidly recovered, and by 1948, was with the Championnat de France amateur (CFA). The club played for two years in the league, before dropping back into the Division d'Honneur. The year 1957 saw Lorient returned to CFA but had a difficult time because of financial constraints. The club then sought sponsors in the hope of turning professional. Under the leadership that of Jean Tomine and Rene Fougere, Lorient placed a bid to be professionalized and was selected to Division 2 of the French League. The president of the new club Henri Ducassou agreed to do his best to ensure that professionalism flourish in Lorient.

The second division was where Lorient was struggling to keep ahead of the rankings. In the seasons 1974-75 as well as 1975-76 Lorient came close to advancing to Division 1 and finished 3rd in its group on every occasion, but falling one spot below the play-offs for promotion. But, in the next year, Lorient was relegated to Division 3. The team's potential was evident as the club made it to their debut French FA Cup quarter-finals in the history of the tournament. The club then struggled both domestically and financially. It was bankrupt by 1978. In this time it was known as "Club of Supporters of FC Lorient" (the supporters legally took over the club to preserve their FC Lorient name alive), Lorient played in the Division Superieure Regionale (sixth tier of the French football pyramid). In the beginning of the 1980s, Georges Guenoum took over the club's presidency as president, and also hired the former Lorient teammate Christian Gourcuff to be the manager. It was a surprise that under Gourcuff Lorient quickly made its way back to the top of to the top of French league ladder. The club won the 1983 season. team was awarded the Brittany Division d'Honneur title and in the following season, they was crowned Division 4. The following season, in 1985 they took home Division 3 and returned to Division 2 just eight years after their loss at that level! Gourcuff was dismissed from the club following the initial Division 2 season and relegation was only efficient due to a poor goal differential. Lorient was able to stay for the next five seasons in Division 3 with two manager. The club went through a financial crisis in the year 1990 but was allowed to remain in Division 3. It was in the year 1991 that Gourcuff came back to Lorient and , after almost a decade in Division 3 Lorient received a promotion in Division 2 after winning the 2nd season of the Championnat National.

Lorient was within the 2nd division, and in 1997-98 was astonished by the fact that it ran off with the league along with champions Nancy. The 1998-99 season was the club's debut participation in division 1 within the team's history. The season was short and saw Lorient struggling to keep up with the financial requirements and the tougher opposition in the league. Lorient finished 16th place , and was removed from the league. It was amazing that Lorient ended up with the same points and Le Havre with both clubs having the same amount of losses, wins, and draws. However as a result of Le Havre having a better goal differential, Lorient was relegated. After just two season in Division 2 Lorient was back in Division 1 for 2001/02. Before the promotion, April 2001, an attempt to take over the club by Alain Le Roch led to internal conflicts that led to the resignation from Gourcuff as well as one of Lorient's top player, Ulrich Le Pen, within a short time. The club then hired Argentine director Angel Marcos to replace Gourcuff. But, Marcos did not last for more than a couple of months.

Despite the initial difficulties, Lorient strengthened its squad to prepare ahead of its return premier division by signing players like Pascal Delhommeau, Moussa Saib, Johan Cavalli, and Pape Malick Diop. As a team led by Yvon Pouliquen the new players joined those like Jean-Claude Darcheville, Arnaud Le Lan, and Seydou Keita. They also stunned many when they reached an end of Coupe de la Ligue. Lorient fell to Bordeaux during the championship. Lorient continued its winning cup run when it won the Coupe de France just two months after. In the final, Lorient was up against Bastia and beat the Corsicans by 1-0 thanks to Darcheville's goal. The win is the first significant honor. The celebration however ended with a bitter note, since Lorient was dropped from league competition in that same year. Lorient was a participant in UEFA Cup the following season losing to Turkish club Denizlispor in the opening round due to away goals.

Lorient went back to its first division which is now known as Ligue 1, in 2006 with a totally revamped team. Instead of investing in stars, the team concentrated on enhancing its academy. It also promoted players to the first-team , such as Andre-Pierre Gignac Virgile Reset Jeremy Morel, and Diego Yesso during the club's period within Ligue 2. Lorient was also affected through the arrival Malian national Bakari Kone. Lorient, during it's return to Ligue 1, finished mid-table for three consecutive seasons. In the 2009-2010 year, Lorient performed well domestically. In the month of October 2009, Lorient was in fifth place in the table, which was its most impressive position at the end of the season has ever been. Lorient ended the season with a 7th position, which was the best result ever in Ligue 1.

The 2016/2017 Ligue 1 season, Lorient was in action against Ligue 2 side ES Troyes in the promotion/relegation play-off match. Lorient were defeated by a score of 2-1, and were then relegated into Ligue 2 after an 11 year stint in the top division.

On the 30th April, 2021, Lorient received promotion to Ligue 1 after the LFP made the decision to close the seasons of Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 earlier due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Lorient was at the top in the Ligue 2 table at the moment at the time of this announcement.

 

2. Players

.

2.1. Current Squad

 
No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  ITA Vito Mannone
2 DF  BRA Igor Silva
3 DF  TUN Montassar Talbi
4 DF  FRA Chrislain Matsima (on loan from Monaco)
6 MF  FRA Laurent Abergel (vice-captain)
7 FW  CIV Stéphane Diarra
8 MF  NGA Bonke Innocent
9 FW  MLI Ibrahima Koné
10 MF  FRA Enzo Le Fée
11 FW  BFA Dango Ouattara
12 DF  CMR Darlin Yongwa
13 FW  NGA Terem Moffi
15 DF  FRA Julien Laporte
17 MF  FRA Quentin Boisgard
 
No. Pos. Nation Player
18 MF  CIV Bamo Meïté
20 DF  FRA Samuel Loric
21 DF  FRA Julien Ponceau
22 FW  FRA Yoann Cathline
24 DF  COD Gédéon Kalulu
25 DF  FRA Vincent Le Goff
27 FW  AUT Adrian Grbić
29 FW  FRA Siriné Doucouré
31 FW  FRA Redwan Bourlès
37 DF  FRA Théo Le Bris
38 GK   SUI Yvon Mvogo
70 MF  FRA Adil Aouchiche
77 GK  FRA Teddy Bartouche

2.2. Out On Loan

 
No. Pos. Nation Player
GK  FRA Thomas Callens (at Annecy until 30 June 2023)
DF  GER Moritz Jenz (at Celtic until 30 June 2023)
DF  FRA Loris Mouyokolo (at Rodez until 30 June 2023)
 
No. Pos. Nation Player
FW  NGA Taofeek Ismaheel (at Beveren until 30 June 2023)
FW  FRA Pablo Pagis (at Nîmes until 30 June 2023)
FW  SEN Sambou Soumano (at Eupen until 30 June 2023)

2.3. Reserve squad

 
No. Pos. Nation Player
MF  FRA Paul Bellon
MF  FRA Rafael Landais
 
No. Pos. Nation Player
MF  FRA Brendan Lebas
MF  FRA Mouhamed Sadjo

3. Management and Staff

.

3.1. Club officials

Senior club staff
  • President: Loïc Féry
  • General Director: Arnaud Tanguy
  • Head Coach: Régis Le Bris

3.2. Coaching history

Dates Name
1929–32 Jozef Loquay
19?? Alex Bohm
1946–48 Jean Snella
1948–51 Marcel Lisieiro
1951–52 Robert Hennequin
1952–59 Georges Girot
1959 Antoine Cuissard
1960 Lucien Philipot
1961–67 Daniel Carpentier
1967–68 Antoine Cuissard
1968–69 Yves Boutet
1969–71 Émile Rummelhardt
1971–72 André Mori
1972–76 Jean Vincent
1977–78 Louis Hon
Dates Name
1978–79 Paul Le Bellec
1979–81 Bernard Goueffic
1981–82 Louis Lagadec
1982–86 Christian Gourcuff
1986–88 Michel Le Calloch
1988–90 Alain Thiboult
1990–91 Patrick Le Pollotec
1 July 1991 – 30 June 2001 Christian Gourcuff
1 July 2001 – 1 December 2001 Ángel Marcos
1 July 2001 – 30 June 2003 Yvon Pouliquen
1 July 2003 – 25 May 2014 Christian Gourcuff
25 May 2014 – 23 October 2016 Sylvain Ripoll
8 November 2016 – 29 May 2017 Bernard Casoni
30 May 2017 – 28 May 2019 Mickaël Landreau
29 May 2019– 25 June 2022 Christophe Pélissier
01 July 2022 - "present" Régis Le Bris

4. Honours

.

4.1. Domestic

  • Ligue 2
    • Champions: 2019–20
  • Championnat National
    • Champions: 1994–95
  • Coupe de France
    • Champions: 2001–02
  • Coupe de la Ligue
    • Runners-up: 2001–02
  • Trophée des Champions
    • Runners-up: 2002

4.2. Regional

  • Division d'Honneur (Bretagne)
    • Champions (5): 1932, 1936, 1957, 1983, 1995
  • Coupe de Bretagne
    • Champions (6): 1958, 1970, 1982, 1990, 2000, 2002

4.3. European football

 

FC Lorient in Europe
Season Competition Round Country Club Home Away Aggregate
2002–03 UEFA Cup First round   Denizlispor 3–1 0–2     3–3 

FAQ

France.

Loic Fery

The club's president and owner, Loic Fery, has definitely provided the team with sufficient financial backing this summer. Lorient have already invested EUR20m to acquire seven more players, and Fery is determined to continue investing in the next window.

  • Ligue 1
  • Coupe de France

The Football Club Lorient-Bretagne Sud frequently referred to FC Lorient or simply Lorient and nicknames like "Les Merlus" or "Le FCL" are among the teams located in Ligue 2. The main rivalry of the club within the French League is with Rennes.

Olympique Lyonnais announces the decision by the LFP Competition Commission to postpone the match between Lorient and OL match because of the poor condition of the playing surface in the Stade Moustoir, thus favoring the preservation of the physical condition for the athletes.

 

Lorient. / (French lorja) / noun. A port that is located in W France, on the Bay of Biscay.

 

In 1943, the deadly attack by German submarines led Winston Churchill to order massive bombing of the locations that housed submarines, which included Lorient, "with the greatest possible force". After the 1945 Armistice the majority of Lorient's town Lorient was left on Page 3 ruins.

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