FC Gueugnon

Football Club Gueugnonnais (commonly called Gueugnon [ɡoɲɔ̃]) is a French association football club based in Gueugnon, Burgundy. The club was formed in 1940 and plays its home matches at the Stade Jean Laville located within the city.

The club has spent majority of its history in the second and third tiers of French football, with short spells in the top flight. It has had success at national level, most notable winning the League Cup in 2000, Ligue 2 in 1979 and reaching the semi-finals of the French Cup in 1991.

The club faced bankruptcy in 2011 and subsequently reformed in the sixth tier; since then it has aimed to climb back up the league pyramid.

History

Football Club de Gueugnon was founded in 1940. Upon the club's creation, it earned the nickname Les Forgerons (The Blacksmiths), due to having strong support from the commune's local steelworks area. The club won the Championnat de France amateur in 1947 and, by 1970, were playing in the second division of French football. In 1974, inspired by playmaker Casimir Nowotarski, Gueugnon reached the second division promotion play-offs, but lost to Rouen. In 1979, the club won the second division title, however, due to the club's non-professional status and its inability to gain professional status by the start of the 1979–80 season, it was not allowed to participate in the first division.

The 1980s steel crisis forced the club to turn professional, and after several seasons of struggles to prevent relegation, the tide turned in 1991 when Gueugnon reached the semi-finals of the Coupe de France where the club was defeated by AS Monaco. In 1995, Gueugnon earned were officially promoted to Division 1 for the first time in the club's history after finishing runner-up in the second division, behind EA Guingamp. The promotion was short-lived, though, as the club returned to the lower league after an unsuccessful debut season.

In 2000, Gueugnon shocked French football supporters around the country after winning the

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