AJ Auxerre

History

The club was founded in 1905 by the abbot Ernest Abbé Deschamps. It became a force in the Catholic league F.G.S.P.F., reaching the F.G.S.P.F. French Championship final in 1908, where it lost 8–1. After the First World War, the club was expelled from its ground, and Father Deschamps acquired land along the Yonne on the Vaux road, which later became the Abbé Deschamps Stadium.

Auxerre made its Division 1 debut on 24 July 1980 against Bastia in Toulon, losing 2–0. Andrzej Szarmach signed for Auxerre on 20 November 1980 and scored the first of his ninety-four Division 1 goals two days later at home against Lyon. The first season featured a 3–2 win at Parc des Princes against Paris Saint-Germain on 13 December 1980 and a 1–0 win at Nantes on 7 April 1981, ending Nantes' five-year, 92-game unbeaten home run. Auxerre finished fifteenth and eighth in the next two seasons.

In 1983–84, Auxerre finished third, its first podium finish, with Patrice Garande as top scorer with twenty-one goals. Auxerre recruited Michel N'Gom from Paris Saint-Germain; he scored five goals in ten pre-season games but died in a traffic accident on 12 August 1984. A stand at Abbé Deschamps bears his name. Auxerre qualified for the UEFA Cup the following year due to Monaco's Coupe de France victory.