AS Porte Nouvelle

AS Porte Nouvelle

Full name	Association Sportive de Porte Nouvelle
Nickname(s)	Les Olympiens (The Olympians)
Founded	1962 as AS Protectoratois de Porte Nouvelle
Ground	Stade ACG, Porte Nouvelle-sur-Mer, Gregahou
Capacity	40,000
Manager	Gilbert Lefebvre
League	Premyer Liga
2018-19	Premyer Liga, 1st
Home colours Away colours

Association Sportive de Porte Nouvelle is a Gregahouvian association football club based in the capital district of the Porte Nouvelle protectorate. AS Porte Nouvelle competes in the Premyer Liga, the top flight of Gregahouvian football. The club's home stadium is the Stade ACG, located in Porte Nouvelle-sur-Mer, on the western end of the island where the club is based.

History

Overview and founding

Originally founded as Association Sportive Protectoratois de Porte Nouvelle (English: Sporting Association of the Protectorate of Porte Nouvelle), the team began playing as the first professional league team on the island, among 3 other teams to form Ligue 1 Porte Nouvelle from 1962 until 1985. The team also represented Porte Nouvelle in international matches until 2002, when the island was to be administered under Gregahouvian law. Currently, the team plays in the Premyer Liga, the highest level of the Gregahouvian football pyramid. They are historically the most successful club on the island, representing the island internationally and traditionally having the largest fanbase.

Early history

During the Ligue 1 Porte Nouvelle years, Porte Nouvelle played against Les Frères Molina, Farneuil, and Jolieu among others. Compared to the other three teams, Porte Nouvelle was the "island's team," with the largest fanbase and, overall, highest rate of success. However, towards the end of Ligue 1 Porte Nouvelle, Molina rose to become as the premier team on the island with its addition to the Gregahouvian Premyer Liga in 1985. As a response, Porte Nouvelle gathered an application for admission and was admitted two years later, in 1987, with the other two teams following in 1991.

Turn of the century struggles

Once admitted into the top flight of Gregahouvian football, Porte Nouvelle struggled during the 1990s and into the 2000s. With the rise of Molina in the Premyer Liga, the team struggled to find their place in the league, and, within 5 years, were demoted to the pyramid's second division, the Toroy Liga. Even there, their records were mediocre, finishing 5th in 1992, 7th in 1993, 6th in 1994, and 9th in 1995. Entering the turn of the century, Porte Nouvelle began to spend less money staffing due to their weak records and placement in the second division. This, in turn, resulted in more losses and a demotion to the third division, the Tretiy Liga in 1999. There, Porte Nouvelle were bouncing back and forth for 5 years, remaining in the third division for 2 years before returning to the second division in 2001, and then being relegated to the third again in 2004. Eventually, the team made a final return to the Toroy Liga in 2005, where they finished 5th, 8th, and 4th, respectively, leading up to the 2008 season. This was largely due to the arrival of new players such as the young Dsogaev Nazareso (currently on loan to Subğansk) and the now-retired Algerian forward Tarek Fouad.

Porte Nouvelle midfielder Jan-Sebastian Uth looks back after scoring against Cialtina in 2015.

The Lefebvre years (2008-present)

In 2008, Gilbert Lebebvre, a new manager arrived in Porte Nouvelle fresh off of a playoff run managing for Stolitsemlağa. Lefebvre had had success in the Premyer Liga, however, he wanted a new managerial position in a Francophone area. Being French himself, the island of Porte Nouvelle fit well for him, and he was signed to a three-year contract on August 28th, 2008, before the 2008-09 season. His record with Porte Nouvelle is 137-49, making Lefebvre the most successful manager in Porte Nouvelle history. In 2008, they finished 4th in the Toroy Liga, just shy of the third place promotion threshold. In 2009, they were finally promoted back to the top flight with a 2nd place finish in the Toroy Liga. After their return to the Premyer Liga for the 2009 season, Lefebvre led the team to a shock 3rd place finish and a relatively successful playoff run, losing to Solevatsk in the semifinal but winning the third place game against Molina, which is said to be one of the best games in the Porte Nouvelle derby's history.

Rebuilding in the 2010s

Lefebvre's shock 2010 run was not as much of a shock as was originally thought. In the 2011 season, the team made the playoffs again, but was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Onel. In 2012, Porte Nouvelle finished 9th, barely missing the playoffs but still finishing respectively. After their two playoff runs, their goal for the 2012 season was to fully rebuild rather than holding onto a weak playoff hope. They eliminated themselves publicly as a competition team for the 2012 and 2013 seasons, instead focusing on building their training facilities, second division affiliate teams, as well as first team and staff. In 2013, they finished 10th.

2016 brought final success to Porte Nouvelle's long struggle to the top. They finished 4th in 2016, after being eliminated in the 3rd place match by Stolitsemlağa. They finished 3rd in 2017, winning their 3rd place match again against Stolitsemlağa. Finally, after 54 years, Porte Nouvelle won the Premyer Liga title, eliminating the powerhouse Stolitsemlağa in the first round, Azğa in the second round, and Almata in the final. The 2018-19 team brought home Porte Nouvelle's first Premyer Liga title.

Players

Current squad

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Adam Toussaint 2 DF André Vidmar 3 DF Kieran Sinclair (vice captain) 4 DF Vasilije Brkić 5 MF Arçil Avto 6 MF Dieuson Elié 7 MF Damir Anyekov

No. Position Player 8 FW Jerôme Mils 9 FW Emre Tahir 10 MF Jan-Sebastian Uth 11 DF Mario Fernandes 12 DF Grégoire Kuba 13 FW Roman Eremenko 14 FW Konstantin Erol

Out on loan

The following players have previously made a league or cup appearance for Porte Nouvelle and are currently on loan at other teams:

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

No. Position Player MF Dzogaev Nazareso (at Olimpyets Solevatsk until 30 April 2025)