FC Ibbené
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| Full name | Football Club Ibbené | |||
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| Nickname(s) | Les Verts (The Greens) | |||
| Short name | IBB | |||
| Founded | 2 March 1924 | |||
| Ground | Repain | |||
| Capacity | 35,000 | |||
| Owner | Monim Maalouf | |||
| Chairman | Théo Chopin | |||
| Manager | Louis Darnique | |||
| League | Liga Premiére | |||
| 2018–19 | Liga Premiére, 6th | |||
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FC Ibbené is a professional association football club based in Ibbené, Midrasia. The club currently competes in Liga Premiére, the highest tier of Midrasian football. The club has won a number of trophies including 9 domestic league titles, 5 Mydran Cups, 2 Super Cups, and one Asuran League title.
Founded in 1924, Ibbené was a relative latecomer to the scene of Midrasian football, though investment for key industrialists and philanthropists from the city and surrounding regions quickly propelled the team to the top-tier of Midrasian football. By the 1960s Ibbené were a mainstay of Liga 1, regularly finishing within the top half of the table. However, the club would not reach its peak until the late 1990s and early 2000s where they won multiple league titles and famously defeated Olympique de Lotrique in the Supercopa and Asuran League finals during the 1999-2000 season. Since then the club has undergone a decline of sorts, unable to financially compete with its other rivals. Yet the purchase of the club by Onzaian billionaire Monim Maalouf has seen a revival of sorts. Today FC Ibbené is still viewed as a top-6 team within Liga Premiére, though they continue to trail many of the other teams within this bracket.
The team's home stadium is Repain, which holds a capacity of 35,000 making it one of the smaller stadiums in the league. However, the club is currently planning the construction of a new stadium which will have a planned capacity in excess of 50,000. The club has a strong domestic following, particularly within the Avadin and Viure regions. The club also has a modest international following, primarily among Midrasia's immediate neighbours and Batisuria which recieved a high level of settlers from the city from the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries.
Ibbené has a numer of domestic rivalries, particularly with its immediate neighbouring clubs such as FC Oyonaix, FC Cadillac, and Club Viure. The team also has a historical rivalry with Olympique de Lotrique, owing to their clashes during the late twentieth, early twenty-first century.
History
Stadium
Ibbené have spent their much of their history at the Ibbené Stadium, informally known as Repain. Originally, the club played at a local park within the city, however upon gaining promotion to the Midrasian Professional Footballing League in 1929 the Ibbené Stadium was built, holding an initial capacity of 30,000 standing. The stadium expanded gradually over time, being converted to a fully seated stadium in 1986. As a seated stadium, Repain only held a capacity of 25,000 making it one of the smaller stadia in the league. With the club's successes in the late 1990s however, Repain was quickly expanded going to its current capacity of 35,000 in 2003. Whilst this made Repain one of the larger stadia in the league at the time, it still significantly lagged behind the size of both Olympique de Lotrique and FC Almiaro's stadiums. Whilst designs were put in place to further expand Repain, the club's declining fortunes throughout the mid 2000s saw these plans put on hold.
With the purchase of the club in 2017 by Monim Maalouf the decision to build a new larger stadium was fast-tracked. Maalouf made no secret of his desire to build Ibbené as one of the powerhouses of Midrasian football, capable of consistently challenging Almiaro and Olympique; with an increase in matchday revenue proving to be an integral part of reaching this goal. The new stadium planned to be constructed to the south-east of the city is set to have a capacity of over 50,000 and would also be capable of hosting other events such as concerts and rugby. The club is currently in the consultation phase for the new stadium, with construction expected to begin around late-2020, early-2021.
Badge and colours
Ibbené's badge has always remained relatively consistent throughout its history, utilising a green design with a tower. This design is taken from the flag of the city of Ibbené which is in and of itself taken from the original coat of arms of the medieval Kingdom of Ibbené. The tower refers to the medieval Tour Vert (Green Tower), otherwise known as the Castle of Ibbeny. The club's badge originally used a shield design, however this was changed to a circle in the 1970s. The circle design has remained to this day only undergoing minor alterations.
Ibbené have always worn green as their home kit throughout their history as a football club. However, on a number of occasions, there have been slight variations in this design. Originally, the club used a green and white hooped design for their home kit along with black shorts and white socks. However, only four years later the club changed to a fully green home kit which they have stuck with ever since. To celebrate the club's 50th anniversary during the 1973-1974 and 1974-1975 seasons the club used a white and green hooped design, harkening back to their original kit. This was repeated for the 1998-1999 and 1999-2000 seasons to celebrate the club's 75th anniversary. In 2007 the club began using white socks in their home kit with the traditional green shirt and shorts. This design remains to this day.
Players
Current squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under international eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one nationality.
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Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under international eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one nationality.
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Reserve squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under international eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one nationality.
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