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 from key industrialists and philanthropists living in 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 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 eastern neighbours and Batisuria which received a high level of settlers from the city from the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries.
Ibbené has a number 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
FC Ibbené was founded on March 2nd 1924 in the Horsehead Pub in the city of Ibbené by industrialists Théophile Pernet and Hugo Gagnon. The new team aimed to provide a new footballing outlet for the city of Ibbené and surrounding areas which at the time formed the key industrial heartland of Midrasia. The creation of a new team in the city was seen by both Pernet and Gagnon as an obvious decision to make. Owing to the city's largely working-class population, the team would have ample potential players as well as a significant audience who could be charged for watching matches. In 1924 the club began playing in the regional Avadinian division but quickly progressed to the Midrasian Footballing League in 1929.
In the Footballing League, Ibbené became a powerful club, with a very large following which brought them considerable early success. The club reached Liga 1, the highest tier of the footballing pyramid in 1935 and remained there for several years. The club won its first Liga 1 title in 1944, along with the Copa de Mydra the following year. Over the next few years, Ibbené remained in the highest level of Midrasian football, and in the 1960s with the advent of the Asuran League, the team made regular appearances in the competition, though proved unable to ever make it past the semi-finals.
However, Ibbené's peak was reached in the late 1990s under the management of Marcel Chagnon. Chagnon's team became renowned internationally as the 'bully boys' for the rough nature of their play and high-work rate. Key players such as striker Andreas Masing and midfielder Giles Brunes became international stars for their time with Chagnon's Ibbené team. Under Chagnon, Ibbené won the Copa de Mydra and Liga 1 in 1997 and also reached their first Asuran League final the same year, losing out 2-1. The team was able to finish 2nd in the league the following season but won the Supercopa against Olympique de Lotrique in 1999. In the same season, the team also reached their second Asuran League final again against Olympique. In a very tough fought game between the two sides, Ibbené came out ahead by 3 goals to 1, winning their first Asuran title and also ending Olympique's period of unparalleled dominance in Asura and Midrasia. The club would go on to win Liga 1 in the 2000-2001 season and again for the final time in 2002-2003.
Chagnon left the club in 2005 owing to a decline in the club's fortunes and disagreements with the club's ownership. Despite significant protest against the departure of Chagnon, the club's owners refused to sell up in spite of their inability to fund the club to a level that would allow them to compete with the Midrasian grandees of Almiaro and Olympique. Under the club's new manager Olaf Koss the club was able to keep its position within the top-4, however they were soon surpassed by the likes of AC Lotric, Argois, and Vaelleniana. In 2006 the club missed out on qualification for the Asuran League for the first time since 1995, greatly decreasing the club's revenue and ability to attract top talent. Koss would be sacked the following season, replaced by Micolau Satorras who lasted only half a season before his assistant Alphonse Dubost took over. All this time the club fell down the order of Liga 1, further enflaming protests from the fan base. In 2012 the club's owners Gabriel Bernier and Blaise Rigal finally stood down, announcing their intention to sell the club to a number of Rennekkan investors known as the Barthold Group. Initially, this move looked to have greatly benefitted the club, with new investment and newly appointed manager Leonardo Lo Celso guiding the club to 4th place in 2013-14, thereby qualifying for the Asuran League. The following season Lo Celso guided Ibbené to the final of the Asuran League, however they lost out to Bersk SK in the final. Though the team was able to win the Copa de Mydra the following season, the Barthold Group began to gradually withdraw its investment in the club, citing the poor financial condition of the group. Lo Celso would leave the club in the summer of 2016 whilst the club slid into mid-table mediocrity.
However, soon after Lo Celso's departure rumours began to surface that the Barthold Group would be selling part of their stake in the club. In February 2017 a story was leaked linking Onzaian billionaire Monim Maalouf to the club and suggested that the Barthold Group would instead be looking to sell their entire stake in the club, should a sufficiently acceptable bid be tabled. On May 7th the club announced that it had been purchased by Maalouf for a bid of Đ950 million. The takeover period for the club was relatively chaotic, though the club was able to secure 7th position at the end of the 2017-18 season. For the first half of the 2018-19 season, Ibbené lay firmly mid-table in 10th place, putting manager Louis Darnique's position at risk. However, new marquee signings such as centre-forward David Hevré, who was signed for a club record of Đ60 million from Olympique de Lotrique, allowed the club to rescue its league position, ultimately finishing 6th and qualifying for the Asuran League. Though there was initially a lot of distrust for new owner Maalouf, his public statements about challenging the league grandees with key signings as well as promising a new stadium have seen most of Ibbené's fans warm to their new owner. Maalouf's extravagant, outlandish public behaviour and statements aimed at rivals of the club have also captivated fans, who have come to view Maalouf as 'one of us' and 'a true fan of the club'.
Nevertheless, Maalouf's actions along with the club's newfound spending power have angered many opposition fans. In early 2018 Almiaro Chairman Giancarlo Capriglione criticised the actions of "oil-rich money splashers", calling on the Football Federation of Aeia to place new regulations on the ability of club's to spend in excess of their earnings. This call was welcomed by many club owners, however others criticised the call for new regulation as a method of 'keeping the rich, rich', preventing smaller clubs from competing against the traditional grandees of Aeian football. This issue was further highlighted after the club bought Atrescan winger Adrian Dauda for a world-record fee of Đ170 million.
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 the Arene d'Aurelie and Stade de la Sute. 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 1980s. 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.
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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