Le Havre are climbing up Ligue 1 with a team built on a shoestring

Mohamed Bayo celebrates after scoring for Le Havre in their 2-1 win at Toulouse. Photograph: Charly Triballeau/AFP/Getty Images

It’s the oldest football club in France. It’s the club of Paul Pogba, Riyad Mahrez, Dimitri Payet and Steve Mandanda. But to say recent history has not been kind to Le Havre would be an understatement. The club that won France’s first national championship in 1899, and followed it with another title the following season, have spent the intervening 123 years searching for a third top-tier title.

They have won six Ligue 2 titles but that shows how many seasons they have spent away from the top flight. Indeed, they were in the second tier for 15 years before they won promotion this year, securing the Ligue 2 title under Luka Elsner with a team largely consisting of veterans and untested youngsters.

Their success was built on a defence that conceded just 19 goals over the season. Quentin Cornette and Nabil Alioui were their joint-top scorers with a paltry six goals. Having achieved promotion with such an extreme approach, Elsner’s task this season was made even more difficult when he lost two of his top three scorers in the summer, with Cornette signing for Greek club Volos and midfielder Victor Lekhal leaving for Qatar.

(Source: The Guardian)