Valenciennes (Municipality, Nord, France)

Valensijn

Last modified: 2006-12-23 by ivan sache
Keywords: nord | valenciennes | valensijn | lion (yellow) | lion (black) | lion (red) | hainaut |
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• Flag of Valenciennes
• Valenciennes Football Club

See also:

• France
• Nord (Department, France)

Flag of Valenciennes

The town hall of Valenciennes flies two flags:

• the municipal flag of Valenciennes is red with a golden lion, from the coat of arms of the town: the lion should have blue tongue and claws, but I could not see them on the flag.
• the banner of arms of the Belgian province of Hainaut (instead of French Hainaut, which has a different coat of arms).

Olivier Touzeau, 2 May 2000

Valenciennes Football Club

Valenciennes supporters' flag - Image by Ivan Sache, 3 May 2006

The football club of Valenciennes is a legendary French football club and one of the three main clubs of the north of France, along with RCFC Lens and Lille OSC.
The club was founded in 1913 as Union Sportive Valenciennes Anzin (USVA), Valenciennes and Anzin being two neighbouring towns. The club became professional in 1933 and joined the First League in 1935, starting with a defeat 12-1 against the outgoing champion FC Sochaux. The club could not stay in the First League. In 1951, USVA, still playing in the Second League, played the final of the French Cup in Colombes and lost against RC Strasbourg (3-0). In 1956, the club joined back the First League after having defeated its local rival Lille. USVA went down to the Second League in 1961 but came back to the First League the next season. The club ranked 3rd in 1964-1965 and 1965-1966. That season, Serge Masnaghetti scored three times in seven minutes, which has remained the most rapid hat-trick in the French football. In the 1970s, USVA was often involved in the "lift", that is often moved between the First and Second League. In 1981, the club was elected for the second time best French club for the training of young players by the magazine France-Football. It was the model of a club with modest ambitions and a strong local identity.

In June 1982, USVA was defeated by Mulhouse in play-down (5-2; 1-1) and the club started its descent to hell. The name of the club was changed to USVAA (the second A for Arrondissement) in 1987 and joined back the First League in 1992. This was the year of the infamous "VA-OM affair", a fixed match involving the controversial president of Olympique de Marseille Bernard Tapie. The club joined back the Second League next year and was relegated to the National Championship (Third League) in 1994. In 1995, the club went into liquidation and was relegated to the Amateur France Championship (CFA).

In 1996, the club was restructured and took his current name of VAFC. In 1998, the club won the CFA and joined the National Championship. After another year in CFA, VAFC won the National Championship in 2005. With a small budget and a team of young players trained by Antoine Kombouaré, VAFC unexpectedly won the Second League in 2006 and will play [this is sure] in the First League next year.

Source: Club official website

The traditional colours of VAFC are red and white. During the matches of the 2005-2006 season, supporters consistently waved flags vertically divided red-white.

Ivan Sache, 3 May 2006