Football_club_Auch_Gers
FC Auch Gers
Rugby team
Football Club Auch Gers is a French rugby union club based in Auch in Midi-Pyrénées most recently playing in the promotion-eligible pool of Fédérale 1. In recent years, they have mainly bounced between the first-level Top 14 and Pro D2. In a five-year stretch between 2003 and 2004 and 2007–08, they were either promoted or relegated four times—promoted to the then-Top 16 as champions of Pro D2 in 2004, relegated in 2005, promoted as Pro D2 champions again in 2007, and relegated as bottom finisher in 2008. Founded in 1891, the club plays at Stade Jacques Fouroux (capacity 7,000); its players wear red and white.
Auch was founded in 1897. They were runners-up in the 2001 League Cup competition, losing to Montferrand (Clermont) in the final. In the 2000s they were playing in the second division on French rugby, and in the 2002–03 season they made the semi-finals toward promotion but were defeated by Montpellier. However the following season they were promoted to the top league, defeating Bayonne in the Pro D2 final.
However they were relegated back down to Pro D2 for the 2005–06 season. Nonetheless, they were also winners of the European Shield, reprechage tournament for teams knocked out in the first round of the European Challenge Cup that season. They defeated English club Worcester in the final.
At the end of the 2013–2014 season, the club was relegated to the amateur Fédérale 1. At the close of 2016–2017, bankruptcy was declared. The professional club was dissolved after financial rescue efforts failed. The lower level teams and school will remain, with an eye toward eventual reconstitution of the flagship pro team. The B team won the 2017 Nationale B championship.
