About

Athlétic Club Arlésien (French pronunciation: ; commonly referred to as Arlésien or simply Arles) is a French association football club originally based in Arles. The club was founded in 1912 as a result of a merger and was formerly known as Athlétic Club Arles, but in 2010, moved to the nearby commune of Avignon and adopted the name of AC Arles-Avignon. Athlétic Club Arlésien last played at a professional capacity in the Championnat de France Amateur, the fourth division in French football; it previously gained four promotions in five seasons to reach Ligue 1 in 2010. They were later relegated after one season. When the club was named Arles-Avignon, they played their home matches at the Parc des Sports in nearby Avignon. The team was managed by former football player Franck Dumas and captained by defender Sébastien Cantini, who joined the club in 2012 after a five-year stint in Italy. In France, it was commonplace to describe Arles-Avignon as an overachieving club primarily due to succeeding despite limited resources. Arles-Avignon's highest honour was winning its group in the Championnat de France amateur, the fourth level of French football, in 2007. Regionally, the club has won the Division Honneur Sud-Est Ouest three times, and its reserve team are the current defending champions of the Méditerranée Division Honneur Régionale. Arles-Avignon was known locally as Les Lions (The Lions) and incorporated the nickname into a multitude of club's fixtures, most notably its crest. After merging with Avignon, the club unveiled its new crest on 4 June 2009. The crest combined both elements of each club's predecessors, and inscribed on the crest is Pays d'Arles Grand Avignon, which pays tribute to the inhabitants of the city of Arles and Grand Avignon, the metropolitan area that encompasses the commune of Avignon. In 2010, the club changed its crest again to coincide with its promotion to Ligue 1.