Coupe Gambardella

The Gambardella cup is a French football tournament held between the under-18s of the French football clubs, organised by the French Football Federation (FFF).

The cup is regarded as an opportunity for young hopefuls to showcase their skills in a national competition. A victory in the finals of the cup is as much sought after by players trying to start their career, as by clubs wishing to demonstrate their ability to train young talents.

History

The tournament is the modern day version of the Coupe nationale des juniors, which ran up until 1954. The competition was then renamed, in 1955, to honour Emmanuel Gambardella, president of the French Football Federation from 1949 to 1953, who died August 30 1953.

Format

The Coupe Gambardella begins in December, of the previous year of the final, at the regional level. Home advantage is given out randomly, until the semi-final stage when games are played at neutral venues. Games which are drawn after ninety minutes, go to a penalty shootout as opposed to extra time and then a shootout. The final is always played on the same day as the Coupe de France and have tradationally taken place at the Stade de France.

Previous winners

Year	Winner	Score	Runner-up
1955	AS Cannes	3–0	Lille OSC
1956	AS Troyes	2–1	Stade de Reims
1957	RC Lens	3–0	AS Troyes
1958	RC Lens (2)	2–1	AS Saint-Étienne
1959	Racing Club de Paris	1–0	SM Caen
1960	Lille OSC	1–0	US Quevilly
1961	Nîmes Olympique	2–0	CO Joinville
1962	AS Monaco	2–1	FC Metz
1963	AS Saint-Étienne	3–0	CASG Paris
1964	Stade de Reims	4–3	AS Saint-Étienne
1965	RC Strasbourg	3–2	AS Aixoise
1966	Nîmes Olympique (2)	3–2	Sporting Toulon Var
1967	US Quevilly	2–1	Stade Français football
1968	FC Martigues	2–2	Stade de Reims
1969	Nîmes Olympique (3)	3–0	ES Viry
1970	AS Saint-Étienne (2)	3–3	Olympique Lyonnais
1971	Olympique Lyonnais	2–1	AS Saint-Étienne
1972	AS Monaco (2)	2–1	US Toulouse
1973	Stade Rennais	1–1	AS Brest
1974	FC Nantes	4–1	AS Nancy
1975	FC Nantes (2)	1–1	FC Sochaux
1976	Girondins de Bordeaux	3–0	ES Viry
1977	Nîmes Olympique (4)	3–1	Stade de Reims
1978	INF Vichy	3–1	Paris Saint-Germain FC
1979	OM	2–0	RC Lens
1980	INF Vichy (2)	1–0	FC Metz
1981	FC Metz	1–0	OGC Nice
1982	AJ Auxerre	6–3	AS Nancy
1983	FC Sochaux	1–0	RC Lens
1984	Stade Lavallois	0–0	Montpellier La Paillade SC
1985	AJ Auxerre (2)	3–0	Montpellier La Paillade SC
1986	AJ Auxerre (3)	0–0	FC Nantes
1987	Racing Club de Paris (2)	2–1	Grenoble Foot 38
1988	INF Clairefontaine	1–0	AS Beauvais Oise
1989	Le Havre AC	0–0	Paris Saint-Germain FC
1990	Stade Brestois 29	3–1	Grenoble Foot 38
1991	Paris Saint-Germain FC	1–1	AJ Auxerre
1992	RC Lens (3)	1–0	Olympique Lyonnais
1993	AJ Auxerre (4)	1–0	RC Lens
1994	Olympique Lyonnais (2)	5–0	SM Caen
1995	AS Cannes (2)	2–0	RC Lens
1996	Montpellier HSC	1–0	FC Nantes
1997	Olympique Lyonnais (3)	1–1	Montpellier HSC
1998	AS Saint-Étienne (3)	1–1	Paris Saint-Germain FC
1999	AJ Auxerre (5)	0–0	AS Saint-Étienne
2000	AJ Auxerre (6)	1–0	Lille OSC
2001	FC Metz (2)	2–0	SM Caen
2002	FC Nantes (3)	1–0	OGC Nice
2003	Stade Rennais (2)	4–1	RC Strasbourg
2004	Le Mans UC	2–0	Nîmes Olympique
2005	Toulouse FC	6–2	Olympique Lyonnais
2006	RC Strasbourg (2)	3–1	Olympique Lyonnais
2007	FC Sochaux (2)	2–2 5–4 pen	AJ Auxerre
2008	Stade Rennais (3)	3–0	Girondins de Bordeaux

Notes

Number of titles

	Club	# Wins	Runners-up
1	AJ Auxerre	6	2
2	Nîmes Olympique	4	1
3	RC Lens	3	4
	AS Saint-Étienne	3	4
	Olympique Lyonnais	3	4
	FC Nantes	3	2
	Stade Rennais	3	–
4	FC Metz	2	2
	RC Strasbourg	2	1
	FC Sochaux	2	1
	AS Cannes	2	–
	RC Paris	2	–
	AS Monaco	2	–
	INF Vichy	2	–
5	Stade de Reims	1	3
	Paris SG	1	3
	Lille OSC	1	2
	AS Troyes	1	1
	US Quevilly	1	1
	Girondins de Bordeaux	1	1
	Montpellier HSC	1	1
	FC Martigues	1	–
	FC Martigues	1	–
	Olympique de Marseille	1	–
	Stade Lavallois	1	–
	INF Clairefontaine	1	–
	Le Havre AC	1	–
	Stade Brestois	1	–
	Le Mans UC	1	–
	Toulouse FC	1	–

References