Formed: 1905
Nicknames: Les Bleu et Blanc (The White and Blue), Les Ajaïstes (refers to the club's abbreviated name, AJA)

UEFA club competition honours (runners-up in brackets)
• UEFA Intertoto Cup: 1997, (2000), 2006

Domestic honours (most recent triumph in brackets)
• French title: 1 (1996)
• French Cup : 4 (2005)

History
• The Association de la Jeunesse Auxerroise (Auxerre Youth Association) was founded on 29 December 1905 by Abbot Ernest-Théodore Valentin Deschamps; the club's stadium opened on 13 October 1918 near the banks of the Yonne and took the name of ‘l'Abbé Deschamps in 1950, the year after the club founder's death.

• Auxerre's first decades were spent as an amateur side, initially in the local Roman Catholic league and later in the lower tiers of the French system, but their fortunes took a radical upward turn with the appointment of Guy Roux as coach in 1961; he had represented Auxerre as a midfielder from 1952.

• Barring a short break for health reasons in 2000/01, Roux remained in charge for the next 44 years, eventually signing off in June 2005 having revolutionised the club; their Ligue 1 debut came in July 1980, having been beaten in the previous season's French Cup final.

• Roux's team reached their peak with a league and cup double in 1995/96, a side featuring the likes of Laurent Blanc, Lionel Charbonnier and Sabri Lamouchi reaching the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals the following season; they also got to the UEFA Cup semi-finals in 1992/93 and the quarter-finals in 2004/05, though the coach's abmbitions famously never rose above "securing our top-flight spot".

• Roux's eventual departure left his successors with a hard act to follow; Jacques Santini lasted just one season before Jean Fernandez took command in 2006, the Algerian-born coach sterring his team to a third-placed finish in 2009/10.

Club records
Most league appearances: Fabien Cool (350)
Most league goals: Andrzej Szarmach (94)
Record victory: Auxerre 8-0 FC Sète (Ligue 2, 22 January 1977)
Record defeat: RC Lens 7-0 Auxerre (Ligue 1, 20 August 2005)

Last updated 31 December 2010