Aix-en-Provence Argonautes
Aix-en-Provence Argonautes 
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| City: | Aix-en-Provence | ||
| Founded: | 1986 | ||
| Team colors: | Red and gold | ||
| Head coach: | Kenneth Suhl | ||
| League (2016): | Division 1 | ||
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| Greatest successes | |||
| French master | 1990–1992, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002 | ||
| Stadion | |||
| Surname: |
Complexe sportif du Val de l'Arc |
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| Address: | Chemin des Infirmeries
13100 Aix-en-Provence |
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| Contact | |||
| Internet: | Argonautes-Aix.com | ||
| Data status | |||
| March 16, 2015 | |||
The Aix-en-Provence Argonautes (French: Argonautes d'Aix-en-Provence ) are an American football team from the southern French city of Aix-en-Provence , which plays in the French premier league. The team was founded in 1986 and currently plays in the top French league.
history
The club's beginnings go back to 1985, when American football was played in cooperation with the club of the University of Aix-en-Provence . The Argonautes were founded in 1986. In the same year they took part in the league operations of the second French division. In the following season, the Argonautes won the Casque d'Argent, the championship of the second division at the time, against the Le Mans Caïmans and were thus already in the first French division in the third year of their existence .
In the 1988 season, their first in the top division, the Argonautes immediately reached the play-offs, making them the first team outside the capital region to win the semi-finals for the French championship. There they clearly failed because of the Paris Castors . The following year, the Argonautes reached the Casque d'Or, the final of the French championship. Here they were again the first team outside the capital region to succeed. Opponents in the final were again the Castors, who won their third title in a row with 14:13. The following year, 1990, the Argonautes and the Castors faced each other again at the Casque d'Or. This time the game went 34: 6 to the Argonautes. This was equivalent to the first title for a team that did not come from the Île-de-France . In 1991 and 1992 Aix-en-Provence was able to defend the title and thus became a serial winner.
In the 1998 season, Aix won the fifth French championship, which had since been renamed Casque de Diamant, and thus became the record champion. Up to and including the 2004 season, the Argonautes were represented in the national finals every year. This meant 16 finals in a row, a record that is currently unbroken and, as things stand today, could not be set until 2027 at the earliest. Aix emerged as the winner eight times in the 16 finals. After the 2005 season ended in the semi-finals, the Argonautes won another runner-up in 2006. This means that Aix has reached the semifinals 19 times in a row. This record was also reached by Flash de La Courneuve in the 2015 season.
In the following years, the Argonautes could not build on the successes of the past. When the play-offs were reached, the semi-finals were always over. At the end of the 2012 season, Aix lost the relegation game against the Kangourous from Pessac 16-0 and sealed the relegation to the second division. Despite the group victory in the regular season, Aix missed participation in the relegation and thus the direct promotion in an extremely tight play-off game. A year later, in the 2014 season, the Argonautes won their second championship in the second division and thus their fourth Casque d'Or. A week earlier, they were promoted back to the House of Lords by beating the Pessac Kangourous.
Between 2015 and 2017, the Argonautes reached the play-offs in the French championship, but then failed in the semi-finals.
International competitions
As the reigning French champions, the Argonautes took part in the European Football League in 1991 and celebrated a 51-0 victory on a foreign pitch in their first game against the British team Ipswich Cardinals . In the quarter-finals, Aix then failed at the eventual Eurobowl winner Amsterdam Crusaders . A year later, the picture was almost identical. This time the opponents in the 50-0 opening win were the Århus Tigers from Denmark and the eventual winner, the Crusaders, the Argonautes only failed in the semi-finals after defeating Helsinki East City Giants in the quarter-finals . In the third year, the opening win against the Belgian team Leuven Lions with 106: 0 was particularly clear. But also the 1993 season brought a meeting with the Crusaders from Amsterdam and the associated departure.
In the 1996 season , the Argonautes marched into the Eurobowl X as the winners of their preliminary group . There they had to admit defeat to the Hamburg Blue Devils with 21:14 , but celebrated the biggest international success in the club's history with the European runner-up. Further appearances in the EFL followed by 2003, but all of them ended in the preliminary round. In the 2006 season, the Argonautes then competed in the second-rate EFAF Cup , where they were eliminated from the group bottom with two defeats in the preliminary round.
For the 2015 season, Aix competed in the IFAF Europe Champions League and narrowly failed to reach the semi-finals. In the 2016 season, the Argonautes took part in the Big6 European Football League . In this competition, however, they were clearly inferior to their opponents and could not score a single point.
successes
- French championship: 8 titles
- Casque d'Or: 1990, 1991, 1992
- Casque de Diamant: 1995, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002
- French Division 2 Championship: 2 titles
- Casque d'Argent: 1987
- Casque d'Or: 2014
- Eurobowl: 1 runner-up
- 1996
Web links
- Official homepage (French)