Football Season Guide

Having spent most of the XXII century in the lower tiers of the French football, Annecy made a sensation in the past two campaigns, achieving back-to-back promotions and returning to the Ligue 2 after an almost 30-year absence. Last season, it was immediately clear that Annecy would have been fighting for promotion as they even took the top of the table for a few weeks between late October and early November. They would never make the first standing again but they never lost touch from the promotion spots and a final push of 8 wins out of the last 10 brought them a well-deserving second place. Coach Laurent Guyot, the architect of their triumph in the Championnat National, especially thanks to a perfect home run (W12 D4 L1), has had Ligue 1 experiences with US Boulogne and in the Belgium First Division with Cercle Bruges but last managed a Ligue 2 side, Sedan, in 2013. Guyot led a team where seasoned players held the key posts but were surrounded by promising youngsters. Their summer has been a rather quiet one for them in terms of the market. In fact, they only lost 2 major protagonists of the past campaign, battered midfielder Pinto-Borges, who had to retire, and, more disappointingly, Kyeremeh, who returned to his parent club. The 21-year-old winger had certainly left his signature on Annecy promotion with his 8 goals and 10 assists. On the other hand, they made their major signing in experienced Pajot, coming from Metz, who will become the leader in the middle of the park. Beside him, they mostly built depth in the attack but players like Farade and Shamal are almost non-entities for the Ligue 2. If nothing else, they managed to retain offensive players like Spano, Bosetti and Testud, who all contributed to make of Annecy the best attack in the Championnat National.