Chamois Niortais F.C.

Early years

After the First World War, local chamois leather factory owner, Theophile Boinot, established the first sports club in Niort, Amicale Club Niortais. Soon after, the football section of the club was founded and named Étoile Sportive Niortaise. In 1923, many players were conscripted into the French army. In 1925, a number of the players returned to the town and Boinot's son, Charles, set up the first proper association football team in the town, which he named Chamois Niortais Football Club. For the first season, the presidency of the club was entrusted to Jean Gavaggio, a chemical engineer at the Boinot factory. Georges Poussard, also a worker in the factory, was appointed as the club's first secretary. The original team played in a fully white strip, and competed in the regional championship of the Ligue de Charentes. In 1929, the Swiss footballer Franchina was named as the club's first manager and the first committee was elected. Throughout the 1930s the club continued to grow in size, enlisting more players and members, despite the team performing relatively poorly in the league. For the 1932–33 season, Chamois Niortais joined the DH Centre-Ouest, the highest level of regional football in France, and finished eighth in their first season. The side achieved consecutive sixth- and seventh-place finishes in the next two seasons, before being relegated to the Promotion d'Honneur in 1936. The team played in the division for three seasons, until they gained…