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It has been a case of everyone moves up a level in the sunshine island of Corsica as each of the top 3 French Leagues can boast a team from the Mediterranean Isle. AC Ajaccio surprised everyone by claiming a Ligue 1 spot for the coming season. GFCO Ajaccio, the Islands 3rd team were also promoted after amassing 102 points of their way to the Championnat National title.

A little less of a shock was the promotion of SC Bastia from the national to Ligue 2. Under the tutorship of Bosnian Faruk Hadzibegic (who is now in charge of Ligue 2 rivals Arles-Avignon) Les Bleus finished 14 points above 4th placed Strasbourg & 7 points above their nearest challengers SC Amiens.

Founded in 1905 Bastia play their football in the 10,460 capacity Stade Armand Cesari in the district of Furiani. Their only League title came in the 1967/68 season when they were crowned Champions of Ligue 2, the clubs main successes have come in Europe.

In 1978 they were runners up in the UEFA Cup losing 3-0 on aggregate to PSV Eindhoven after disposing of Grasshoppers Zurich, Carl Zeiss Jena (9-6 over 2 legs), Torino, Newcastle & Sporting Lisbon. 1997 saw Bastia crowned Intertoto Cup Champions after beating Swedish side Halmstad 2-1 in the final. In 1981 a 2-1 win over St Etienne gave Bastia their only French Cup triumph.

Former notable players who have pulled on the Blue of Bastia include Roger Milla, Michael Essien & Johnny Rep whilst Frederic Antonetti was in charge of the team at the turn of the century.

One of French Football’s biggest disasters occurred at the stadium when Bastia entertained Marseille in the 1992 French Cup Semi Final, the club decided to erect temporary terracing to hold the expected 18,000 crowd but sadly some of the temporary terrace collapsed killing 18 people and injuring more than 2,300.

The man in charge of overseeing the upcoming campaign is former Le Havre & Sochaux boss Frederic Hantz who since his arrival hasn’t made wholesale changes to last season’s Championship winning squad. At the time of writing the strike force will be unchanged from last season with David Suarez (like Hantz a citizen of Rodez) leading the line alongside Mathieu Robail. The duo hit 32 goals between them last season and if they can reproduce similar numbers this season a strong challenge cannot be ruled out.

Pulling the strings from midfield will be Bastia’s not so secret weapon, Jerome Rothen who has been persuaded to join the club amid interest from several other interested parties. Alongside Rothen Bastia have secured the services of Ludovic Genest from Ligue 2 rivals Laval, Genest a midfielder with an impressive array of tricks has already impressed during pre season and scored the goal that earnt Les Bleus a 1-1 draw with Ligue 1 side Brest. French under 20 International Johan Martial returns from a loan spell at Brest & Midfielder Sony Mustivar will be looking at breaking into the first team after returning from a season long loan at Orleans. Hantz has strengthened his squad by bringing in Dimitri Sarasar & Florent Andre from Montpellier & Nicolas Di Fraya from recently relegated Nimes.

2011-2012 prediction– Comfortable Mid Table finish.