Niort

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 promotion back to the DH Centre-Ouest at the end of the 1938–39 campaign. In 1939, Joseph Boinot was appointed president of the club. The following year the club pulled off a major coup with the signing of Czechoslovakia international Ferdinand Faczinek, who played for the club for one season before transferring to FC Sète at the end of the 1940–41 campaign, after which the Second World War halted competitive football for two years in France. In 1943, the club were one of the founder members of the Championnat de France amateur (CFA), the highest level of amateur football in France.

After the Second World War

Chamois Niortais were relegated from the CFA to the DH Centre-Ouest in 1945. Led by Faczinek, who had returned to the club as player-manager in 1943, the side won the DH Centre-Ouest for three consecutive seasons. Faczinek left the club in 1948 and was replaced by former France international Maurice Banide. The team re-joined the CFA for the 1948–49 season and played in the division for the following five campaigns, achieving a second-place finish in 1951, when they finished behind Stade Quimpérois by five points. In 1953, the side finished bottom of the division and were relegated to the DH Centre-Ouest. Manager Nicolas Hibst was sacked and replaced by Georges Hatz, who had previously coached AJ Auxerre. The side remained in the DH Centre-Ouest until 1960 when, under the guidance of Nordine Ben Ali, they won the league title by a point ahead of Poitiers FC to return to the CFA.

The side struggled in their first season back in the third tier, achieving a tenth-placed finish. After being runners-up in the division for two consecutive seasons in 1961–62 and 1962–63, the team secured a number of mid-table league finishes under Kazimir Hnatow. After Hnatow left Chamois Niortais in 1966, the club's fortunes on the pitch began to diminish and they were eventually relegated at the end of the 1968–69 campaign after ending the season with just 12 points from 26 matches. Upon the restructuring of the league system, the team joined the newly formed Division 3 in 1970. They played there for the following eight years, but never finished higher than fourth in the division. In 1978, the club finished last and were again relegated to the fourth level, but were immediately promoted back to Division 3 after finishing as runners-up in 1979. However, they again finished bottom of the division and in 1980 returned to Division 4, where they played for the next four seasons. In April 1984, Patrick Parizon was appointed as manager and the following month, the side secured a third-placed finish to gain promotion back to Division 3. In 1984–85, the team lost only three matches in the entire campaign as they finished comfortably top of the division. A 2–1 victory over Montauban on 18 May 1985 confirmed their promotion to Division 2 for the first time in the history of Chamois Niortais.

Professional status

Thanks to the promotion, Chamois Niortais became a professional club for the 1985–86 season. The season began well for the side, as they achieved a 1–0 win against USL Dunkerque on 16 July 1985. They went on to accomplish a respectable fifth-placed finish in their first season with a total of 37 points. The next campaign saw unprecedented success for the team, as they racked up a 17-match unbeaten run on the way to the league championship. Their title triumph was confirmed with a 2–0 victory over US Orléans at the Stade René Gaillard on 23 May 1987.