Bastia

Genesis of the team and beginning of professional football

Sporting Club de Bastia was founded in 1905 by a Swiss named Hans Ruesch. He taught German in high school in Bastia. The first president of Bastia was Emile Brandizi. The Corsican club celebrated its debut on the Place d'Armes of Bastia, in the light of a single gas burner.

The club began its professional journey in 1965, in Division 2. After three successful seasons, it was crowned Champion of France's Second Division in 1968, joining the elite. The first season was difficult, but the club still maintained its place. Thus began a decade widely considered the finest in club history. In 1972, the club reached, for the first time, the final of the Coupe de France against Olympique de Marseille (losing 2–1), getting it its first qualification in the European Cup Winners' Cup, which led to elimination against the excellent team of Atlético Madrid.

UEFA Cup finalist in 1978 and Cup victory in France in 1981

In 1977, Bastia finished third in the Division 1 with the best offence in the league, and qualified for the UEFA Cup.

This is the beginning of the team built around playmaker Claude Papi, which was composed of many talented players such as Johnny Rep of the Netherlands; Jean-François Larios, a midfielder and French international; and Charles Orlanducci, the solid libero nicknamed the "Lion of Vescovato".

The team eliminated successively Sporting Lisbon, Newcastle United, Torino, Carl Zeiss Jena and Grasshoppers Zurich before a final defeat to PSV Eindhoven (0–0, 0–3). Of all the victories, the 3–2 win in Turin made the most lasting impression, the "Toro" being undefeated for two seasons on their home pitch. It is also during this match that Bastia marks the best goal of that time, a volley from 22 meters by Jean-François Larios.

The final would, however, end with misfortune. First, with a first leg played at Furiani on an unplayable pitch, heavy rain having fallen on Corsica on 26 April 1978. Unfortunately, the Yugoslav referee postponed the meeting because of the proximity to World Cup in Argentina that was scheduled a few weeks later. Despite Bastia's dominance, the meeting ended with a goalless draw, 0–0.

The final return, 9 May, lasted only 24 minutes. This is the time it took PSV Eindhoven to score the first goal, followed by two more late in the game (3–0). The townsfolk will attribute the defeat of Bastia to fatigue accumulated in the league (3 games in 6 days in the days before the final return) and also the rain-soaked pitch in the first leg at Furiani.

Three years after that final, the Bastia won its first trophy with the Coupe de France 1980–81. This was a prestigious victory for the Corsican club facing St. Etienne of Michel Platini. The final was played at Parc des Princes in front of more than 46,000 spectators, including the newly elected President of the Republic, François Mitterrand.

Descent in Division 2, Furiani disaster, and takeover by the FLNC-Canal Historique

After 18 years in the elite, the club went down to the second division at the end of the 1985–86 season, and stayed for eight years.

SC Bastia, alongside rival club AC Ajaccio, played a central role in the early period of the "Years of Lead", a period of turbulent infighting in the 1990s during the Corsican conflict. AC Ajaccio had been taken over by members of the FLNC-Canal Habituel, and the rival FLNC-Canal Historique, the largest guerrilla group present in Corsica known for its militaristic platform, was looking to expand their influence and income in a similar fashion. Historiques had more influence than Habituels in Bastia and had also hoped to gain further grassroots support via the football team. Thus, they approached Jean-François Filippi, president of SC Bastia at the time, who hired Historiques as bodyguards and even placed Jean-Martin Verdi, a Historique militant and high-ranking member of the Historique's A Cuncolta Naziunalista party, in the position of treasurer and later general secretary.

This era is marked by the catastrophe of Furiani: In the 1991–92 season, the club reached the semi-finals of the Coupe de France. The match was played at Stade Armand Cesari, or "Furiani Stadium", against Olympique de Marseille which dominated the Championship of France. The enthusiasm was such that was decided to hastily construct a temporary stand of 10,000 seats. The upper part of the platform collapsed a few minutes before kick-off killing 18 and injuring 2,300. Filippi received a large amount of public scrutiny for the incident, and was largely held responsible for the disaster. However, Filippi was given defense and legal protection by the FLNC-Canal Historique. Robert Sozzi, a Historique, refused to protect Filippi, and this is cited as a possible reason for his assassination by other Historiques in 1993. Historiques are also implicated in the disappearance of Pierre Bianconi, known for his support for Alain Orsoni, leader of the FLNC-Canal Habituel, which was engaged in a harsh internal war with the Historiques at the time. Filippi was himself assassinated by Habituels in 1994.

Filippi was replaced as president of SC Bastia by François Nicolai, a member of the FLNC-Canal Historique, who worked alongside his brother Jean Nicolai and Jean-Martin Verdi, both of whom were also FLNC members. The Nicolai brothers were arrested and interrogated in 2005 by French police, where they claimed to be subject to torture at the hands of French authorities. The Nicolai brothers during their presidency were, according to police and their own testimonies, working under Charles Pieri, the leader of the FLNC-Canal Historique and SC Bastia's "de facto" president. He accompanied SC Bastia's executive on away games and even personally oversaw the transfer of Michael Essien to Lyon in 2003.