USM Gagny

USM Gagny
Full nameUnion sportive municipale de Gagny
Founded1948 (1948)
Dissolved1996 (1996)

Union sportive municipale de Gagny, often just called USM Gagny, was a multisports club from Gagny, France, most famous for its handball team that won the French Championship 5 times in the 1980's on the men's side and 4 times in the 1980's and 90's on the women's side. The team was dissolved in 1996 due to dept.[1]

History

The club was founded in 1948, led by the then vice-president of the French Handball Federation, M. Raymond Valliet.[2]

In 1971 the men's team was promoted to the top division, and by the end of the 1970's it had established itself as one of the best teams in France.[3] In the 1979-80 season they finished second, and in 1981 and 1982 they won the French Championship.[1] In the 1987 season the men's team. won the Coupe de France.[4] Meanwhile the women's team won the French Championship four times and the French Cup three times in the 80's and early 90's.[5][6]

In 1984 they became the first French handball team to have a shirt sponsor.[7]

During the 1990's French handball became more and more professional, which gave USM Gagny economic problems, and they filed for bankruptcy in 1996.[8][9]

Accomplishments

Men's handball

  • French league:
    • Winner (5): 1981, 1982, 1985, 1986, 1987
    • Runners-up (2): 1980, 1984
    • Third place (3): 1988, 1989, 1990
  • Coupe de France:
    • Winner (1): 1987
    • Runners-up (2): 1985, 1990

Women's Handball

  • French league:
    • Winner (4): 1985, 1987, 1991, 1992
    • Runners-up (2): 1986, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994
  • Coupe de France:
    • Winner (3): 1985, 1992, 1993
    • Runners-up (2): 1990, 1994

Famous former players

References

  1. ^ a b "Mais où est passé Gagny?" (in French). Le Parisien. 23 June 2011. Retrieved 2022-08-19.
  2. ^ "L'USM Gagny lorgne vers les sommers" (in French). L'equipe. Retrieved 6 March 2026 – via Gallica.bnf.fr.
  3. ^ "Quand Gagny était l'usine à champions du hand" (in French). le Parisien. 1 January 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
  4. ^ List of winners until 2016 Archived 2017-06-22 at the Wayback Machine in the French Handball Federation's website
  5. ^ List of champions Archived 2016-05-26 at the Wayback Machine in handseven.fr
  6. ^ List of Cup champions in the French Handball Federation's website
  7. ^ "Sponsors". Hand-ball: bulletin fédéral (in French). French Handball Federation. October 1984. Retrieved 2022-08-19.
  8. ^ "Au bord de la faillite, Gagny attend qu'on lui tende la main" (in French). L'Humanité. 6 March 2026. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
  9. ^ "Reportage A Gagny, le hand se meurt à petit feuL'ex-club phare français est menacé de disparaître à la fin de la saison" (in French). Libération. 12 December 1995. Retrieved 6 March 2026.