The Sélestat Alsace Handball is a French handball club based in Sélestat in Alsace and founded in 1967 under the name Sport Club de Sélestat before taking its current name on September 1, 2008. The club has played 23 seasons in D1 since 1990 and is playing since 2023 in LNH Division 2.
History
The handball section of the Sport Club de Sélestat was created in 1967 by Germain Spatz and was enthusiastically received by young people in Sélestat. Subsequently, this enthusiasm allowed Selestadian handball players to climb all the levels to reach the top of departmental and regional competitions and finally reach in 1972 in the French National Championship 3 (4th national level at that time). The team remained at this level for 12 seasons, winning the title of champion of France of Nationale 3 in 1979. A season after the accession in 1984 in Nationale 2, the club went up in Nationale 1B in 1985. Finally, at the end of an exceptional 1989–1990 season, the club realized its dream by reaching division 1 and managing to stay there. The club entered the French 1st division championship during the 1990–1991 season.
In 1995, Sélestat Alsace Handball reached the Coupe de France final, losing to OM Vitrolles. The club has also won the Coupe d'Alsace six times. Despite maintaining one of the smaller budgets in top-tier French handball, the club operates a youth training academy that has produced players such as Thierry Omeyer, Mickaël Robin, Rock Feliho, and Sufyann Sayad.. Sélestat has also served as a development platform for international players looking to establish or revitalize their professional careers, including German international Volker Michel, Argentine Eric Gull, and Tunisian players Heykel Megannem and Issam Tej. Megannem and Tej were both named the French league's best center-half in 2005 and 2006, respectively, while playing for the club.
In 2008, the club took its independence by leaving the Sport Club de Sélestat to become the Sélestat Alsace Handball (SAHB). Then a major development for the club took place on June 6, 2011, with the creation of SASP Alsace Promo Handball, one of the shareholders and member of the supervisory board of which is Thierry Omeyer, in order to manage the professional sector of the club. Structured in this way, the SAHB aspires to offer Alsace, the East of France and all of its partners a media scene with a European dimension. Relegated to the division at the end of the 2008–2009 season, the club returned to the elite two years later. The club then evolves in the "soft underbelly" of the championship, far from both relegation and European places. The club thus finished 7th in 2012 and 8th in 2013, the third and fourth best results for the club in the league. The 2014 off season marked major changes in the club's sports management since, in contrast to the club's usual stability, eight starts and seven arrivals reshaped the club's workforce. Penultimate at the time of the international break, Jean-Luc Le Gall, club coach since 2008 and whose contract had been extended in the summer of 2014 until June 2016, was dimissed on February 2, 2015 and was replaced three days later by Christian Gaudin.
Crest, colours, supporters
Naming history
NamePeriodSport Club de Sélestat 1967–2008Sélestat Alsace Handball2008–present
Kits
HOME
AWAY
Team Current squad
Squad for the 2021–22 season
Sélestat Alsace HandballGoalkeepers 1 Clément Franck 12 Hugo Kriszt 16 Mehdi Harbaoui Left Wingers 27 Simon Jaeger 52 Tanguy Thomas Right Wingers 4 Oreste Vescovo 77 Steven George Line players 5 Téo Egermann 26 Pierre Weber 60 Virgile Pinchot
Central Backs 7 Thibaud Valentin 19 Hakon Ekren 23 Hugo Van Ee Left Backs 3 Igor Mandić 15 Grégoire Plat 22 Toke Schröder 33 Julien Da Silva Right Backs 11 Hugo Pimenta 14 Thomas Capella
Transfers Transfers for the 2026–27 season
Joining Miljan Ivanović (LB) from JS Cherbourg Romain Mathias (GK) from Istres Provence Handball
Leaving Léo Villain (GK) to US Dunkerque HB Steven George (RW) to Molsheim OC
Transfer History
Transfers for the 2025–26 seasonJoining Thibault Chevalier (CB) from Massy Essonne Handball
Leaving Marco Mengon (CB) to 1. VfL Potsdam
Former club members
Notable former players
Frédéric Beauregard (2009–2017) Rock Feliho (2000–2004) Francis Franck (2003–2007, 2009–2010) Yanis Lenne (2015–2017) Julien Meyer (2015–2016) Thierry Omeyer (1994–2000) Mickaël Robin (2001–2008) Marc Wiltberger (1999–2001) El Hadi Biloum (2006–2009) Yacinn Bouakaz (2003–2004) Sassi Boultif (2001–2003) Abdelkader Rahim (2016–2017) Eric Gull (2001–2003) Thomas Cauwenberghs (2017–2020) Simon Ooms (2018–2019) Duško Čelica (2014) Igor Mandić (2021–) Ivan Vida (2022–) Volker Michel (2003–2004) Snorri Guðjónsson (2014–2015) Stevan Vujović (2013–2015) Radu Ghiță (2014–2015) Igor Chumak (2001–2003) Richard Kappelin (2014–2015) Hatem Haraket (2006–2008) Mehdi Harbaoui (2020–) Heykel Megannem (2002–2005) Issam Tej (2003–2006)
Former coaches Seasons Coach Country 1967–1977 Germain Spatz 1977–1978 Ljubomir Lazić 1977–1978 Georges Grave 1978–1982 Gérard Grave 1982–1983 René Muller 1983–1992 Guy Petitgirard 1992–1993 Nicolas Gross 1993–1994 Philippe Carrara 1994–1996 Konrad Affolter 1996–2000 Radu Voina 2000–2001 Alain Quintallet 2001–2008 François Berthier 2008–2015 Jean-Luc Le Gall 2015–2017 Christian Gaudin 2017– Christophe Viennet
References
External links