page_title: AS Monaco FC
section_title: Relegation and takeover
hierarchical_section_title: AS Monaco FC / History / Relegation and takeover
caption_attribution_description: English: Dmitry Rybolovlev
context_page_description: Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club SA, commonly referred to as AS Monaco or Monaco, is a Monégasque professional football club that competes in Ligue 1, the top tier of French football. Founded in 1924, the team plays its home matches at the Stade Louis II in Fontvieille.
  Though based in Monaco, the club plays in the French football league system. Monaco is one of the most successful clubs in French football, having won eight league titles and five Coupe de France trophies. The club has also competed in European football, and were runners-up in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1992 and the UEFA Champions League in 2004.
  The club's traditional colours are red and white, and the club is known as Les Rouges et Blancs. Monaco is a member of the European Club Association. In December 2011, two-thirds of the club was sold to an investment group led by Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev. With Rybolovlev's financial backing, the club quickly returned to Ligue 1 and won the 2016–17 Ligue 1, their first league title in 17 years.
context_section_description: With Francesco Guidolin hired to replace Deschamps, one of Pastor's first tasks was to hold on to the players who had turned the club into one of the best in Europe. However, he failed to convince them to stay and their replacements were unable to replicate previous successes. Guidolin lasted only one year, before being replaced by assistant coach Laurent Banide who, in turn, only lasted a year, before being replaced by Brazilian Ricardo Gomes. In 2008, after four years at the club featuring six coaches and only mid-table finishes, Pastor left the club amid severe criticism of his management skills.
  In 2008, Jérôme de Bontin, a leading shareholder of the club since 2003, took charge of the club, promising a complete shake-up. Under his reign as president, the club brought in players such as Park Chu-young and Freddy Adu, so they did not find much success on the pitch, going through a torrid season and only managing a mid-table finish. De Bontin resigned at the end of the season, replaced by banker Étienne Franzi and a new board of directors.
  In July 2009, Ricardo Gomes was replaced by former Cannes and Rennes coach Guy Lacombe, inheriting a youthful squad featuring numerous highly lauded youth team prospects, including Cédric Mongongu, Serge Gakpé, Vincent Muratori, Frédéric Nimani, Nicolas N'Koulou, Park Chu-young, Yohan Mollo and Yohann Thuram-Ulien. Lacombe led Monaco to eighth place in Ligue 1 in his first season in charge, but he was unable to replicate this performance in his second season and was sacked in January 2011, with Monaco in 17th place in Ligue 1. He was replaced by former coach Laurent Banide, who was unable to turn around the club's fortunes; Monaco finished the 2010–11 season in 18th, thus becoming relegated to Ligue 2.
  In December 2011, 66.67% of the club was sold to the Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev (via a trust under his daughter Ekaterina's name) while the club were bottom of Ligue 2. Banide was sacked due to this poor start to the 2011–12 season, and was replaced by Italian manager Marco Simone. Although he lifted the club to eighth by the end of the season, the club's board targeted promotion for the upcoming season and so fired him and appointed his compatriot Claudio Ranieri, whose attacking style of football saw the club score 64 goals in the 2012–13 season. With the club only losing four times, Monaco finished the season as champions, earning promotion back to Ligue 1. Using Rybolovlev's funds, Monaco were one of the biggest spenders in Europe in 2013, spending roughly £140 million, including a club-record £50 million for Radamel Falcao from Atlético Madrid and £40 million for James Rodríguez from FC Porto. Monaco finished in 2nd place in Ligue 1 in the 2013–14 season and Ranieri was replaced by Leonardo Jardim. The following season, Monaco cut expenses, selling Rodriguez to Real Madrid for €75m and loaning Falcao to Manchester United. Despite the high-profile departures, Monaco finished in 3rd place in Ligue 1 and made it to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, defeating Arsenal in the Round of 16 before exiting at the hands of Juventus. Top-scorer from the 2013–14 season Anthony Martial, who managed 12 goals in all competitions, departing for Manchester United in the summer for a fee of €60m, the highest fee paid for a teenager in football history. This, combined with the sales of Geoffrey Kondogbia, Layvin Kurzawa, Yannick Carrasco, Aymen Abdennour, Lucas Ocampos and other, saw the Monegasque club earn over €180m in the transfer window.
caption: Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev bought the club in 2011 and has made it one of the biggest spenders in the football world.
exif: {}