Violette AC

Violette Athletic Club is a professional football club based in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

History

Violette is one of the most successful clubs in the country. In 1939, Violette A.C. captured the double after winning the league and the Coupe d'Haïti.[citation needed] They were awarded the 1984 CONCACAF Champions' Cup following the disqualification of two teams who had been planned to play a two-legged series to determine the North American participant in the final. The club was relegated to second division after the 2016 Ligue Haïtienne season.

The club has produced many Haitian international footballers, including Alexandre Boucicaut and Sebastien Vorbe.[citation needed] Their home stadium, Stade Sylvio Cator, was damaged during the 2010 earthquake and later reopened for use.

Violette won the 2021 Série d'Ouverture and qualified for the 2022 Caribbean Club Championship, which they won while playing all of their home matches at Estadio Cibao FC in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic, due to the ongoing political crisis. They qualified for the 2023 CONCACAF Champions League and scheduled several friendlies to prepare for the competition, as the Ligue Haïtienne had suspended operations for the 2022 season. Violette earned an upset 3–0 victory over Austin FC, a Major League Soccer club from the United States, in the Round of 16's first leg in the Dominican Republic. Due to issues obtaining enough travel visas for the second leg in the United States, Violette temporarily signed several players from the lower leagues of U.S. soccer to serve as bench players. The team arrived in the United States with 14 total players—avoiding a forfeit—and lost 2–0 to retain their 3–2 aggregate lead and advance to the quarterfinals.

Honours

• Ligue Haïtienne: 7

1939, 1957, 1968, 1983, 1994–95, 1999, 2020–21 O

• Coupe d'Haïti: 2

1939, 1951

• CONCACAF Champions' Cup: 1

1984

• CFU Club Championship: 1

2022

International competitions

• CONCACAF Champions League: 7 appearances

1969 – first round – Lost against Bermuda Somerset Trojans 6–1 on aggregate (stage 1 of 3) 1975 – first round (Caribbean) – Withdrew against Suriname SV Transvaal (stage ? of ?) 1977 – third round (Caribbean) – Lost against Suriname SV Robinhood 1–0 on aggregate (stage 3 of 5) 1984 – CONCACAF Champion 1985 – Unknown results 1994 – first round (Caribbean) – Lost against Netherlands Antilles CRKSV Jong Colombia 2–1 on aggregate (stage 2 of 7) 2023 – quarterfinals - Lost against Mexico Club León 6-2 on aggregate

• CFU Club Championship: 4 appearances

2000 – first round - Group B - 2nd place - 6 pts (stage 1 of 2) 2002 – second round - Group A - 2nd place - 4 pts (stage 2 of 2) 2009 – semifinal Lost against Puerto Rico Puerto Rico Islanders 2–0 - Lost Third Place Round against Trinidad and Tobago San Juan Jabloteh 1–2 2022 – Caribbean Champions

Crests

• The original Violette AC crest (1918–??)
• The former Violette AC crest (???–2014). A slight modification of the original crest from light blue to blue and the words Honneur and Fair-Play added.
• The current Violette AC crest (2014–present)

Current squad

As of March 2023

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

List of coaches

• Haiti Antoine Tassy
• Haiti Philippe Vorbe
• Haiti Kênelt Thomas
• Haiti Georges Emmanuel
• Haiti Ralph Kernisan