ESBF Besancon (W)
Wikipedia - ESBF Besançon
ESBF Besançon is a French women's handball club based in Besançon. They play in the French Women's First League.
History
Formation
The club was founded as Entente sportive bisontine in 1970 after HBC Besançon had dispanded. In the beginning the team had women's and men's teams.
In 1988 the team won their first French Championship.
Separating the Women's team and domestic dominance
In 1992 the club president Jacques Mariot decided to split the men's and women's team.
The club was dominating in French handball between 1995 and 2005 together with Metz Handball. In this period they on 3 national championships, and finished 2nd in the other 7 seasons. They also won the Coupe de France four times and the Coupe de la Ligue twice, as well as the EHF Cup Winners' Cup in 2003. The 2003 French team that won the World Championship had several players from ESBF Besançon, including Valérie Nicolas, Sophie Herbrecht, Raphaëlle Tervel, Véronique Pecqueux-Rolland, Myriame Said Mohamed and Sandrine Delerce.
Economic difficulties
After 2003 the club began to have economic difficulties, and their star players began to leave. In 2005 they were relegated administratively, and got a recruitment ban. In the 2007-08 season, the team was promoted again, but they were quickly relegated.
In the 2014-15 season, the club was promoted to the First League, and finished 6th the following season. In 2017 they managed to finish 4th despite injuries to key players Amanda Kolczynski and Ana Manaut.