Saint-Raphaël Var Handball
Full name	Saint-Raphaël Var Handball
Founded	1963
Arena	Palais des Sports Jean-François Krakowski
Capacity	2,500
President	Pascal Bacchi
Head coach	Benjamin Braux
League	LNH Division 1
2021–22	LNH Division 1, 8th of 16
Club colours
Home Away
Website Official site

Saint-Raphaël Var Handball, is a team handball club from Saint-Raphaël, Var, France, that plays in the LNH Division 1. Saint-Raphaël Var handball, or SRVHB, is a French handball club based in Saint-Raphael in the Var region, founded in 1963. The first team has been playing in Division 1 since the 2007–2008 season and has been coached since 2019 by Rareș Fortuneanu assisted by Wissem Hmam, both former players of the club.

Even if the club has not won a title, apart from the French D2 Championship in 2007, it has accumulated places of honor including a French runner-up title in 2016, three League Cup finals, a Champions Trophy final in 2015 and an EHF European Cup (C3) final in 2018.

History

The original club was founded in 1959. It was after the disaster of the Malpasset dam in Frejus on 2 December 1959 that the leaders of the two cities merged the volleyball sections of the football clubs of the two cities, the Etoile Sportive Fréjussienne and the Stade Raphaélois to create the Association Sportive Fréjus Saint-Raphaël, commonly known as ASFSR. It was in 1963, at the initiative of René Cenni, that the handball section was born. Marcel Tafani was then appointed president of the section.

In 1971, the handball section created a women's team and found a home in a sports hall inaugurated on 7 November 1972 during a match against Draguignan: the Esterel sports hall. In 1974, the town of Fréjus created the AMSLF. The Raphael section, freshly promoted to National 3, was destabilized by the loss of many elements and went down to the regional championship the following year. Three years later, in 1977, the club lost its inter-municipal status. It lost its "F" and became A. S. S. R. for Association Sportive Saint-Raphaël. Over time, the club grew and evolved. It reached the National 3 level in 1983, National 2 in 1992 and National 1 in 1994.

In 1995, the section separated from the communal club and the club was created under the name Saint-Raphaël Var Handball. The club finally reached the elite in 2004 but was relegated the following season to D2. The Palais des sports Jean-François-Krakowski was inaugurated in 2005 during a gala match against Chambéry. The club returned to the LNH two years later, in 2007, after winning the D2 championship.

Since his return in elite, coach Christian Gaudin has made the club one of the best in France, finishing 4th in 2010 and 2011 and 3rd in 2012. The club also reached the League Cup final three times (2010, 2012 and 2014), losing three times to Montpellier AHB. On March 18, 2014, the club's president announced, a year in advance, the end of Christian Gaudin's contract. He was replaced by Joël da Silva, from Toulouse, who allowed the club to reach a new level by returning to 3rd place in 2015 and becoming vice-champion of France in 2016. Under his orders, the club also reached the final of the EHF European Cup in 2018. With his contract set to expire in June 2019, Joel Da Silva has been replaced by his assistant Rareș Fortuneanu as coach. The former Romanian international, who played for Saint-Raphaël, has been assistant coach for the last 4 seasons. His assistant, Wissem Hmam also knew the SRVHB as a player.

In October 2020, Jean-François Krakowski decided to retire after 33 years at the head of the club and was replaced by Emmanuel Murzereau.

Prize list

European record

Season	Competition	Round	Club	1st leg	2nd leg	Aggregate
2016–17	EHF Cup	R3	SKA Minsk	28–30	33–25	61–55
		Group Stage	Füchse Berlin	27–21	31–33	2nd place
			GOG	32–36	32–28
			RD Ribnica	26–22	31–24
		QF	MT Melsungen	30–26	31–23	61–49

Evolution of the SRVHB budget

Season	Budget	Evolution
2011/12	€2440000
2012/13	€2875600
2013/14	€3500000
2014/15	€3590000
2015/16	€3720000
2016/17	€4000000
2017/18	€4180000
2018/19	€4200000
2019/20	€4280000
2020/21	€3890000

Current squad

Club-related players

Top scorers in the history of SRVHB in the league

In 'bold' , players currently at the club.

N°	Players	Nbr. of matches	Nbr. Of goals	Nat.	Passed in France by
1	Raphaël Caucheteux	330	1826		Montpellier HB (25 matches - 30 goals)
2	Aurélien Abily	205	699		Angers Noyant and Aurillac HB CA (24 matches - 121 goals)
3	Adrien Dipanda	189	508		Montpellier HB (59 matches - 73 goals)
4	Jan Stehlik	169	494
5	Dan Rares Fortuneanu	157	449
6	Heykel Megannem	90	405		SC Sélestat, USAM Nîmes (47 matches - 279 goals) and Montpellier HB (26 matches - 72 goals)
7	Alexander Lynggaard	155	382
8	Alexandre Tomas	148	344		Montpellier HB (49 matches - 69 goals) and Tremblay-en-France (50 matches - 108 goals)
9	Miroslav Jurka	126	302
10	Alexandru Șimicu	91	291
11	Arnaud Chapuis	79	280
12	Daniel Sarmiento Melián	77	272
13	Johan Boisedu	70	263		Saint-Marcel Vernon Handball (22 matches - 140 goals) and US Ivry (13 matches - 25 goals)
14	Geoffroy Krantz	107	261		Montpellier HB (67 matches - 120 goals)
15	Morten Olsen	45	222

- ‘'updated on April 30, 2020 -

Other personalities linked to the club

In 'bold' , players currently at the club.

Organigram of SRVHB

Jean-François Krakowski (right) next to Jean-Claude Blanc (Deputy General Manager of PSG) during the LidlStarLigue championship match between PSG and Saint-Raphaël. In Coubertin, December 8, 2016.

Saint-Raphaël Var Handball (SAOS)

• Director's office
  • Chairman of the board : Emmanuel Murzereau
  • Board of directors : Emmanuel Murzereau, Jean-Pierre Gaspari, Frédéric Tibéri, Alain Bessou and Pascal Bacchi
  • General Manager : Émeric Paillasson
  • Supervisory Board (12 members), chaired by Jean-François Saulay
• Technical staff
  • Coach : Rareș Fortuneanu
  • Assistant coach : Wissem Hmam
  • Sports manager of the formation center : Romain Conte
  • Logistics manager : Pierre Luhern
• Medical staff
  • Club doctor : Dr Michel Ducasse
  • Physiotherapist : Thomas Montagnon and Mickaël Joulin
• Association (Saint-Raphaël Var Handball Association)
  • President : André Gongora
  • Communication manager : Valentine Dumont-Musso
• Permanents members of the structure
  • Administrative manager : Patricia Garcia-Gaspari
  • Communication / Press Manager : Kelly Texier
  • Marketing Manager / Club of Partners : Adrien Protais

Gallery

External links

• Official website