We've previously looked at Le Havre, another French second division team who have an excellent record with youth players, but over in Burgundy there's another club who have fallen on hard times and who arguably have a greater history.
That club is AJ Auxerre, who were founded in 1905 by an abbot and as previously mentioned, currently play in France's second tier, Ligue 2 BKT. Up until the the 1960's the club was predominantly an amateur club who had bounced around the lower tiers of French football. That was until the appointment of legendary manager, Guy Roux.
Sir Alex Ferguson's 26 year stint at Manchester United is widely regarded as the greatest football dynasty ever and rightly so. However, what Roux achieved with Auxerre deserves a special mention. He was first in charge of the club in 1961 whilst in his early 20's, but his reign was ended prematurely when he was drafted to finish his national service.
The Burgundy club would reappoint Roux though in 1964 and he would be in charge for the next 37 years. By 1980, the Diplomats had made a miraculous rise through the leagues to the top flight but weren't done yet. Under the leadership of Roux the club would win two Coupe de France's, one of which was part of a domestic double when they reached the summit of Ligue 1 in 1996.
Guy would take a brief break in 2000 to have heart surgery but by 2002 he was back at the helm becoming the first manager to have three stints at the club. He would clinch another two Coupe de France trophies in 2003 and 2005, retiring after the latter. In total Roux was in charge of Auxerre for 44 years and was in charge for a European record, 890 top flight matches.
Since Guy departed though, the club hasn't fared as well. In 2012 they were relegated to the second tier and have failed to make a return since. Despite that, the key to a possible promotion could lie in the club's state of the art youth academy. It was set up by Roux in 1980, who chose the academy over signing the French international striker Olivier Rouyer.
It would of course prove to be a shrewd move on Guy's part, with the academy starting to consistently produce players for the first team. The list of Auxerre graduates includes
Eric Cantona,
Djibril Cisse,
Philippe Mexes,
Bacary Sagna,
Sebastien Haller,
Willy Boly,
Christopher Jullien,
Paul-Georges Ntep,
Lamine Fomba,
Yaya Sanogo, Evan N'Dicka, Jean Marcelin and Soualiho Meite.
On top of that, the Diplomats have also played a key role in the careers of other players like Laurent Blanc, Teemu Tainio and Sabri Lamouchi.
So who are some of the players that might lead Auxerre back to glory in the future then? Well once again we've picked three players who we think have the potential to be future stars.
Sonny Laiton (Goalkeeper)
Laiton is a commanding figure in goal, and at just 21 has already appeared 4 times in the league for Auxerre. He's also featured for France's U20's and has been excellent for the clubs second team.
Iyad Mohamed (Defensive Midfield)
Mohamed is an imposing figure at the base of midfield at 6 foot 2 and is already a fully capped international at the age of 20. He's featured 3 times for the first team this season scoring once and looks to have a bright future ahead of him.
Nicolas Mercier (Right Winger)
Mercier is the youngest player on this list at just 18 but may have the brightest future. He's made three brief appearances for the first team this season off the bench and has provided an assist. He's also played for France's U16's and U17's and has played well for the club's B team.
