Givet

Givet (French pronunciation: ​[ʒi.vɛ]) is a commune in the Ardennes department in northern France very close to the Belgian border. It lies on the river Meuse where Emperor Charles V built the fortress of Charlemont. It borders the french municipalities of Fromelennes to the east and Rancennes to the south and Foisches to the southeast.

Later on, another building was added to the fort, the Caserne Rougé, the longest barracks of France at that time, named after Pierre François, Marquis de Rougé, general of the French armies k.a. 1761.

History

The town's history claims that Saint Hubert lived there in 720 and performed a miracle. The town has changed hands several times since the Roman era before becoming part of France in 1678, and was later invaded by Russians and Germans.

In World War II, Givet was occupied by the Germans on May 12, 1940. The city was liberated September 7, 1944. By December 1944, 11,000 American soldiers were billeted in the ancient Charlemont fortress. The German Ardennes Offensive targeted Givet and its crossing of the Meuse. The British, under Montgomery, organized a last-ditch defense, and on 24 December, the German drive was stopped about 10 kilometers from Givet.

Gaël Givet

Gaël Givet-Viaros (born 9 October 1981), known as Gaël Givet, is a French footballer who currently plays for Arles-Avignon in Ligue 2. He is a left-footed centre back who can also play left-back. Givet was a Champions League runner-up with Monaco in 2004 and was part of the French team which reached the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Monaco

Born in Arles, France, Givet started his professional career at AS Monaco as a left back before moving to centre half. He made his debut in a 2–2 draw against Guingamp in December 2000. He played for Monaco between 2000 and 2007, making 178 league appearances and scoring a respectable 8 goals. The highlights of his time at the club were winning the French League Cup in 2003 and reaching the UEFA Champions League Final in 2004, where he missed out on a winner's medal with a 3–0 defeat against Jose Mourinho's FC Porto. He played a pivotal role in their success, making 13 Champions League appearances during the campaign. He made a name for himself in the 2003-04 season where he blossomed in the Monaco defense alongside Patrice Evra, Julien Rodriguez and Sébastien Squillaci.

Blackburn Rovers F.C.

Blackburn Rovers Football Club /ˈblækbɜːrn ˈroʊvərz/ is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team competes in the Football League Championship from the 2012–13 season. They were relegated from the Premier League, the top tier of English football, at the end of the 2011–12 season.

The club was established in 1875, becoming a founding member of The Football League in 1888. It is one of only three clubs to have been both a founder member of the Football League and the Premier League (the others being Aston Villa and Everton). In 1890 Rovers moved to its permanent home at Ewood Park. Prior to the formation of the Premier League in 1992, most of the club's successes were before 1930, when it had gained league and FA Cup trophies on several occasions. Relegation in 1965–66 was followed by 26 successive seasons of football outside the top flight.

In 1992, Blackburn gained promotion to the new Premier League a year after being taken over by local steel baron Jack Walker, who installed Kenny Dalglish as manager. In 1995, Blackburn became Premier League champions, having spent millions of pounds on players like Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton. However, the title-winning team was quickly split up and, in the 1998–99 season, the club was relegated. It was promoted back to the Premier League two years later, in the 2000–01 season, just after Walker's death. During this time it has qualified for the UEFA Cup four times: once as League Cup winners, twice as the Premier League's sixth-placed team and once via the Intertoto Cup. The 2011–12 season marked the club's 72nd, non-consecutive, year in the top flight. Blackburn are currently one of only five clubs to have won the Premier League, along with Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, and Manchester City.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina (ⁱ/ˈbɒzniə ənd ˌhɛərtsəɡoʊˈviːnə, -ˌhɜːrt-, -ɡə-/ or /ˌhɜːrtsəˈɡɒvᵻnə/;Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian Latin script: Bosna i Hercegovina, Bosnian and Serbian Cyrillic script: Боснa и Херцеговина; pronounced [bôsna i xěrt͡seɡoʋina]), sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or Bosnia & Herzegovina, abbreviated BiH or B&H, and in short often known informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeastern Europe located on the Balkan Peninsula. Sarajevo is the capital and largest city. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west, and south; Serbia to the east; Montenegro to the southeast; and the Adriatic Sea to the south, with a coastline about 20 kilometres (12 miles) long surrounding the city of Neum. In the central and eastern interior of the country the geography is mountainous, in the northwest it is moderately hilly, and the northeast is predominantly flatland. The inland is a geographically larger region and has a moderate continental climate, bookended by hot summers and cold and snowy winters. The southern tip of the country has a Mediterranean climate and plain topography.