Nîmes Olympique

Nîmes Olympique
Full name	Nîmes Olympique; Football Club
Nickname(s)	Les crocodiles
Founded	10 April 1937
Ground	Stade des Costières,; Nimes; (Capacity: 18,482)
Chairman	Jean-Louis Gazeau
Manager	Jean-Michel Cavalli
League	Ligue 2
2008-09	L2, 17th

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Nîmes Olympique is a football (soccer) team based in Nîmes, France, founded on April 10, 1937. Prior to this, it was known as Sporting Club Nîmois.

Nimes Olympique currently (as of 2008^[update]) plays in Ligue 2 - the second level of French soccer. They have a fierce group of fans ("Ultras") known as the "Gladiators".

Their greatest achievement was winning Ligue 2 in the 1949/1950 season. They also won the Championnat National in 1997.

Former players include Eric Sabin, Eric Cantona, Laurent Blanc, Wilson Oruma, Mickaël Pagis, Cyril Jeunechamp and Bernard Boissier.

[edit] Sporting Club Nîmois

The Sporting Club Nîmois (SCN) was founded in 1901 by Henri Monnier, who, at the age of 21, had just returned from a 2 year trip to England. He decided to start a new team in Nimes, his home town. Originally, the team was for young Protestants only.

In 1908, the SCN played FC Sète for the title of 'Champions of Languedoc'. Nîmes won, qualifying for the final phase of the French championship, which they lost to Olympique Marseille in the first round.

The club suspended activities due to World War I on April 15, 1919. In 1922, SCN absorbed a local rival, F.A. Nîmois.

The new team, still under the name of Sporting Club Nîmois, were runners-up in the South-East championship in 1925. In 1927, les Nîmois won a place in the highest championship, then known as the Division d'Honneur.

In October 1931, the then-president of the Republic of France, Gaston Doumergue, inaugurated the Jean Bouin stadium.

Due to financial problems, SCN abandoned their professional activities in 1937. Following efforts from local businessmen, the club moved to the district of Lozère-Gard in Nîmes, and was reformed as Nîmes Olympique. Nimes secured Ligue 2 position for 2009-10 season after beating 2-1 Brest at away match in May 29, 2009.

[edit] Nîmes Olympique

[edit] Stadium

The team moved to the Stade des Costières de Nîmes on February 15, 1989, celebrating with a game featuring the French national team. A number of Dutch players including Dennis Bergkamp made guest appearances for Nimes.^{[citation needed]}

The first league match at the stadium was on March 4 1989, against Montceau in a Ligue 2 game, with 3,647 spectators in attendance. The record attendance to date was 25,051, which was recorded in the 1991-1992 season, in a Ligue 1 game against Olympique Marseille. The French national team also played an international game against Greece, just before Euro 96, with an attendance of 23,420.

The standard capacity of the stadium is 18,482, due to security concerns.

[edit] Honours

Ligue 1 runners-up - 1958, 1959, 1960, 1972.
Ligue 2 champions - 1950.
Ligue 2 runners-up - 1991.
Championnat National champions - 1997.
Coupe de France finalists - 1958, 1961, 1996.
Trophée des Champions finalists - 1958
Coppa delle Alpi - 1971
Coupe Drago winners - 1956.
Coupe Gambardella winners - 1961, 1966, 1969, 1977.

[edit] Current squad

As of August 31, 2009 ^[1]

No.	Position	Player
1	GK	Nicolas Puydebois
2	DF	Ludovic Liron
3	DF	Salaheddine Sbai
4	DF	Yohan Bocognano
5	DF	Miodrag Stošić
6	MF	Grégory Poirier
7	MF	Nicolas Bayod
8	MF	Johan Cavalli
9	FW	Mickaël Colloredo
10	FW	Vladimir Buač
12	DF	Saad Ichalalène
13	MF	Sadio Sow
14	MF	Cédric Horjak
15	FW	Jean-Jacques Mandrichi

No.	Position	Player
16	GK	Haidar Al-Shaibani
18	DF	Benoît Poulain
19	MF	Moussa Sidibé
20	MF	Mehdi Mostefa
21	MF	Paul Maisonneuve
22	MF	Otman Djellilahine
23	FW	Abdel El Hajaoui
24	FW	Andy Delort
27	MF	Stéphane Auvray
28	FW	Jonathan Ayité
29	DF	Abderraouf Zarabi
30	GK	Sébastien Gimenez
—	FW	Benjamin Moukandjo