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OGC Nice

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Nice
Full nameOlympique Gymnaste Club de Nice
Nickname(s)Les Aiglons (The Eaglets),[1] Le Gym (The Gym)
Founded9 July 1904; 120 years ago (9 July 1904)
GroundAllianz Riviera
Capacity36,178[2]
OwnerIneos
PresidentJean-Pierre Rivère
ManagerFrancesco Farioli
LeagueLigue 1
2023–24Ligue 1, 5th of 18
Websitehttps://www.ogcnice.com
Current season

Olympique Gymnaste Club de Nice (French pronunciation: [ɔlɛ̃pik ʒimnast klœb nis]), commonly referred to as OGC Nice or simply Nice, is a French professional football club based in Nice. The club was founded in 1904 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the top tier of French football. Nice plays its home matches at the Allianz Riviera.

Nice was founded under the name Gymnaste Club de Nice and is one of the founding members of the first division of French football. The club has won Ligue 1 four times, the Trophee des Champions one time and the Coupe de France three times. It achieved most of its honours in the 1950s with the club being managed by coaches such as Numa Andoire, Englishman William Berry, and Jean Luciano. The club's last honour was winning the Coupe de France in 1997 after defeating Guingamp 4–3 on penalties in the final. Nice's colours are red and black.

During the club's successful run in the 1950s, Nice were among the first French clubs to successfully integrate internationals players into the fold. Notable players include Héctor De Bourgoing, Pancho Gonzales, Victor Nurenberg, and Joaquín Valle, the latter being the club's all-time leading goalscorer and arguably greatest player.[3]

History

Gymnaste Club 'Azur was founded in the residential district of Les Baumettes on 9 July 1904 under the name Gymnaste Club. The club was founded by Marquis de Massingy d'Auzac, who served as president of the Fédération Sportive des Alpes-Maritimes (Alpes-Maritimes Sporting Federation). Akin to its name, the club primarily focused on the sports of gymnastics and athletics. On 6 July 1908, in an effort to remain affiliated with the FSAM and also join the amateur federation USFSA, the head of French football at the time, Gymnaste Club de Nice split into two sections with the new section of the club being named Gymnastes Amateurs Club de Nice. The new section spawned a football club and, after two seasons, the two clubs merged. On 20 September 1919, Nice merged with local club Gallia Football Athlétic Club and, subsequently, adopted the club's red and black combination. In 1920, the club was playing in the Ligue du Sud-Est, a regional league under the watch of the French Football Federation. While playing in the league, Nice developed rivalries with Cannes and Marseille. On 22 December 1924, the club changed its name to Olympique Gymnaste Club de Nice.

In July 1930, the National Council of the French Football Federation voted 128–20 in support of professionalism in French football. Nice, along with most clubs from southern France, were among the first clubs to adopt the new statute and subsequently became professional and were founding members of the new league. In the league's inaugural season, Nice finished seventh in its group. In the following season, Nice finished 13th and were relegated from the league. The club did not play league football in the ensuing season and returned to French football in 1936 playing in Division 2. Nice spent the next three years playing in the second division. In 1939, professional football in France was abolished due to World War II. Nonetheless, Nice continued to play league football under amateur status with the club participating in the Ligue du Sud-Est in 1939 and the Ligue du Sud in the following seasons.

After World War II, Nice returned to professional status and were inserted back into the second division. The club achieved promotion back to the first division for the 1948–49 season under the leadership of the Austrian manager Anton Marek. After two seasons of finishing in the top ten, Nice, now led by manager Jean Lardi, achieved its first-ever honour by winning the league title in the 1950–51 season. Led by French internationals Marcel Domingo, Antoine Bonifaci, Abdelaziz Ben Tifour, and Jean Courteaux, as well as the Argentine duo of Pancho Gonzales and Luis Carniglia and the Swede Pär Bengtsson, Nice won the league despite finishing equal on points with Lille. Nice was declared champions due to having more wins (18) than Lille (17).[4] In the following season, under new manager Numa Andoire, Nice won the double after winning both the league and the Coupe de France. In the league, the club defended its title by holding off both Bordeaux and Lille. In the Coupe de France final, Nice faced Bordeaux and defeated the Aquitaine club 5–3 courtesy of goals from five different players.

Nice continued its solid run in the decade by winning the Coupe de France for the second time in 1954. The club, now being led by a young and unknown Just Fontaine, faced southern rivals Marseille and earned a 2–1 victory with Victor Nuremberg and Carniglia scoring the goals. Carniglia retired from football after the season and began managing Nice. In his first season in charge, Nice won the league for a third time after being chased for the entire season by rivals Marseille and Monaco, as well as Lens and Saint-Étienne. After the campaign, Fontaine departed the club for Stade de Reims. Three seasons later, Nice won the last title of the decade in 1959. The club finished the decade (1950–1959) with four league titles and two Coupe de France trophies. Nice also appeared in European competition for the first time in the 1956–57 season, losing to Real Madrid in the quarter-finals.

In subsequent decades, Nice struggled to equal the success of the 1950s with Reims and, later Saint-Étienne eclipsing the club in the 1960s and '70s. During this time, Nice regularly competed in Division 1 with the exception of two seasons in Division 2 in 1965 and 1970. In 1973 and 1976, Nice achieved a second-place finish in the league, its best finish since winning the league in 1959. However, following the latter finish, the club finished in lower positions in the next six seasons and were relegated in the 1981–82 season after finishing 19th. Nice played three seasons in the second division before returning to the top flight in 1985. After six seasons of mid-table finishes, Nice was back in Division 2.

Frédéric Antonetti led Nice to the 2006 Coupe de la Ligue final.

In 1997, Nice, now back in the first division, stunned many after winning the Coupe de France. However, the victory did not shock most French football enthusiasts mainly due to the club's competition in the run up to the final in which Nice faced only Division 2 clubs, save for first division club Bastia. In the final, Nice defeated Guingamp 5–4 on penalties to earn cup success. On a sourer note, Nice were relegated from the first division only days after winning the Coupe de France in dead last in the league. The club spent five seasons in Ligue 2 and returned to Ligue 1 for the 2001–02 season. In the lead up to the season, Nice failed to meet the financial requirements set by the DNCG and was subsequently relegated to the Championnat National, the third level of French football. However, after achieving stability, mainly due to selling a few players, Nice was allowed in Ligue 1 after successfully appealing. In the 2005–06 season, Nice made it to the final of the Coupe de la Ligue in 2006, losing to Nancy 2–1.

In 2016, a Chinese and American consortium led by Chien Lee and Alex Zheng purchased 80% of the club.[5] In the 2016–17 Ligue 1 season, Nice finished third in the final standings and qualified for the third round of the UEFA Champions League.[6]

On June 11, 2018, Patrick Vieira was announced as Nice manager, replacing Lucien Favre.[7] In the 2018–19 season, Nice finished in 7th place on the table.[8]

In July 2019, it was announced that Jim Ratcliffe acquired the French club for a reported €100 million.[9]

After a run of poor form saw Nice sitting at 11th place in Ligue 1 and eliminated from the Europa League, manager Patrick Vieira was sacked. Vieira's assistant, Adrian Ursea, took over as caretaker. Nice would finish the 2020–21 Ligue 1 season in ninth place on the table.[10]

On 28 June 2021, Christophe Galtier was appointed as the new head coach.[11] On 27 June 2022, Lucien Favre returned to Nice as manager.[12]

After a complicated first part of the season, Lucien Favre was fired. He was replaced by the coach of the reserve team Didier Digard[13]

Home stadium

Nice moved to the Allianz Riviera in September 2013

From 1927 until 2013, Nice played its home matches at the Stade Municipal du Ray, usually shortened to simply the Stade du Ray. The stadium is, however, officially known as the Stade Léo-Lagrange, named after a French politician who had a stint in politics as the assistant secretary of state for sport. The Stade du Ray has gone through many renovations, most recently being in 1997 and has a capacity of 17,415. The stadium was popular with supporters for being located in the centre of the city, but suffered from its old structure and small capacity, as the Nice metropolitan area has over one million residents.

Nice began to attempt to build a new stadium in 2002. In its first attempt, the club was heavily criticised by local politicians who questioned the usefulness and format of the stadium. Despite the critics, however, the club's proposition passed and excavation of the site in the plain of Var, at Nice-Lingostière, began in July 2006. The Tribunal administration of Nice cancelled the project for irregularities committed concerning the fixation of the price of tickets. In October 2008, the new deputy mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, declared that Nice would have a new stadium "no later than 2013". The new stadium was to be built at the same place as before, at Nice-Lingostière.

On 22 September 2009, French newspaper L'Équipe reported the Grand Stade Nice had been selected by the French Football Federation (FFF) as 1 of the 12 stadiums to be used in the country's bid to host UEFA Euro 2016. The FFF officially made its selections on 11 November 2009, and the city of Nice was selected as a site to host matches during the tournament.[14] The construction of the Allianz Riviera started in 2011 and was completed in September 2013.

Players

Current squad

As of 15 September 2023[15]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Poland POL Marcin Bułka
4 DF Brazil BRA Dante (captain)
6 DF France FRA Jean-Clair Todibo
7 MF Ivory Coast CIV Jérémie Boga
8 MF Netherlands NED Pablo Rosario
9 FW Nigeria NGA Terem Moffi
10 MF France FRA Sofiane Diop
11 MF France FRA Morgan Sanson (on loan from Aston Villa)
15 DF France FRA Romain Perraud (on loan from Southampton)
18 FW France FRA Alexis Claude-Maurice
19 MF France FRA Khéphren Thuram
20 DF Algeria ALG Youcef Atal
21 MF France FRA Alexis Beka Beka
23 DF Switzerland SUI Jordan Lotomba
No. Pos. Nation Player
24 FW France FRA Gaëtan Laborde
26 DF France FRA Melvin Bard
27 FW Senegal SEN Aliou Baldé
28 MF Algeria ALG Hicham Boudaoui
29 FW France FRA Evann Guessand
31 GK Italy ITA Salvatore Sirigu
33 DF France FRA Antoine Mendy
34 DF France FRA Yannis Nahounou
35 MF Algeria ALG Badredine Bouanani
37 MF France FRA Reda Belahyane
38 DF Morocco MAR Ayoub Amraoui
55 DF Burundi BDI Youssouf Ndayishimiye
77 GK Algeria ALG Teddy Boulhendi

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
DF Brazil BRA Robson Bambu (at Vasco da Gama until 31 December 2023)
DF Canada CAN Justin Smith (at Avranches until 30 June 2024)
DF Italy ITA Mattia Viti (at Sassuolo until 30 June 2024)
No. Pos. Nation Player
MF Algeria ALG Billal Brahimi (at Brest until 30 June 2024)
MF Romania ROU Rareș Ilie (at Lausanne-Sport until 30 June 2024)

Notable former players

Below are the notable former players who have represented Nice in league and international competition since the club's foundation in 1904. To appear in the section below, a player must have played in at least 100 official matches for the club.

For a complete list of OGC Nice players, see Category:OGC Nice players

Management and staff

Club officials

Senior club staff[16][17]

Coaching history

Dates[19] Coach
1932–1933 Scotland Jim McDewitt
1933–1934 Austria Johann Tandler
Switzerland Edmond Kramer (interim)
Scotland Charlie Bell
1935–1937 France Emmanuel Lowy [fr]
1937 Czechoslovakia Karel Kudrna
1937–1938 Spain Ricardo Zamora
1938–1939 Spain Josep Samitier
1945–1946 Spain Luis Valle [fr]
1946 France Maurice Castro
1946–1947 Italy Giovanni Lardi [fr]
1947–1949 Austria Anton Marek
1949–1950 France Émile Veinante
1950 France Elie Rous
1950–1951 Italy Giovanni Lardi [fr]
1951–1952 France Numa Andoire
1952–1953 France Mario Zatelli
1953–1955 England Bill Berry
1955–1957 Argentina Luis Carniglia
1957–1962 France Jean Luciano
 
Dates Coach
1962–1964 France Numa Andoire
1964–1969 Argentina Pancho Gonzales
1969–1971 France Léon Rossi [fr]
1971–1974 France Jean Snella
1974–1976 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Vlatko Marković
1976–1977 France Jean-Marc Guillou
1977–1978 France Léon Rossi [fr]
1978–1979 Hungary Koczur Ferry
1979 France Albert Batteux
1979–1980 France Léon Rossi [fr]
1980–1981 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Vlatko Marković
1981–1982 France Marcel Domingo
1982–1986 France Jean Sérafin
1987–1989 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Nenad Bjeković
1989 France Pierre Alonzo
1989–1990 Argentina Carlos Bianchi
1990 France Jean Fernandez
1990–1992 France Jean-Noël Huck
1992–1996 France Albert Emon
1996 France Daniel Sanchez
 
Dates Coach
1996–1997 Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Silvester Takač
1997–1998 Belgium Michel Renquin
1998 Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Silvester Takač
1998–1999 France Victor Zvunka
1999–2000 France Guy David
2000–2002 Italy Sandro Salvioni
2002–2005 Germany Gernot Rohr
2005 France Gérard Buscher (interim)
2005–2009 France Frédéric Antonetti
2009–2010 France Didier Ollé-Nicolle
2010–2011 France Eric Roy
2011–2012 France René Marsiglia
2012–2016 France Claude Puel
2016–2018 Switzerland Lucien Favre
2018–2020 France Patrick Vieira
2020–2021 Romania Adrian Ursea
2021–2022 France Christophe Galtier
2022–2023 Switzerland Lucien Favre
2023 France Didier Digard (interim)
2023– Italy Francesco Farioli

Honours

Domestic

Other

Sponsors

Main sponsor

Kit sponsor

References

  1. ^ "#137 – OGC Nice : les Aiglons" (in French). Footnickname. 27 June 2020. Archived from the original on 23 December 2021. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  2. ^ "OGC Nice Stadium - Allianz Riviera".
  3. ^ "Joaquin Valle Benitez: 339 buts en 407 matchs avec le Gym" (in French). OGC Nice. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 10 January 2011.
  4. ^ "Champion de France 1951" (in French). OGC Nice. Archived from the original on 5 February 2010. Retrieved 10 January 2011.
  5. ^ Frater, Patrick (11 June 2016). "Chinese Investors Buy French Soccer Club OGC Nice". Variety. Archived from the original on 11 December 2017. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  6. ^ Matias Grez and Stef Blendis. "OGC Nice: From Ligue 1 strugglers to Champions League challengers". cnn.com. Archived from the original on 6 December 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  7. ^ "Patrick Vieira named new Nice manager after leaving New York City FC". The Guardian. 11 June 2018. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  8. ^ "Arsenal news: Patrick Vieira flattered by Arsene Wenger's future Gunners manager comment". The Independent. 27 May 2019. Archived from the original on 29 May 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  9. ^ "OGC Nice debuts Ineos sponsorship as Ratcliffe closes in on €100m buy". insideworldfootball.com. 31 July 2019. Archived from the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  10. ^ "OGC Nice part ways with Patrick Vieira". Archived from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  11. ^ "Galtier named as OGC Nice Head Coach". www.ogcnice.com. OGC Nice. 28 June 2021. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  12. ^ "Nice officialise l'arrivée de Lucien Favre et le départ de Christophe Galtier" [Nice formalizes the arrival of Lucien Favre and the departure of Christophe Galtier] (in French). L'Équipe. 27 June 2022. Archived from the original on 27 June 2022. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  13. ^ "Lucien Favre n'est plus l'entraineur de l'OGC Nice". OGC Nice (in French). Retrieved 29 January 2023.
  14. ^ "Les 12 villes retenues" (PDF). French Football Federation. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
  15. ^ "Effectif pros". OGC Nice. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  16. ^ "The new OGC Nice staff". ogcnice.com. OGC Nice. 4 December 2020. Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  17. ^ "Organization". ogcnice.com. OGC Nice. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  18. ^ a b c "OGC Nice : Le Gym officialise le retour de Lucien Favre comme entraîneur". 20 minutes (in French). 27 June 2022. Archived from the original on 27 June 2022. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  19. ^ "France – Trainers of First and Second Division Clubs". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 21 October 2018. Retrieved 10 January 2011.