OGC Nice

Nice

Full name	Olympique Gymnaste Club de Nice Côte d'Azur
Nickname(s)	Les Aiglons (The Eaglets), [1] Le Gym (The Gym)
Founded	9 July 1904;118 years ago (9 July 1904)
Ground	Allianz Riviera
Capacity	36,178 [2]
Owner	Ineos
President	Jean-Pierre Rivère
Head coach	Didier Digard (interim)
League	Ligue 1
2021–22	Ligue 1, 5th of 20
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

Olympique Gymnaste Club Nice Côte d'Azur (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

See also: OGC Nice in European football

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]

Home stadium

Main article: Allianz Riviera

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. ^[13] The construction of the Allianz Riviera started in 2011 and was completed in September 2013.

Players

Current squad

As of 28 January 2023. ^[14]

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   DEN Kasper Schmeichel 4 DF   BRA Dante (captain) 7 FW   ALG Andy Delort 8 MF   NED Pablo Rosario 10 MF   FRA Sofiane Diop 11 MF   ENG Ross Barkley 14 MF   ALG Billal Brahimi 15 DF   ENG Joe Bryan (on loan from Fulham) 16 MF   WAL Aaron Ramsey 18 MF   ROU Rareș Ilie 19 MF   FRA Khéphren Thuram 20 DF   ALG Youcef Atal

No. Pos. Nation Player 21 MF   FRA Alexis Beka Beka 23 DF   SUI Jordan Lotomba 24 FW   FRA Gaëtan Laborde 25 DF   FRA Jean-Clair Todibo 26 DF   FRA Melvin Bard 28 MF   ALG Hicham Boudaoui 29 FW   CIV Nicolas Pépé (on loan from Arsenal) 35 MF   FRA Badredine Bouanani 42 DF   ITA Mattia Viti 77 GK   ALG Teddy Boulhendi 90 GK   POL Marcin Bułka — FW   IRL Deji Sotona — DF   BDI Youssouf Ndayishimiye

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   CIV Kouadio Ange Ahoussou(at Châteauroux until 30 June 2023) — DF   BRA Robson Bambu (at Vasco da Gama until 31 December 2023) — DF   CAN Justin Smith (at Quevilly-Rouen until 30 June 2023) — MF   CIV Jean N'Guessan (at Nîmes until 30 June 2023) — MF   FRA Morgan Schneiderlin (at Western Sydney until 30 June 2023)

No. Pos. Nation Player — FW   NED Calvin Stengs (at Antwerp until 30 June 2023) — FW   FRA Evann Guessand (at Nantes until 30 June 2023) — FW   FRA Alexis Claude-Maurice (at Lens until 30 June 2023) — FW   DEN Kasper Dolberg (at 1899 Hoffenheim until 30 June 2023)

Reserve squad

As of the 2021–22 season ^[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 — GK   CMR Jacques Mbiandjeu — GK   POR Henrique Tavares — GK   FRA Enzo Vita — DF   FRA Yannis Peyaud — DF   FRA Noah Crétier — DF   FRA Maёl Caisson 33 DF   FRA Antoine Mendy 34 DF   FRA Yannis Nahounou — DF   FRA Nathanaёl Abiba Sefu — DF   BEL Ardjouma Junior Diomandé — DF   FRA Belele Houimel — DF   FRA Théo Pionnier — MF   FRA Jawad Dramé

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF   POR André Cabral — MF   FRA Paul Wade — MF   ANG Joao Beni Antonio — MF   FRA Soudeysse Kari — MF   FRA Tom Louchet — FW   FRA Timothé Trojani — MF   FRA Théo Trinker — MF   FRA Aziard M'Changama 37 MF   FRA Reda Belahyane — FW   FRA Kharvarn Williams — FW   FRA Karim Belmahi — FW   FRA Lorenzo Depuidt

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

France Marcel Aubour Dominique Baratelli Éric Bauthéac Hatem Ben Arfa Daniel Bravo André Chorda José Cobos Carlos Curbelo Wylan Cyprien Héctor De Bourgoing Didier Digard Olivier Echouafni Patrice Evra Valentin Eysseric Koczur Ferry Jacques Foix Just Fontaine Jean-Marc Guillou Jean-Noël Huck Roger Jouve Charles Marchetti Pierre Lees-Melou Hugo Lloris Charly Loubet Jean Luciano Marc Molitor Alassane Pléa Loïc Rémy Malang Sarr Joseph Ujlaki Argentina Walter Benítez Renato Civelli Darío Cvitanich Brazil Ederson

Colombia David Ospina Haiti Romain Genevois Italy Mario Balotelli Ivory Coast Bakari Koné Jean Michaël Seri Luxembourg Victor Nurenberg Mali Cédric Kanté Mahamane Traoré Portugal Ricardo Pereira Senegal Nampalys Mendy Serbia Nemanja Pejčinović Spain Josep Samitier Joaquín Valle Sweden Leif Eriksson Yugoslavia Nenad Bjeković Marko Elsner Josip Katalinski

Management and staff

Club officials

Senior club staff ^{[16] [17]}

• Owner(s): Ineos
• President: Jean-Pierre Rivère
• Director of football: Julien Fournier
• Manager: Didier Digard
• Assistant manager: Frédéric Gioria ^[18]
• First-team coach: Arjan Peço ^[18]
• First-team coach: Christophe Moulin ^[18]
• Fitness coach: Nicolas Dyon
• Rehab coach: Christopher Juras
• Goalkeeping coach: Nicolas Dehon

Coaching history

Dates [19] Coach 1932–1933 Jim McDewitt 1933–1934 Johann Tandler Edmond Kramer (interim) Charlie Bell 1935–1937 Emmanuel Lowy  [ fr ] 1937 Karel Kudrna 1937–1938 Ricardo Zamora 1938–1939 Josep Samitier 1945–1946 Luis Valle  [ fr ] 1946 Maurice Castro 1946–1947 Giovanni Lardi  [ fr ] 1947–1949 Anton Marek 1949–1950 Émile Veinante 1950 Elie Rous 1950–1951 Giovanni Lardi  [ fr ] 1951–1952 Numa Andoire 1952–1953 Mario Zatelli 1953–1955 Bill Berry 1955–1957 Luis Carniglia 1957–1962 Jean Luciano

Dates Coach 1962–1964 Numa Andoire 1964–1969 Pancho Gonzales 1969–1971 Léon Rossi  [ fr ] 1971–1974 Jean Snella 1974–1976 Vlatko Marković 1976–1977 Jean-Marc Guillou 1977–1978 Léon Rossi  [ fr ] 1978–1979 Koczur Ferry 1979 Albert Batteux 1979–1980 Léon Rossi  [ fr ] 1980–1981 Vlatko Marković 1981–1982 Marcel Domingo 1982–1986 Jean Sérafin 1987–1989 Nenad Bjeković 1989 Pierre Alonzo 1989–1990 Carlos Bianchi 1990 Jean Fernandez 1990–1992 Jean-Noël Huck 1992–1996 Albert Emon

Dates Coach 1996 Daniel Sanchez 1996–1997 Silvester Takač 1997–1998 Michel Renquin 1998 Silvester Takač 1998–1999 Victor Zvunka 1999–2000 Guy David 2000–2002 Sandro Salvioni 2002–2005 Gernot Rohr 2005 Gérard Buscher (interim) 2005–2009 Frédéric Antonetti 2009–2010 Didier Ollé-Nicolle 2010–2011 Eric Roy 2011–2012 René Marsiglia 2012–2016 Claude Puel 2016–2018 Lucien Favre 2018–2020 Patrick Vieira 2020–2021 Adrian Ursea 2021–2022 Christophe Galtier 2022–2023 Lucien Favre 2023–present Didier Digard (interim)

Honours

Domestic

• Ligue 1
  • Champions (4): 1950–51, 1951–52, 1955–56, 1958–59
  • Runners-up: 1972–73, 1975–76
• Ligue 2
  • Champions (4): 1947–48, 1964–65, 1969–70, 1993–94
  • Runners-up: 1984–85
• Division 3
  • Champions: 1988–89
• Coupe de France
  • Champions (3): 1951–52, 1953–54, 1996–97
  • Runners-up: 1977–78, 2021–22
• Trophee des Champions
  • Champions: 1970
  • Runners-up: 1956, 1959, 1997

Other

• Latin Cup
  • Runners-up (1): 1952

Sponsors

Main Sponsor

• INEOS

Kit Sponsor

• Macron till 2022–23
• Castore starting from 2023–24

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. "Les 12 villes retenues" (PDF). French Football Federation . Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
14. "Effectif pros". ogcnice.com. Archived from the original on 4 January 2022. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
15. "EFFECTIF CFA". ogcnice.com. Archived from the original on 21 October 2021. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
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. "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.

External links

• Official website (in French)