Nîmes Olympique

Nîmes
Full name Nîmes Olympique
Football Club
Nickname(s) Les Crocodiles
Founded 10 April 1937 (10 April 1937)
Ground Stade des Costières,
Nîmes
Capacity 18,482
Chairman Rani Assaf
Manager Bernard Blaquart
League Ligue 1
2017–18 Ligue 2, 2nd (promoted)
Website Club website

Nîmes Olympique (commonly referred to as simply Nîmes) is a French association football club based in Nîmes. The club was formed on 10 April 1937 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the first level of French football. The club's most important achievements were winning Ligue 2 in 1950 and the Championnat National in 1997 and in 2012. Nîmes plays its home matches at the Stade des Costières located within the city. The team is managed by Bernard Blaquart.

History

The Sporting Club Nîmois (SCN) was founded in 1901 by Henri Monnier, who, at the age of 21, had just returned from a two-year trip to England. He decided to start a new team in Nîmes, 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 Marseille in the first round.

The club suspended activities due to World War I. After war, it resumed its activities on 15 April 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.

The team moved to the Stade des Costières on 15 February 1989. The first league match at the stadium was on 4 March 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 1991–92 season, in a Ligue 1 game against Marseille.

The French national team also played an international game against Greece, just before Euro 96, with an attendance of 23,420. On this occasion, France won 3–1 with two goals by Patrice Loko and one by Zinedine Zidane on 21 February 1996.

In December 1991, during a match for Nîmes, Eric Cantona threw the ball at the referee, having been angered by one of his decisions. He was summoned to a disciplinary hearing by the French Football Federation and was banned for one month. Cantona responded by walking up to each member of the hearing committee in turn and calling him an idiot. His ban was increased to two months, and Cantona subsequently announced his retirement from international football on 16 December 1991.

In 1995–1996, Nîmes reached the final of the French Cup, allowing them to compete the following year in the Cup Winners' Cup. In September 1996, in the Round of 32, Nîmes beat Budapest Honvéd ((1–2) (0–2)), before losing to AIK Stockholm in the next round ((3-1 to AIK at Nîmes and 1-0 to Nîmes at Stockholm)).

On 5 May 2018, Nimes secured promotion back to Ligue 1 for the first time since the 1992–1993 season after finishing second in Ligue 2.[1]

Players

Current squad

As of 31 August 2018.[2]

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

No. Position Player
1 France GK Baptiste Valette
2 Senegal MF Mustapha Diallo
5 France DF Loïck Landre
7 Morocco FW Rachid Alioui
8 France MF Pierrick Valdivia
9 France FW Clément Depres
10 Gabon MF Denis Bouanga
11 France MF Téji Savanier
12 France MF Faitout Maouassa (on loan from Rennes)
14 France MF Antonin Bobichon
15 France DF Gaëtan Paquiez
16 France GK Martin Sourzac
17 Greece FW Panagiotis Vlachodimos
No. Position Player
18 France MF Theo Valls
19 Turkey FW Umut Bozok
20 France FW Renaud Ripart
21 Algeria DF Féthi Harek (captain)
22 France FW Sada Thioub
23 France DF Anthony Briançon (vice-captain)
24 Morocco FW Sami Ben Amar
25 Belgium FW Baptiste Guillaume (on loan from Angers)
26 France DF Florian Miguel
27 Ivory Coast DF Hervé Lybohy
28 Morocco MF Abdel Malik Hsissane
29 France DF Sofiane Alakouch
30 France GK Paul Bernardoni (on loan from Bordeaux)

Notable players

Below are the notable former players who have represented Nîmes in league and international competition since the club's foundation in 1937. To appear in the section below, a player must have played in at least 80 official matches for the club or represented the national team for which the player is eligible during his stint with Nîmes or following his departure.

For a complete list of Nîmes Olympique players, see Category:Nîmes Olympique players

 France

 Algeria

 Argentina

 Austria

 Belgium

 Benin

 Bosnia and Herzegovina

 Burkina Faso

 Cameroon

 Central African Republic

 Comoros

 Côte d'Ivoire

 Croatia

 Czechoslovakia

 Democratic Republic of Congo

 Denmark

 Ghana

 Hungary

 Liberia

 Macedonia

 Mali

 Mauritania

 Morocco

 Netherlands

 Nigeria

 Palestine

 Paraguay

 Poland

 Republic of the Congo

 Republic of Ireland

 England

  • Daniel Richardson

 Romania

 Scotland

 Senegal

 Serbia

 Slovakia

 Togo

 Yugoslavia

Managers

Honours

Miscellaneous

The largest group of Ultras are the Gladiators Nîmes founded in 1991. The name refers to Nîmes' rich history, dating back to the Roman Empire.

Before the start of each home game an extract of George Bizet's opera "Carmen" is heard.

There is a long rivalry with the nearby city of Montpellier which extends to both local football teams.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.ligue1.com/ligue2/article/nimes-clinch-promotion.htm
  2. ↑ "Effectif" (in French). nimes-olympique.com. Retrieved 1 March 2018.
  3. ↑ France – Trainers of First and Second Division Clubs
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