FC Nantes

Football Club de Nantes Atlantique (Breton: Naoned; Gallo: Naunnt), commonly referred to as FC Nantes or simply Nantes (IPA: [nɑ̃t] (listen)), is a French professional football club based in Nantes in Brittany. The club was founded on 21 April 1943, during World War II, as a result of local clubs based in the city coming together to form one large club. From 1992 to 2007, the club was referred to as FC Nantes Atlantique before reverting to its current name at the start of the 2007–08 season. Nantes play in Ligue 1, the first division of Football in France.

Nantes
Full nameFootball Club de Nantes Atlantique
Nickname(s)La Maison Jaune (The Yellow House)
Les Canaris (The Canaries)
Short nameFCN or Nantes
Founded1943 (1943)
GroundLa Beaujoire-Louis Fonteneau
Capacity35,322
OwnerWaldemar Kita
PresidentWaldemar Kita
Head coachChristian Gourcuff
LeagueLigue 1
2019–20Ligue 1, 13th
WebsiteClub website

Nantes is one of the most successful clubs in French football, having won eight Ligue 1 titles, three Coupe de France wins and attained one Coupe de la Ligue victory. The club is famous for its jeu à la nantaise ("Nantes-style play"), its collective spirit, mainly advocated under coaches José Arribas, Jean-Claude Suaudeau and Raynald Denoueix and for its youth system, which has produced players such as Marcel Desailly, Didier Deschamps, Mickaël Landreau, Claude Makelele, Christian Karembeu and Jérémy Toulalan. As well as Les Canaris (The Canaries), Nantes is also nicknamed Les jaunes et verts (The Green and Yellows) and La Maison Jaune (The Yellow House).

History

The club was founded in 1943.[1] The first match played by Nantes as a professional team took place at the Stade Olympique de Colombes against CA Paris, where Nantes triumphed 2–0. The first home match was a defeat of the same score against Troyes. The club finished fifth at the end of this first season following which the club's manager Aimé Nuic left the club following a dispute, and was succeeded by Antoine Raab, who took over in a player-coach role. After winning 16 consecutive matches, Nantes lost 9–0 to Sochaux.

Supporters at an away match

In July 1991, the club re-instated Jean-Claude Suaudeau, and in July 1992, after spending a fortnight in the second division due to an administrative decision by the DNCG (French Football's financial regulator), FC Nantes was renamed FC Nantes Atlantique, and was able to take its place in the first division back. They won the French championship in 1994/95[2] and in 2000/01. In 2005, Nantes narrowly avoided relegation on the final day of the season by defeating Metz 1-0.[3] In 2007 Nantes finished last in Ligue 1 and were relegated to Ligue 2 after spending 44 consecutive seasons in Ligue 1. In 2008, Nantes were promoted back to Ligue 1 at the first attempt but the following season they were relegated back to Ligue 2 after finishing 19th on the table. After spending 3 seasons in Ligue 2, Nantes were once again promoted to Ligue 1 in 2013. In their first season back in the top division, Nantes avoided relegation finishing 13th on the table. After two years of stability, in the 2016/2017 Ligue 1 season, Nantes finished a highly respectable 7th on the table. For the 2017–18 season, former Leicester City boss Claudio Ranieri took over as manager and after 10 games in charge had Nantes sitting 3rd on the table just behind big spending Paris Saint-Germain and AS Monaco.[4][5] In the second half of the 2017–18 season, Nantes managed to only win 3 more games and finished 9th on the table. Claudio Ranieri also announced his departure from the club after only one season.[6][7]

In the 2018–19 season, Nantes appointed Vahid Halilhodžić as their new manager. In January 2019, the club was rocked by the news that former player Emiliano Sala had died in a plane crash over the English Channel. Nantes would end up finishing the season in 12th place. The club enjoyed a mixed campaign with the highlight being an upset victory over Paris Saint-Germain and also claiming wins over Marseille and Lyon.[8][9]

Stadiums
Stade de la Beaujoire, also known as the Stade de Nantes

FC Nantes played at Stade Marcel Saupin from 1937 to 1984.[10] Nantes' moved to their current home ground Stade de la Beaujoire-Louis Fontenau in 1984, the stadium has a capacity of 38,128.[11] A new stadium was expected to be built and replace the Stade de la Beaujoire-Louis Fontenau as Nantes' home ground in 2022, but the project was abandoned following concerns regarding financing.[12][13]

Players

Current squad
As of 16 June 2020[14]

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

No. Position Player
1 GK Alban Lafont (on loan from Fiorentina)
2 DF Fábio
3 DF Wesley Moustache
4 DF Nicolas Pallois (vice-captain)
6 MF Roli Pereira de Sa
7 FW Kalifa Coulibaly
8 FW Marcus Coco
10 MF Cristian Benavente (on loan from Pyramids FC)
11 MF Mehdi Abeid
12 DF Dennis Appiah
13 DF Molla Wagué
14 DF Charles Traoré
15 FW Anthony Limbombe
16 GK Alexandre Olliero
17 MF Ludovic Blas
No. Position Player
18 MF Samuel Moutoussamy
19 MF Abdoulaye Touré (captain)
20 DF Andrei Girotto
21 MF Rene Krhin
22 FW Bridge Ndilu
23 DF Thomas Basila
24 FW Élie Youan
25 DF Josué Homawoo
26 MF Imran Louza
27 MF Moses Simon
28 FW Renaud Emond
30 GK Denis Petric
32 FW Kader Bamba
33 DF Percy Prado

Out on loan

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

No. Position Player
— GK Quentin Braat (at Niort until 30 June 2020)
— GK Maxime Dupé (at Clermont Foot until 30 June 2020)
— MF Abou Ba (at Aris until 30 June 2020)
No. Position Player
— MF Lucas Evangelista (at Vitoria SC until 30 June 2020)
— FW Randal Kolo (at Boulogne until 30 June 2020)

Reserve squad
As of 1 January 2020[15]

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

No. Position Player
GK Nassim Badri
GK Adem Husejnovic
GK Charly Jan
GK Anthony Robin
DF Victor Daguin
DF Nathan Gassama
DF Aristote Lusinga
DF Ryan Sabry
DF Abdoulaye Sylla
DF Sekou Traore
DF Anthony Walongwa
MF Teddy Bouriaud
No. Position Player
MF Theo Chendri
MF Abdoulaye Dabo
MF Santiago Eneme
MF James Eto'o-Eyenga
MF Alexis Mané
MF Bryan Mavinzi
MF Batista Mendy
MF Mathis Thévenin
FW Hakim Abdallah
FW Amadou Coulibaly
FW Taylor Luvambo
FW Akram Tsague

Retired numbers

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

No. Position Player
9 FW Emiliano Sala (posthumous honour) [16][17]

Notable players

Below are the notable former players who have represented Nantes in league and international competition since the club's foundation in 1943. 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 FC Nantes players, see Category:FC Nantes players

Coaches

Honours

Domestic competitions

International competitions

References
  1. "FC Nantes". Soccerway. Perform. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  2. François Mazet and Frédéric Pauron (1 September 2016). "Yearwise list of the champions of France". France - List of Champions. RSSSF. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  3. uefa.com. "Nantes survive relegation scare – UEFA.com". www.uefa.com.
  4. "FC Nantes might forfeit a win, but they're back where they belong". newstalk.com.
  5. "The French Leicester City? Ranieri enjoying a flying start at Nantes - Goal.com". goal.com.
  6. https://www.getfootballnewsfrance.com/2018/feature-claudio-ranieris-spell-at-nantes-ends-this-evening-the-story-of-how-a-leicester-esque-campaign-turned-sour/
  7. http://www.ligue1.com/ligue1/classement
  8. "Emiliano Sala's funeral held in Argentina". CNN. 16 February 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  9. A. Pašić (5 May 2019). "Halilhodžić u Nantesu oborio rekord" (in Bosnian). sportsport.ba. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  10. "FC Nantes: 1984, quand les Canaris ont quitté le stade Saupin pour celui de la Beaujoire". www.20minutes.fr.
  11. "FC Nantes". LFP. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  12. "LES INTENTIONS ARCHITECTURALES" (in French). FC Nantes. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  13. "La construction du YelloPark de Nantes est annulée" (in French). SoFoot.com.
  14. "Effectif" (in French). fcnantes.com. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  15. "EFFECTIF NATIONAL 2". fcnantes.com. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  16. "Nantes: Le numéro 9 qu'il a porté est retiré". FC Nantes Twitter. 8 February 2019.
  17. "Nantes retire No 9 shirt in honour of Emiliano Sala". BBC Sport. 8 February 2019.
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