Olympique Gymnaste Club de Nice-Côte d'Azur, commonly referred to as OGC Nice or simply Nice, is a French football club based in Nice. The club currently play in the top tier of French football in Ligue 1, having finished 9th in the 2009 campaign.
OGC Nice has won the Ligue 1 Championships 4 times, all coming in the 1950s, and has lifted the Coupe de France 3 times, the most recent being in 1997. Nice's colors are red and black and are coached by Didier Ollé-Nicolle and were founded on July 9, 1904.
History
The ancestor of the current OGC Nice, the Gymnastic Club Nice (GCN) was born in La Pergola Avenue Carlone in the district of Baumettes on 9 July 1904. The club's aim was at promoting and excelling in gymnastics and athletic exercises. The Gym, gymnastics club, was founded by the Marquis of Massengy Auzac, President of the Federation Sportive des Alpes-Maritimes and became honorary president of the Gymnastic club. H. Gal and A. Martin also helped establish the club with latter being elected president. The original colors of the Gymnastics Club were blue and black.
On 6 July 1908 The Gymnast Club was divided into two sections with one retaining the name and remaining affiliated with the FSAM. While the other section became the Amateur Athletic Club de Nice (GACN) who became affiliated with the USFSA. The national organization's most important, and most succseful section of football was finally established. On 6 October 1910 the Amateur Athletic Club once again changed names to the Nice Gymnast Club of Nice, with the club affiliating itself to the USFSA.
On 20 September 1919 The Gymnast Club Nice absorbs Gallia Athletic Football Club and adopted the colors red and black.
On 22 December 1924 club officials met at a general meeting. The officials renamed the club from Nice Gymnast to Olympique gymnast club Nice. The word Olympique was used because the Olympic Games had just taken place in France.
1997-Present
OGC Nice won the Coupe de France in 1997 after making an incredible run to the final. However this could not save Nice from dropping into Ligue 2 at the end of the 1996-1997 season. After five seasons in the Second Division, the club was finally able to make it back into Ligue 1 for the 2001-02 season. At first the club was relegated into the Championnat National because of financial problems. But Nice was able to maintain running as a club, due to the players giving up their premiums to rise back into Ligue 1.
After climbing back into Ligue 1, no one expected Nice to make much of an impact. However their results during the first season back in Ligue 1 were unexpected: after a period when the team flirted with the top spots, the club finished disappointingly in 10th place. This was achieved with many wins against the lower sides but also with great success against traditional French powerhouses like AS Monaco, Olympique Marseille and PSG. The subsequent seasons in Ligue 1 were more of the same ups and downs. In the 2005-2006 season, Nice made it to the final of the Coupe de la Ligue in 2006 losing to AS Nancy by a score of 2:1. During the league sesaon the club established itself as a mid-table side by finishing in 8th. However the following season brought ore difficulties, as they saved their place in Ligue 1 by only four points and finishing in 16th spot.
In 2007-08, OGC Nice made the top five very regularly before dropping out late in the season to finish in 8th place. The following season was more of the same as Nice showed much durability and strengths of a top table team. However they could not hold on to their form for the whole season but finished in a respectable 9th place in Ligue 1 during the 2008-09 campaign.
Honours
- Championnat de France 18 ans: 1
Crest
The black eagle with the red crown, shown on the club's crest is also the symbol of the city of Nice. As seen by the crest the club's primarily colours are red and black which also are very representative of the city.
Stadium
The club play their home games at the Stade Municipal du Ray Nice in southeastern France, close to the border with Italy. The stadium has gone through many renovations, most recently being in 1997 and has a capacity of 17,415. It is popular with the fans for being located in the center of the city. But suffers from its old structure and small capacity, Nice has a population of around 350,000. The stadium is mostly used for football,and the colour of the stadium is red and white. A new stadium for the club was supposed to be built in the Lingostière side, but the project has been cancelled because of a corruption scandal in 2006.
The club practices at their training center at the Stade Charles Ehrmann and plays some friendly matches there. The stadium is used by the Nice reserves for home games.
Supporters
Brigade Sud Nice are the ultra group that support Nice.
Current squad
As of September 10, 2009. 1 Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Staff
Head Coach: Didier Ollé-Nicolle
Assistant Coach:
Goalkeeper Coach: Bruno Valencony
Physioherapeut: Nicolas Dyon
Masseur: Philippe Boulon
Advisor: Rémy García
Kit Manager: François Ricci
Caretaker: Jean-Philippe Gilardi
Selected former players
For a complete list of OGC Nice players, see Category:OGC Nice players
- Belgium
- Brazil
- Cote d'Ivoire
- France
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- Ghana
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Mali
- Morocco
- Nigeria
- Peru
- Spain
- Sweden
- Turkey
- Yugoslavia
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Managerial history
2
References
External links
