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Nice
OGC Nice logo.svg
Full name Olympique Gymnaste Club de Nice
Nickname(s) Les Aiglons (The Eaglets)
Le Gym (The Gym)
Founded 9 July 1904; 121 years ago (9 July 1904)
Ground Allianz Riviera
Ground Capacity 36,178
Owner Ineos
President Jean-Pierre Rivère
Head coach Franck Haise
League Ligue 1
2021–22 Ligue 1, 5th of 20

OGC Nice is a professional football club from Nice, France. It is also known as Olympique Gymnaste Club de Nice. The club started in 1904 and plays in Ligue 1, which is the top football league in France. Their home games are played at the Allianz Riviera stadium.

Nice is one of the clubs that helped start the first French football division. They have won the Ligue 1 championship four times. They also won the Trophée des Champions once and the Coupe de France three times. Most of their big wins happened in the 1950s. Their last major trophy was the Coupe de France in 1997. The team's colors are red and black.

During their successful time in the 1950s, Nice was one of the first French clubs to have many international players. Some famous players from that time include Héctor de Bourgoing, Pancho Gonzales, Victor Nurenberg, and Joaquín Valle. Joaquín Valle is still the club's top goal scorer of all time.

Club History

The club began on July 9, 1904, as Gymnaste Club. It was first focused on gymnastics and athletics. Later, a football section was added. In 1919, the club joined with Gallia Football Athlétic Club. This is when they started using their famous red and black colors. In 1924, the club changed its name to Olympique Gymnaste Club de Nice.

In 1930, French football became professional. Nice was one of the first clubs to join the new professional league. In the first season (1932–33), they finished seventh in their group. They were moved down to a lower league in the next season. Professional football stopped during World War II, but Nice kept playing as an amateur team.

After the war, Nice became a professional club again. They moved back up to the first division for the 1948–49 season. In the 1950–51 season, Nice won their first league title! They won again the next season (1951–52), also winning the Coupe de France. This meant they won "the double" (both the league and the cup) in one year.

Nice won the Coupe de France again in 1954. A young player named Just Fontaine was on the team then. In 1956, Nice won the league for the third time. They won their fourth and last league title in 1959. The 1950s were a great time for Nice, with four league titles and two Coupe de France trophies. They also played in European competitions for the first time in 1956.

In the years after the 1950s, Nice found it harder to win big trophies. They often played in the top division but sometimes moved down to the second division. In 1973 and 1976, they finished second in the league, which was their best result since 1959. But in 1982, they were moved down to a lower league again. They returned to the top league in 1985.

In 1997, Nice surprised many by winning the Coupe de France. They beat Guingamp in the final after a penalty shootout. However, just days after this victory, Nice was moved down from the first division. They spent five seasons in the second division before returning to Ligue 1 in 2001. In 2006, Nice reached the final of the Coupe de la Ligue, but they lost to Nancy.

In 2016, a group of Chinese and American investors bought most of the club. In the 2016–17 season, Nice finished third in Ligue 1. This allowed them to play in the UEFA Champions League qualifying rounds. In 2018, Patrick Vieira became the new manager. In July 2019, Jim Ratcliffe bought the club.

Patrick Vieira was replaced by Adrian Ursea in 2020. Then, Christophe Galtier became head coach in 2021. Lucien Favre returned as manager in 2022 but was later replaced by Didier Digard. In 2023, Francesco Farioli took over. For the 2024–25 season, Franck Haise became the head coach. In the 2023–24 season, Nice finished fifth in Ligue 1, which means they qualified for the UEFA Europa League.

Home Stadium

Allianzcoupdenvoi
Nice moved to the Allianz Riviera in September 2013

From 1927 until 2013, Nice played their home games at the Stade du Ray. This stadium was in the city center and could hold about 17,415 fans. People liked its location, but it was old and too small for the growing city of Nice.

Nice started planning a new stadium in 2002. After some challenges, the city decided in 2008 that Nice would have a new stadium by 2013. The new stadium, called the Allianz Riviera, was chosen to host games for UEFA Euro 2016. Construction began in 2011 and finished in September 2013.

Players

Current Squad

No. Position Player
2 Tunisia DF Ali Abdi
4 Brazil DF Dante (captain)
5 Egypt DF Mohamed Abdelmonem
6 Algeria MF Hicham Boudaoui
7 Ivory Coast FW Jérémie Boga
8 Dominican Republic MF Pablo Rosario
9 Nigeria FW Terem Moffi
10 Morocco MF Sofiane Diop
11 France MF Morgan Sanson
14 Algeria FW Billal Brahimi
19 Algeria MF Badredine Bouanani
20 France DF Tom Louchet
21 Sweden FW Isak Jansson
22 France MF Tanguy Ndombele
23 France MF Gabin Bernardeau
24 France FW Gaëtan Laborde
No. Position Player
25 France FW Mohamed-Ali Cho
26 France DF Melvin Bard
27 Guinea FW Aliou Baldé
28 Sierra Leone DF Juma Bah (on loan from Manchester City)
29 Ivory Coast FW Evann Guessand
30 Poland GK Bartosz Zelazowski
31 France GK Maxime Dupé
33 Senegal DF Antoine Mendy
44 France DF Amidou Doumbouya
45 Nigeria FW Victor Orakpo
49 Cameroon FW Bernard Nguene
55 Burundi MF Youssouf Ndayishimiye
64 Canada DF Moïse Bombito
77 Algeria GK Teddy Boulhendi
80 Senegal GK Yehvann Diouf
92 France DF Jonathan Clauss

Players on Loan

No. Position Player
Italy DF Mattia Viti (at Fiorentina until 30 June 2026)
Guinea MF Issiaga Camara (at Dijon until 30 June 2025)
No. Position Player
Romania MF Rareș Ilie (at Empoli until 30 June 2026)

Retired Jersey Numbers

No. Position Player
17 France MF Kévin Anin

Famous Former Players

Many great players have played for OGC Nice. Here are some who played in at least 100 official matches for the club:

Club Management

Club Officials

RC Lens - US Orléans (09-03-2020) 61
Franck Haise is the current head coach of the club
  • Owner: Ineos
  • President: Jean-Pierre Rivère
  • Director of Football: Florian Maurice
  • Head Coach: Franck Haise
  • Assistant Coaches: Lilian Nalis, Johann Ramaré, Sébastien Squillaci
  • Goalkeeping Coach: Stéphane Cassard

Coaching History

Dates Coach
1932–1933 Scotland Jim McDewitt
1933–1934 Austria Hans 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
1982–1987 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)
2023–2024 Italy Francesco Farioli
2024– France Franck Haise

Club Achievements

French Competitions

  • Ligue 1 (Top French League)
    • Champions (4): 1950–51, 1951–52, 1955–56, 1958–59
    • Second Place: 1967–68, 1972–73, 1975–76
  • Ligue 2 (Second French League)
    • Champions (4): 1947–48, 1964–65, 1969–70, 1993–94
    • Second Place: 1984–85
  • Coupe de France (French Cup)
    • Winners (3): 1951–52, 1953–54, 1996–97
    • Runners-up: 1977–78, 2021–22
  • Trophee des Champions (French Super Cup)
    • Winners: 1970
    • Runners-up: 1956, 1959, 1997

Other Competitions

  • Latin Cup
    • Runners-up (1): 1952

Sponsors

Main Sponsor

Kit Sponsor

  • Italy Kappa

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Olympique Gymnaste Club de Niza para niños

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