OGC Nice

Nice
Olympique Gymnaste Club de Nice-Côte d'Azur's emblem
Full name Olympique Gymnaste Club
de Nice-Côte d'Azur
Nickname(s) Les Aiglons, Le Gym or I'OGCN
Founded 1904
Ground Stade Municipal du Ray,
Nice
(Capacity: 17,415)
Chairman Maurice Cohen
Manager France Éric Roy (Caretaker)
League Ligue 1
2009–10 Ligue 1, 15th
Home colours
Away colours
Third colours

Olympique Gymnaste Club Nice Côte d'Azur (French pronunciation: [ɔlɛ̃pik ʒim.nas nis koʊt daˈzür]; commonly referred to as OGC Nice or simply Nice) is a French football club based in Nice. The club was founded in 1904 and currently plays in the top tier of French football, Ligue 1, having finished 15th in the 2009–10 campaign.

OGC Nice is one of the founding members of the first division of French football and, along with Marseille, Rennes, and Sochaux, is the only club to have played in the inaugural 1932–33 season and still be playing in the first division as of today. The club has won the Ligue 1 championships four times, all coming in the 1950s, and has lifted the Coupe de France three times, the most recent being in 1997. Nice's colors are red and black and the first-team is coached by Éric Roy.

Contents

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 Fédération 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 more 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

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 June 29, 2010. [1] Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 Colombia GK David Ospina
2 Argentina DF Renato Civelli
3 France DF Alain Cantareil
4 Serbia DF Nemanja Pejcinovic (on loan from FK Rad)
5 Democratic Republic of the Congo DF Larrys Mabiala
8 France MF David Hellebuyck (captain)
9 Benin FW Mickaël Poté
10 Mali MF Mahamane Traoré
11 Gabon MF Eric Mouloungui
12 Ghana MF Abeiku Quansah
14 Côte d'Ivoire MF Emerse Faé
No. Position Player
15 Côte d'Ivoire MF Kafoumba Coulibaly
16 France GK Lionel Letizi
17 Tunisia MF Chaouki Ben Saada
18 France DF Ismaël Gace
19 Ghana DF Jonathan Quartey
20 Mali FW Mamadou Bagayoko
21 Burkina Faso FW Habib Bamogo
23 Mali DF Drissa Diakité
26 France MF Anthony Mounier
27 France MF Julien Sablé
28 France DF Grégory Paisley

Staff

Sports

Head Coach: Éric Roy

Assistant Coach: Frédéric Gioria

Goalkeeper Coach: Bruno Valencony

Fitness Coach: René Marsiglia

Team Manager: Jean-Philippe Gilardi

Medical

Physioherapeut: Nicolas Dyon

Masseur: Philippe Boulon

Advisor: Rémy García

Kit Manager: François Ricci

Selected former players

For a complete list of OGC Nice players, see Category:OGC Nice players

Belgium
  • Belgium Roberto Bisconti
  • Belgium Fernand Goyvaerts
  • Belgium Philippe Léonard
Brazil
  • Brazil Yeso Amalfi
  • Brazil Ederson
Cote d'Ivoire
  • Côte d'Ivoire Bakari Koné
  • Côte d'Ivoire Ibrahim Touré
France
  • France Marcel Aubour
  • France Dominique Baratelli
  • France Patrick Barul
  • France Daniel Bravo
  • France André Chorda
  • France José Cobos
  • France Dominique Colonna
  • Uruguay France Carlos Curbelo
  • Argentina France Héctor de Bourgoing
  • France Olivier Echouafni
  • France Patrice Evra
  • France Just Fontaine
  • France Jean-Marc Guillou
  • France Vincent Hognon
  • France Jean-Noël Huck
  • France Cyril Jeunechamp
  • France Roger Jouve
  • France Jean Luciano
  • France Roger Piantoni
  • France Hervé Revelli
  • Hungary France Joseph Ujlaki
Ghana
  • Ghana Derek Asamoah
Israel
  • Israel Alon Mizrahi
Lithuania
  • Lithuania Edgaras Jankauskas
Luxembourg
  • Luxembourg Robby Langers
Mali
  • Mali Cédric Kanté
Morocco
  • Morocco Mustapha El Haddaoui
Nigeria
  • Nigeria Nduka Ozokwo
Peru
  • Peru Gustavo Vasallo
Spain
Sweden
  • Sweden Leif Eriksson
  • Sweden Däniel Johansson
Turkey
  • Turkey Lefter Küçükandonyadis
Yugoslavia
  • Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Nenad Bjeković
  • Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Bosnia and Herzegovina Josip Katalinski

Managerial history

  • Austria France Anton Marek (1948–49)
  • France Émile Veinante (1949–50)
  • England Elie Rous (1950)
  • France Numa Andoire (1950–52)
  • France Mario Zatelli (1952–53)
  • England George Berry (1953–55)
  • Argentina Luis Carniglia (1955–57)
  • France Jean Luciano (1957–62)
  • France Numa Andoire (1962–64)
  • Argentina France Pancho Gonzales (1964–69)
  • Rossi (1969–70)
  • France Jean Snella (1971–74)
  • Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Vlatko Marković (1974–76)
  • France Jean-Marc Guillou (1976–77)
  • Hungary France Ferenc "Ferry" Kocsur (1978)
  • France Albert Batteux (1979)
  • Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Vlatko Marković (1980–81)
  • France Marcel Domingo (1981–82)
  • France Jean Sérafin (1982–87)
  • Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Nenad Bjekovic (1987–89)
  • France Pierre Alonzo (1989)
  • Argentina Carlos Bianchi (1989–90)
  • France Jean Fernandez (July 1990–December 90)
  • France Jean-Noël Huck (December 1990–92)
  • France Albert Emon (1992–96)
  • France Daniel Sanchez (1996)
  • Serbia and Montenegro Sylvester Takac (1996–97)
  • Belgium Michel Renquin (1997–98)
  • Serbia and Montenegro Sylvester Takac (1998)
  • France Victor Zvunka (1998–99)
  • France Guy David (1999–00)
  • Italy Sandro Salvioni (2000–02)
  • Germany Gernot Rohr (2002–05)
  • France Gérard Buscher (2005)
  • France Frédéric Antonetti (2005–09)
  • France Didier Ollé-Nicolle (2009–10)
  • France Éric Roy (2010–)

[2]

References

External links