Nîmes Olympique
 | ||||
| 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.
Contents
1 History
2 Players
2.1 Current squad
2.2 Reserve squad
2.3 Notable players
3 Managers
4 Honours
5 Miscellaneous
6 References
7 External links
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 21 December 2018.[2]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
Reserve squad
As of 21 December 2018[3]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
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- Jean-Pierre Adams
- William Ayache
- Ivan Bek
- Pierre Bernard
- Laurent Blanc
- Bernard Boissier
- Éric Cantona
- André Chardar
- Johann Charpenet
- Paul Chillan
- Patrick Cubaynes
- Johnny Ecker
- Jean-Marc Ferratge
- Kader Firoud
- René Girard
- Edmond Haan
- Mahi Khennane
- Maurice Lafont
- Michel Mézy
- Jacky Novi
- Christian Perez
- Frédéric Piquionne
- Benoît Poulain
- Bernard Rahis
- Henri Skiba
- Joseph Ujlaki
- Philippe Vercruysse
- Jacky Vergnes
- Alexandre Villaplane
- Anthony Vosahlo
Algeria
- Omar Belbey
- Ali Boulebda
- Rabah Gamouh
- Mahi Khennane
- Faouzi Mansouri
- Djamel Menad
- Mehdi Mostefa
- Abder Ramdane
- Amokrane Oualiken
- Abderraouf Zarabi
Argentina
- José Luis Cuciuffo
- Jorge Domínguez (footballer)
- José Daniel Ponce
Austria
- Heinz Schilcher
Belgium
- Roger Van Gool
Benin
- Mouritala Ogunbiyi
Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Mehmed Baždarević
Burkina Faso
- Issouf Ouattara
Cameroon
- Benjamin Moukandjo
Central African Republic
- Eloge Enza-Yamissi
- Manassé Enza-Yamissi
Comoros
- Mohamed M'Changama
Côte d'Ivoire
- Guy Demel
Croatia
- Darko Vukić
Czechoslovakia
- Adolf Scherer
- Dušan Tittel
Democratic Republic of Congo
- Alain Masudi
Denmark
- Kristen Nygaard
Ghana
- Arthur Moses
Hungary
- Vilmos Kohut
Liberia
- Edward Weah Dixon
Macedonia
- Milko Gjurovski
Mali
- Dramane Coulibaly
- Alphousseyni Keita
- Moussa Sidibé
Mauritania
- Moïse Kandé
Morocco
- Hassan Akesbi
- Adil Hermach
- Hassan Kachloul
- Mustapha Merry
Netherlands
- Ton Lokhoff
- Jan Poortvliet
Nigeria
- Wilson Oruma
Palestine
- Imad Zatara
Paraguay
- Sebastián Fleitas
- José Parodi
Poland
- Jan Domarski
Republic of the Congo
- Ladislas Douniama
- François Makita
Republic of Ireland
- Jacko McDonagh
England
- Daniel Richardson
Romania
- Ion Pârcălab
- Florea Voinea
Scotland
- Alec Cheyne
- Andrew Wilson
Senegal
- Aliou Cissé
- Lamine Sakho
- Mamadou Seck
Serbia
- Nenad Kovačević
Slovakia
- Dušan Tittel
Togo
- Komlan Amewou
- Jonathan Ayité
- Robert Malm
Yugoslavia
- Mehmed Baždarević
- Ivan Bek
- Milko Gjurovski
- Josip Pirmajer
- Fadil Vokrri
Managers
Vilmos Kohut (1939–40)
Marcel Gebelin (1940–42)[4]
Louis Gabrillargues (1942–46)
René Dedieu (1946–48)
Pierre Pibarot (1948–55)
Kader Firoud (1955–64)
Pierre Pibarot (1964–67)
Marcel Rouvière (1967)
Marcel Tomazover (1967–69)
Kader Firoud (1969–78)
Henri Noël (1978–82)
Pierre Barlaguet (1982–84)
Marcel Domingo (Aug 1984–86)
Kristen Nygaard (1986–87)
Jean Sérafin (1987–88)
Bernard Boissier (1988–90)
Daniel Romeo (1990–91)
René Girard (1991–92)
Michel Mézy (1992)
Léonce Lavagne (1992–93)
Michel Mézy (1993)
René Exbrayat (1993–94)
Josip Skoblar (1994 – Oct 94)
René Girard (Oct 1994 – Dec 94)
Pierre Barlaguet (Dec 1994–96)
Pierre Mosca (1996–99)
Serge Delmas (1999–00)
Dominique Bathenay (2000 – 1 Dec)
Bernard Boissier (Dec 2001–02)
François Brisson and Armand Sene (2002–03)
Patrick Champ (April 2003-03)
Didier Ollé-Nicole (2003–05)
Régis Brouard (2005–07)
Laurent Fournier (2007)
Jean-Luc Vannuchi (2007–08)
Jean-Michel Cavalli (2008–10)
Noël Tosi (2010–11)
Thierry Froger (2011–12)
Victor Zvunka (2012–Dec 13)
René Marsiglia (Dec 2013–14)
José Pasqualetti (2014–Nov 15)
Bernard Blaquart (2015–)
Honours
Ligue 1
Runners-up: 1958, 1959, 1960, 1972
Ligue 2
Champions: 1950
Runners-up: 2018
Championnat National
Champions: 1997, 2012
Coupe de France
Runners-up: 1958, 1961, 1996
Trophée des Champions
Runners-up: 1971
Coppa delle Alpi
Runners-up: 1971
Coupe Drago
Runners-up: 1956
Coupe Gambardella
Champions: 1961, 1966, 1969, 1977
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
^ http://www.ligue1.com/ligue2/article/nimes-clinch-promotion.htm
^ "Effectif" (in French). nimes-olympique.com. Retrieved 1 March 2018..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ "SAISON 2018-2019 NATIONAL 2". nimes-olympique.com. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
^ France – Trainers of First and Second Division Clubs
External links
Official website
(in French)
