Nîmes Olympique

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Nîmes
Nîmes Olympique 2018 logo.svg
Full nameNîmes Olympique
Nickname(s)Les Crocodiles (The Crocodiles)
Founded10 April 1937; 84 years ago (1937-04-10)
GroundStade des Costières,
Stade Nemausus (future)[1]
Capacity18,482
PresidentRani Assaf
Head coachPascal Plancque
LeagueLigue 2
2020–21Ligue 1, 19th of 20 (relegated)
WebsiteClub website
Current season

Nîmes Olympique (commonly referred to as simply Nîmes) is a French association football club based in Nîmes. The club was founded on 10 April 1937 and currently plays in Ligue 2, the second 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.

History[]

See also: Nîmes Olympique in European football

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 the war ended, it resumed its activities on 15 April 1919. In 1922, SCN united with another club from Nîmes, F.A. Nîmois, becoming a single club.

The new team, still under the name of Sporting Club Nîmois, was runner-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.

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. In turn, Cantona responded by walking up to each member of the hearing committee and calling them idiots. His ban was increased to two months, and Cantona subsequently announced his retirement from international football on 16 December 1991.

In 1995–96, Nîmes reached the final of the French Cup, allowing them to compete the following year in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. In September 1996, in the Round of 32, Nîmes beat Budapest Honvéd (4–1 on aggregate), before losing to AIK Stockholm in the next round (2-3 on aggregate).

On 5 May 2018, Nimes secured promotion back to Ligue 1 for the first time since the 1992–93 season after finishing second in Ligue 2.[2] In the 2018–19 season, Nimes enjoyed a happy return to Ligue 1 finishing 9th on the table.[3] In the shortened 2019–20 season, the team finished 18th and narrowly avoided relegation.

On 16 May 2021, following a 5–2 home defeat against Lyon and a 4–0 away win for Nantes at already relegated Dijon in matchday 37 out of 38, Nîmes confirmed its own relegation from Ligue 1 during the 2020–21 season.

Players[]

Current squad[]

As of 16 August 2021[4]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Norway NOR Per Kristian Bråtveit (on loan from Djurgården)
2 DF France FRA Kelyan Guessoum
4 DF France FRA Pablo Martinez
6 MF Senegal SEN Sidy Sarr
7 MF Sweden SWE Niclas Eliasson
9 FW Iceland ISL Elías Már Ómarsson
10 MF Algeria ALG Zinedine Ferhat
12 MF France FRA Lamine Fomba
13 FW Algeria ALG Karim Aribi
14 MF France FRA Antoine Valério
15 DF France FRA Gaëtan Paquiez
16 GK France FRA Lucas Dias
No. Pos. Nation Player
17 DF France FRA Théo Sainte-Luce
18 MF Paraguay PAR Andrés Cubas
19 DF France FRA Julien Ponceau (on loan from Lorient)
21 DF Martinique MTQ Patrick Burner
22 MF Morocco MAR Yassine Benrahou
23 DF France FRA Anthony Briançon (captain)
24 FW Mali MLI Mahamadou Doucouré
27 DF Japan JPN Naomichi Ueda
28 FW Senegal SEN Moussa Koné
30 GK France FRA Amjhad Nazih
30 MF France FRA Léon Delpech
33 DF France FRA Zaidan

Reserve squad[]

As of 4 November 2019[5]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
— GK France FRA Côme Charrier
— DF France FRA Alexandre Ferreira
— DF France FRA Jérémy Iafrate
— DF France FRA Enzo Fontanelli
— DF France FRA Matéo Maillefaud
— DF France FRA Julien Megier
— DF France FRA Mickaël Gas
— DF France FRA Adilson Malanda
— MF France FRA Kléri Serber
No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF France FRA Simon Calancha
— MF France FRA Nacim El Hassani
— MF France FRA Quentin Gregorio
— MF France FRA Hugo Huriez
— MF France FRA Houssine Labiad
— FW France FRA Luca Valls
— FW France FRA Axel Urie
— FW France FRA Timothy Cardona
— FW France FRA Marco Majouga

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

 Algeria

 Argentina

 Austria

 Belgium

 Benin

 Bosnia and Herzegovina

 Burkina Faso

 Cameroon

 Central African Republic

 Comoros

 Côte d'Ivoire

 Croatia

 Czechoslovakia

 Democratic Republic of Congo

 Denmark

  • Kristen Nygaard

 Ghana

 Hungary

 Liberia

 Macedonia

 Mali

 Mauritania

 Morocco

 Netherlands

 Nigeria

 Norway

 Palestine

 Paraguay

 Poland

  • Jan Domarski

 Republic of the Congo

 Republic of Ireland

 Romania

 Scotland

 Senegal

 Serbia

 Slovakia

 Togo

 Yugoslavia

Coaches[]

Honours[]

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 Georges 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[]

  1. ^ http://stade-nemausus.fr
  2. ^ http://www.ligue1.com/ligue2/article/nimes-clinch-promotion.htm
  3. ^ "Football : Nîmes conclut sa saison par une défaite face à Lyon aux Costières (2-3)". www.midilibre.fr.
  4. ^ "Effectif" (in French). nimes-olympique.com. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  5. ^ "SAISON 2020-2021 NATIONAL 2". nimes-olympique.com. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  6. ^ France – Trainers of First and Second Division Clubs

External links[]

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