Olympique Gymnaste Club de Nice (French pronunciation:[ɔlɛ̃pikʒimnastklœbdənis]), commonly referred to asOGC Nice or simplyNice, is a French professionalfootball club based inNice. The club was founded in 1904 and currently plays inLigue 1, the top tier ofFrench football. Nice plays its home matches at theAllianz Riviera.
Nice was founded under the nameGymnaste Club de Nice and is one of thefounding members of the first division of French football. The club has won Ligue 1 four times, theTrophée des Champions one time and theCoupe de France three times. It achieved most of its honours in the 1950s with the club being managed by coaches such asNuma Andoire, EnglishmanWilliam Berry, andJean Luciano. The club's last honour was winning the Coupe de France in 1997 after defeatingGuingamp 4–3 on penalties inthe final. Nice's colours are red and black.
During the club's successful run in the 1950s, Nice was among the first French clubs to successfully integrate international players into the fold. Notable players includeHéctor de Bourgoing,Pancho Gonzales,Victor Nurenberg, andJoaquín Valle, the latter being the club's all-time leading goalscorer and arguably the greatest player.[3]
Gymnaste Club 'Azur was founded in the residential district of Les Baumettes on 9 July 1904 under the nameGymnaste Club. The club was founded by Marquis de Massingy d'Auzac, who served as president of theFédération Sportive des Alpes-Maritimes (lit.'Alpes-Maritimes Sporting Federation'). Akin to its name, the club primarily focused on the sports of gymnastics and athletics. On 6 July 1908, in an effort to remain affiliated with the FSAM and also join the amateur federationUSFSA, the head of French football at the time,Gymnaste Club de Nice split into two sections with the new section of the club being namedGymnastes Amateurs Club de Nice. The new section spawned a football club and, after two seasons, the two clubs merged. On 20 September 1919, Nice merged with the local clubGallia Football Athlétic Club and, subsequently, adopted the club's red and black combination. In 1920, the club was playing in the Ligue du Sud-Est, a regional league under the watch of theFrench Football Federation. While playing in the league, Nice developed rivalries withCannes andMarseille. On 22 December 1924, the club changed its name toOlympique Gymnaste Club de Nice.
In July 1930, the National Council of theFrench Football Federation voted 128–20 in support of professionalism in French football. Nice, along with most clubs from southern France, were among the first clubs to adopt the new statute and subsequently became professional and were founding members of the new league. In theleague's inaugural season, Nice finished seventh in its group. In thefollowing season, Nice finished 13th and were relegated from the league. The club did not play league football in the ensuing season and returned to French football in 1936 playing in Division 2. Nice spent the next three years playing in the second division. In 1939, professional football in France was abolished due toWorld War II. Nonetheless, Nice continued to play league football under amateur status with the club participating in the Ligue du Sud-Est in 1939 and the Ligue du Sud in the following seasons.
After World War II, Nice returned to professional status and was inserted back into the second division. The club achieved promotion back to the first division for the1948–49 season under the leadership of the Austrian managerAnton Marek. After two seasons of finishing in the top ten, Nice, now led by managerJean Lardi, achieved its first-ever honour by winning the league title in the1950–51 season. Led byFrench internationalsMarcel Domingo,Antoine Bonifaci,Abdelaziz Ben Tifour, and Jean Courteaux, as well as the Argentine duo ofPancho Gonzales andLuis Carniglia and the SwedePär Bengtsson, Nice won the league despite finishing equal on points withLille. Nice was declared champions due to having more wins (18) than Lille (17).[4] In the following season, under new managerNuma Andoire, Nice wonthe double after winning both the league and the Coupe de France. In the league, the club defended its title by holding off bothBordeaux and Lille. In the Coupe de France final, Nice faced Bordeaux and defeated theAquitaine club 5–3 courtesy of goals from five different players.
Nice continued its solid run in the decade by winning the Coupe de France for the second time in 1954. The club, now being led by a young and unknownJust Fontaine, faced southern rivals Marseille and earned a 2–1 victory withVictor Nuremberg and Carniglia scoring the goals. Carniglia retired from football after the season and began managing Nice. Inhis first season in charge, Nice won the league for a third time after being chased for the entire season by rivals Marseille and Monaco, as well asLens andSaint-Étienne. After the campaign, Fontaine departed the club forStade de Reims. Three seasons later, Nice won the last title of the decade in 1959. The club finished the decade (1950–1959) with four league titles and two Coupe de France trophies. Nice also appeared inEuropean competition for the first time in the1956–57 season, losing toReal Madrid in the quarter-finals.
In subsequent decades, Nice struggled to equal the success of the 1950s with Reims and, later Saint-Étienne eclipsing the club in the 1960s and '70s. During this time, Nice regularly competed in Division 1 with the exception of two seasons in Division 2 in 1965 and 1970. In 1973 and 1976, Nice achieved a second-place finish in the league, its best finish since winning the league in 1959. However, following the latter finish, the club finished in lower positions in the next six seasons and was relegated in the1981–82 season after finishing 19th. Nice played three seasons in the second division before returning to the top flight in 1985. After six seasons of mid-table finishes, Nice was back in Division 2.
In 1997, Nice, now back in the first division, stunned many after winning the Coupe de France. However, the victory did not shock most French football enthusiasts mainly due to the club's competition in the run-up to the final in which Nice faced only Division 2 clubs, save for first division clubBastia. Inthe final, Nice defeatedGuingamp 5–4 on penalties to earn cup success. On a sourer note, Nice were relegated from the first division only days after winning the Coupe de France in dead last in the league. The club spent five seasons inLigue 2 and returned toLigue 1 for the2001–02 season. In the lead-up to the season, Nice failed to meet the financial requirements set by theDNCG and was subsequently relegated to theChampionnat National, the third level of French football. However, after achieving stability, mainly due to selling a few players, Nice was allowed into Ligue 1 after successfully appealing. In the2005–06 season, Nice made it to the final of theCoupe de la Ligue in2006, losing toNancy 2–1.
In 2016, a Chinese and American consortium led byChien Lee and Alex Zheng purchased 80% of the club.[5] In the2016–17 Ligue 1 season, Nice finished third in the final standings and qualified for the third round of theUEFA Champions League.[6]
On June 11, 2018,Patrick Vieira was announced as Nice manager, replacingLucien Favre.[7] In the 2018–19 season, Nice finished in 7th place on the table.[8]
In July 2019, it was announced thatJim Ratcliffe acquired the French club for a reported €100 million.[9]
After a run of poor form saw Nice sitting in 11th place in Ligue 1 and eliminated from the Europa League, manager Patrick Vieira was sacked. Vieira's assistant, Adrian Ursea, took over as caretaker. Nice would finish the2020–21 Ligue 1 season in ninth place on the table.[10]
On 28 June 2021,Christophe Galtier was appointed as the new head coach.[11] On 27 June 2022, Lucien Favre returned to Nice as manager.[12]
After a complicated first part of the season, Lucien Favre was fired. He was replaced by the coach of the reserve teamDidier Digard.[13] For the following season,Francesco Farioli was appointed as the next head coach.[14]In the2023–24 Ligue 1 season, Nice qualified for theUEFA Europa League finishing in 5th place on the table.[15]
From 1927 until 2013, Nice played its home matches at theStade du Ray. The stadium is, however, officially known as the Stade Léo-Lagrange, named after a French politician who had a stint in politics as the assistant secretary of state for sport. The Stade du Ray went through many renovations, most recently in 1997 and had a capacity of 17,415. The stadium was popular with supporters for being located in the centre of the city, but suffered from its old structure and small capacity, as the Nice metropolitan area has over one million residents.
Nice began to attempt to build a new stadium in 2002. In its first attempt, the club was heavily criticised by local politicians who questioned the usefulness and format of the stadium. Despite the critics, however, the club's proposition passed and excavation of the site in the plain ofVar, at Nice-Lingostière, began in July 2006. The Tribunal administration of Nice cancelled the project for irregularities committed concerning the fixation of the price of tickets. In October 2008, the newdeputy mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, declared that Nice would have a new stadium "no later than 2013". The new stadium was to be built at the same place as before, at Nice-Lingostière.
On 22 September 2009, French newspaperL'Équipe reported the Grand Stade Nice had been selected by the French Football Federation (FFF) as 1 of the 12 stadiums to be used in the country's bid to hostUEFA Euro 2016. The FFF officially made its selections on 11 November 2009, and the city of Nice was selected as a site to host matches during the tournament.[16]The construction of theAllianz Riviera started in 2011 and was completed in September 2013.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Below are the notable former players who have represented Nice inleague and international competition since the club's foundation in 1904. To appear in the section below, a player must have played in at least 100 official matches for the club.
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