Nîmes Olympique
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| Nîmes Olympique | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Nîmes Olympique Football Club |
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| Nickname(s) | Les crocodiles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Founded | 10 April 1937 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Stade des Costières, Nimes (Capacity 18,442) |
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| Chairman | Jean-Louis Gazeau | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Manager |  Régis Brouard |
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| League | Ligue 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2007-08 | National, 3rd | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Nîmes Olympique is a football (soccer) team based in Nîmes, France, founded on April 10, 1937. Prior to this, it was known as Sporting Club Nîmois.
Nimes Olympique currently (as of 2008) plays in Ligue 2 - the second level of French soccer. They have a fierce group of fans ("Ultras") known as the "Gladiators".
Their greatest achievement was winning Ligue 2 in the 1949/1950 season. They also won the Championnat National in 1997.
Former players include Eric Cantona, Laurent Blanc, Wilson Oruma, Mickaël Pagis, Cyril Jeunechamp and Bernard Boissier.
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[edit] Sporting Club Nîmois
The Sporting Club Nîmois (SCN) was founded in 1901 by Henri Monnier, who, at the age of 21, had just returned from a 2 year trip to England. He decided to start a new team in Nimes, 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 Olympique Marseille in the first round.
The club suspended activities due to World War I on April 15, 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.
[edit] Nîmes Olympique
[edit] Stadium
The team moved to the Stade des Costières de Nîmes on February 15, 1989, celebrating with a game featuring the French national team. A number of Dutch players including Dennis Bergkamp made guest appearances for Nimes.[citation needed]
The first league match at the stadium was on March 4 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 1991-1992 season, in a Ligue 1 game against Olympique Marseille. The French national team also played an international game against Greece, just before Euro 96, with an attendance of 23,420.
The standard capacity of the stadium is 18,482, due to security concerns.
[edit] Honours
- Ligue 1 runners-up - 1958, 1959, 1960, 1972.
- Ligue 2 champions - 1950.
- Ligue 2 runners-up - 1991.
- Championnat National champions - 1997.
- Coupe de France finalists - 1958, 1961, 1996.
- Coppa delle Alpi - 1971
- Coupe Drago winners - 1956.
- Coupe Gambardella winners - 1961, 1966, 1969, 1977.
[edit] Squad
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[edit] Famous players
For a complete list of Nîmes Olympique players, see Category:Nîmes Olympique players
Hassan Akesbi- Laurent Blanc
- Bernard Boissier
- Eric Cantona
José Luis Cuciuffo-
Kader Firoud - René Girard
- Jacky Novi
- Christian Perez
- Frédéric Piquionne
- José Daniel Ponce
[edit] Coaches
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[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Club site (French)
- French Football Federation
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1933-34 • 1934-35 • 1935-36 • 1936-37 • 1937-38 • 1938-39 • 1945-46 • 1946-47 |
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