Olympique Gymnaste Club Nice Cote d'Azur (French pronunciation"olepik zimnast kloeb nie[olepik zimnast kloeb) is often referred to in the form of OGC Nice as well as simply Nice is a French professional football club that is based in Nice. The club was established in 1904 and is currently within Ligue 1, the top league in French football. Nice hosts its home games on the Allianz Riviera.
Nice was established with the title Gymnaste Club de Nice and is among the first players of the premier division in French football. The club has been a winner of Ligue 1 four times, the Trophee of Champions once as well as the Coupe de France three times. The majority of the club's awards in the 1950s, with the club run by coaches like Numa Andoire Englishman William Berry, and Jean Luciano. The club's greatest achievement was to win the Coupe de France in 1997 after beating Guingamp 4-3 in penalties during the finale. Nice's colors are black and red.
The club's run was a success in the 1950s Nice were one of one of the first French club to incorporate international players into their group. The most notable players are Hector De Bourgoing, Pancho Gonzales, Victor Nurenberg, and Joaquin Valle, the latter being the club's most prolific goal scorer and possibly the best player.
Gymnaste Club 'Azur was founded in the residential area in Les Baumettes on 9 July 1904 under the name Gymnaste Club. The club was established in 1904 by Marquis de Massingy d'Auzac, who was head of Federation Sportive des Alpes-Maritimes (Alpes-Maritimes Sporting Federation). Similar to its name, the club's primary focus was the athletics and gymnastics. The 6th July of 1908 was in order to stay associated with the FSAM as well as become a member of the amateur association USFSA that was the leader of French soccer at that time Gymnaste Club de Nice was split into two sections, the new section called Gymnastes Amateurs Club de Nice. The new section was the birthplace of an football club, and after two years the two clubs joined. On September 20, 1919, Nice merged with local club Gallia Football Athletic Club. The club later adopted the club's black and red combination. In 1920 the club was participating within the Ligue du Sud-Est, a regional league that was under the supervision by the French Football Federation. In the league Nice established rivalries to Cannes in addition to Marseille. On 22nd December 1924 it changed the name of its club to Olympique Gymnaste Club de Nice.
In the month of July, 1930 in 1930, in July 1930, the National Council of the French Football Federation approved a vote of 128-20 to support professionalism in French football. Nice as well as the majority of clubs located in southern France are among the very first teams to sign the new rules and became professional and were the first members of the league. In the inaugural season of the league, Nice finished seventh in its group. The following year, Nice finished 13th and was relegated to the league. The club didn't play league football during the following season. They was back to French soccer in the year 1936 in Division 2. Nice was able to spend the following three years within the 2nd division. In 1939 professional football in France was eliminated because of World War II. However, Nice continued to play league football as an amateur club and Nice was part of the Ligue du Sud-Est in 1939 and then the Ligue du Sud in the subsequent seasons.
Following World War II, Nice was reinstated to professional status, and were returned to the 2nd division. The club was promoted into the top division during the 1948-49 season under management of Austrian director Anton Marek. After two years of being among the top ten spots, Nice was now ruled by director Jean Lardi, achieved its first-ever honor by winning the league title during the season 1950/51. The team was led by French internationals Marcel Domingo, Antoine Bonifaci, Abdelaziz Ben Tifour, and Jean Courteaux, as well as the Argentine duo of Pancho Gonzales and Luis Carniglia and the Swede Par Bengtsson. Nice was crowned league champions even though it was in the same position on points with Lille. Nice was named champions because it had greater winnings (18) over Lille (17). The subsequent season, under the newly appointed manager Numa Andoire Nice was crowned champions after winning the league as well as the Coupe de France. For the league competition, Nice was able to defend its title by holding off Bordeaux as well as Lille. The Coupe de France final, Nice was up against Bordeaux and lost to the Aquitaine club 5-3 , thanks to goals scored by several players.
Nice continued to enjoy a successful run throughout the decade, taking home the Coupe de France for the second time in 1954. The club, currently managed by a new and unproven Just Fontaine, faced southern rivals Marseille and won an 1-0 win which saw Victor Nuremberg and Carniglia scoring the goals. Carniglia quit football at the end of the season, and took over as manager of Nice. In his first year in the club, Nice won the league for the third time in a row after being pursued all season long from rivals Marseille and Monaco and Lens as well as Saint-Etienne. Following the season, Fontaine departed the club to join Stade de Reims. Three years following, Nice won the last title of the decade in the year 1959. The club ended its period (1950-1959) by winning four titles in the league as well as two Coupe de France trophies. Nice also participated at the level of European contest for the first time during the 1956-57 season. They lost against Real Madrid in the quarter-finals.
In the years following, Nice struggled to equal the glory in the 1950s, with Reims and later Saint-Etienne, which was able to surpass the club in the 1960s and 1970s. At this point, Nice regularly competed in Division 1 with the only two seasons of Division 2 in 1965 and 1970. Between 1973 and 1976 Nice was able to secure a 2nd-place finishing at the top of the table, which was its most successful finish since winning competition in 1958. After the second finishing, the club finished in lower positions over the subsequent six seasons and were then relegated for the 1981-82 season following finishing 19th. Nice was within the 2nd division prior to being promoted to the highest division in 1985. After six years of finishing in mid-table positions, Nice returned to Division 2.
The year 1997 saw Nice which is now in first division surprised many by winning it the Coupe de France. But, the win was not shocking to most French football fans due to the fact that the club played prior to the final match, where Nice played only Division 2 teams, with the exception for the first division club Bastia. In the final match, Nice won against Guingamp 5-4 in penalties to win the cup. In a more negative point, Nice were relegated from the first division just weeks after they won the Coupe de France in dead the last league. The club played 5 seasons playing within Ligue 2 and returned to Ligue 1 for the 2001-02 season. In the run-up to the start of the season, Nice was unable to fulfill the financial criteria that were set in the DNCG and was then moved into the Championnat National, the third grade that plays French football. But, once it had stabilized through the sale of several members, Nice was allowed in Ligue 1 after successfully appealing. In the 2005-06 season Nice reached Finale of Coupe de la Ligue in 2006 but lost to Nancy by a score of 2-1.
In 2016 the year 2016, a Chinese along with an American consortium headed by Chien Lee and Alex Zheng purchased 80% of the club. For the year 2016-17 Ligue 1 season, Nice placed at third place in its final league standings, and was able to qualify for the final round of the UEFA Champions League.
On the 11th of June, 2018, Patrick Vieira was announced as Nice manager to replace Lucien Favre. The 2018-19 campaign saw Nice was ranked 7th spot on the table.
In July it was revealed the news that Jim Ratcliffe acquired the French club for EUR100 million.
Following a slump in results led to Nice being ranked 11th at the top of Ligue 1 and eliminated from the Europa League, manager Patrick Vieira was dismissed. Vieira's assistant Adrian Ursea, took over as interim manager. Nice would end its 2020-21 Ligue 1 season in ninth position in the list.
On June 28, 2021 Christophe Galtier was appointed as head coach. On June 27, 2022 Lucien Favre returned to Nice as manager.
From 1927 to 2013 Nice was home to its matches from 1927 to 2013 at from 1927 until 2013. It was the Stade Municipal du Ray, commonly shortened to Stade du Ray. However, the stadium is officially referred to as the Stade Leo-Lagrange. The name is derived from Leo-Lagrange, a French politician who served an active political career as an vice secretary for state sports. It is the Stade du Ray has gone through several renovations, with the most recently in 1997, and has capacity of 17415. The stadium was well-loved by fans due to its location close to the heart of the city, however it was hampered by its age and limited capacity, considering that there is a lot of capacity in Nice metropolitan area is home to more than one million inhabitants.
Nice began the process of trying to construct a new stadium in 2002. At the beginning the club was condemned from local officials who doubted the value and design for the new stadium. However, despite the criticisms the club's proposal was accepted and the excavation of the site located in the plains of Var located in Nice-Lingostiere began in July. It was then that the Tribunal Administration of Nice was able to cancel the project due to violations committed in relation to the fixing of ticket prices. On October 28, 2008, Nice's then vice-mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, announced that Nice would be getting an additional arena "no later than 2013". This new venue was scheduled to be built in the same site as the previous one in Nice-Lingostiere.
On the 22nd September 2009 French publication L'Equipe reported that the Grand Stade Nice was chosen as a finalist by the French Football Federation (FFF) as one of the 12 stadiums to be utilized for France's campaign to host UEFA Euro 2016. The FFF officially announced its selections on the 11th of November, 2009 as well as the town of Nice was chosen as a location to host games in the tournament. It was constructed Allianz Riviera started in 2011 and was completed in September 2013.
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As of 18 September 2022.
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As of the 2021–22 season
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Below are the notable former players who have represented Nice in league 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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Participations. In September 2022, Nice had participated in 3 versions of the European Cup / UEFA Champions League.
1997
The club's greatest achievement came from taking home the Coupe de France in 1997 after beating Guingamp 4-3 with penalties during the last match.
OGC Nice is one of the most successful teams in France with the title of four national champions as well as the three Coupe de France victories. The OGC abbreviation means Olympique Gymnaste Club goes back to the beginning of the club's history when the club was renamed Gymnaste Club de Nice.
Nice, France
INEOS
INEOS Capital Limited is a British multinational chemical company that is headquartered and located in London. At the time of its 2021 anniversary it was the fourth-largest chemical company in the world.
Ligue 1
Coupe de France
22 August 2019
They later were crowned the winners of their 2019 Tour de France and 2021 Giro d'Italia with the Colombian cyclist Egan Bernal. On August 22, 2019 the French competition authority allowed the EUR100 million purchase by Ligue 1 club OGC Nice from Chinese-American businessman Chien Lee through Ineos.
There's a valid reason why the club is known as Le Gym. When it was established in 1904 it was the Gymnasts' football club in Nice but only adopted its Olympique Gymnaste Club Nice name for itself in 1924.
Ratcliffe's Ineos are the owners of French club Nice following the signing of a deal to buy Nice's Ligue 1 outfit for PS88.77million during the spring of 2019 With the British billionaire's team finishing in fifth place on the French top flight last season.