Nîmes Olympique

Nîmes Olympique

Full name	Nîmes Olympique Football Club
Nickname(s)	Les crocodiles
Founded	10 April 1937
Ground	Stade des Costières, Nîmes (Capacity: 18,482)
Chairman	Jean-Louis Gazeau
Manager	Vacant
League	Championnat National
2010-11	Ligue 2, 19th (relegated)
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours Third colours

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 play in Championnat National, the third level of French football. The club's only achievement was winning Ligue 2 in 1950 and the Championnat National in 1997. Nîmes plays its home matches at the Stade des Costières located within the city. The team is managed by Thierry Froger.

History

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 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 Olympique Marseille in the first round.

The club suspended activities due to World War I 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 1991–1992 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. On this occasion, France won 3-1 with two goals by Patrice Loko and one by Zinedine Zidane.

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 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 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. In September 1996, in the Round of 32, Nîmes beat Budapest Honved FC ((1:2) (0:2)), before losing to AIK Stockholm in the next round.

Players

Current squad

As of 28 June, 2011^[1]

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Haidar Al-Shaïbani 3 DF Maxime Poundjé 4 MF Sébastien Piocelle 5 DF Miodrag Stošić 6 MF Jonathan Parpeix 7 MF Komlan Amewou 8 FW Wilfried Niflore 9 FW Romain Thibault 10 FW Nicolas Benezet 11 MF Mouritala Ogunbiyi 12 FW Seydou Koné 14 FW Grégory Dutil 15 FW Lamine Diarrassouba 16 GK Cyrille Merville

No. Position Player 17 MF Florian Sansone 18 DF Benoît Poulain 19 DF Moussa Sidibé 20 DF Vincent Carlier 21 DF Yassine Haddou 22 DF Aurélien Boche 23 MF Emmanuel Corrèze 24 FW Steve Haguy 25 FW Renaud Ripart 26 MF Alphousseyni Keita 27 FW Issouf Ouattara 28 MF Malik Hsissane 29 DF Arnaud Farras 30 GK Gauthier Gallon

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

Managers

Honours

• Ligue 2
  • Champions: 1950
• Championnat National
  • Champions: 1997
• 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

External links

• Club site (French)