Nîmes Olympique
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| Full name | Nîmes Olympique Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Les crocodiles |
| Founded | 10 April 1937 |
| Ground |
Stade des Costières, Nîmes |
| Capacity | 18,482 |
| Chairman | Christian Perdrier |
| Manager | Bernard Blaquart |
| League | Ligue 2 |
| 2015–16 | Ligue 2, 14th |
| Website | Club home page |
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 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. The team is managed by Bernard Blaquart.
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 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 1991–92 season, in a Ligue 1 game against Marseille.
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