Winner of the Coupe de France, FC Nantes ended 21 years without a trophy. An anomaly finally repaired for a club eight times champion of France.
April 21, 1943: Creation of the club
The Nantes Football Club was founded in Nantes on April 21, 1943. It resulted from the merger between several already existing Nantes clubs, but it was the Saint-Pierre de Nantes club that took the name of Nantes Football Club. Jean Le Guillou and Marcel Saupin are the co-founders. The FCN is then created “to develop, through the practice of football, the physical and moral strength of young people and to create between all the members, bonds of friendship and solidarity”according to its founding principle.
1960: Invention of the Nantes game
In the summer of 1960, club president Jean Clerfeuille was looking for a coach. It is the candidacy of José Arribas which is retained. Henri Guérin, then coach of neighboring Rennes and friend of the President of Nantes, warmly recommends him to the latter. He revolutionizes the club with his vision of the game. The tactician opts for a short, fast and offensive game. When, in 1990, the expression de jeu à la nantaise appeared in the French press, he was considered to be the one behind this philosophy of play.
1er June 1963: First climb
It was on the evening of June 1, 1963, after a 3-1 victory against Sochaux, that the 16,959 Nantes residents present in the stadium obtained their first promotion to the top flight. André Strappe, Pancho Gonzales, Jean Guillot or even Raymond Fiori and Yves Jort are the major players in this climb.
May 30, 1963: First championship won
Two years after their first rise in the elite of French football, the Canaries surprise by winning their first title of champion of France, with a victory by the score of 2 to 1 against the Monegasques, at the Malakoff stadium (which will later become the Marcel Saupin stadium). Jacques Simon and Ramon Muller will be the two scorers and the two stars in this season where the FCN will also win a League Cup.
1966: Henri Michel joins FC Nantes
For the 1966/1967 season, the FCN saw the arrival of Henri Michel from Aix-en-Provence. The defensive midfielder will quickly establish himself as an indisputable starter and captain. He will play 532 matches in the 1st Division (which is a record), over 16 seasons with the club, he will win three French championships and a League Cup, and will score 95 goals. Undoubtedly one of the greatest careers of a player within the club.
1978: creation of La Jonelière
In 1978, the FCN opened the Nantes training center of La Jonelière, far from the city center. A location chosen specifically for the tranquility it offers, but also because it will allow the establishment of a huge sports complex and an ultra-innovative training center for the time, in France. The facilities made available to players will be at the forefront of what is being done at the time and will in the future become a model for other French clubs wishing to structure and develop.
June 4, 1976 – April 7, 1981: Marcel Saupin, the fortress
From June 4, 1976 until April 7, 1981, the Marcel Saupin stadium will be the scene of the greatest home unbeaten streak of a French championship team in its entire history. The Nantes will then maintain an invincibility at home which they will bring to 92 matches without defeat. Under the orders of Jean Vincent, Nantes won their fourth title of champions of France in 1977.
1982: New coach, new era
1982 represents the end of one cycle and the beginning of another with the departure, among others, of Henri Michel and Gilles Rampillon. Director of the Nantes training center from 1972 to 1982, JeanClaude Suaudeau will become the coach at the end of the 1981 season. Designated as the spiritual heir of the legendary coach José Arribas, he will win the title of champion of France in his first season. , with in its ranks in particular Vahid Halilhodzic, top scorer in the championship with 27 goals. Many consider this team to be the club’s best in all seasons.
April 28, 1984: Last match at the Marcel Saupin stadium
After a last title in 1983, the FCN bid farewell to Saupin on April 28, 1984. A stadium that has a big place in the hearts of Nantes supporters. He remains the witness of the creation of the club, then of the Nantes dynasty for more than 40 years, from the mid-1940s until the mid-1980s. For the anecdote, FC Nantes won against the Greens of AS Saint-Etienne sending them to the 2nd Division.
Opening of the new La Beaujoire stadium
Located in the North-East of Nantes, the Louis Fonteneau stadium, official name of the main stadium of the city of Nantes, better known as the Beaujoire stadium, was born in 1984. It was on May 8, 1984 that the FC Nantes players will play their first match on the lawn of Beaujoire during a friendly match against Romania. It had a capacity of 52,923 places at the time, today it has 35,322, all seated.
January 27, 1985: Attendance record
On January 27, 1985, FC Nantes achieved its attendance record at the La Beaujoire stadium when it hosted the Girondins de Bordeaux (0-1), with 44,297 spectators. Note that the record will no longer be achievable in this stadium since it has seen its capacity reduced to around 35,000 seats since.
1994-1995: Record season
Record season for the Yellow and Green crowned champions of France with only 1 defeat throughout the season in the league, against Strasbourg. FC Nantes then achieved a series of 32 matches without a single defeat, a record for the time, formerly held by PSG with 27 matches.
April 1996: Best European Cup result
Despite a disappointing 7th place in the league, Nantes enjoyed their best European run in their history during the 1995/1996 season. On April 3, 1996, FC Nantes discovered the semi-finals of the Champions League. After having eliminated Spartak Moscow in the quarter-finals, the Nantes face Juventus of Turin, they will bow on the cumulative score of 4 to 3.
May 12, 2001: 8th French championship
Under the orders of Reynald Denoueix, the Canaries win their 8th title of champion of France, their last to date. It’s a success against Stéphanois (10, Vahirua) which will give them this 8th title which raises them today to the 4th rank of clubs with the most championships in France, behind ASSE, PSG and OM.
9 May 2007: Relegation after more than 40 years in the top flight
The 2006/2007 season was catastrophic for the Nantes club, marked by the dismissal of two coaches, Serge Le Dizet and Georges Eo. It was on May 9 that the sentence fell: Nantes was officially relegated to D2 after 44 years spent in the elite of French football. Despite a victory against the Girondins de Bordeaux (0-1), the Niçois, direct competitors for the maintenance, snatched a victory against PSG and sealed the descent of FC Nantes Atlantique.
August 2, 2007: Waldemar Kita becomes owner
At the beginning of August 2007, FC Nantes Atlantique decided to resell it, the new owner was a Franco-Polish businessman named Waldemar Kita. At the time, the new owner loaned to be a football enthusiast, but wanted to make a break with the Nantes identity. Still current owner of the club, he is unanimous among Nantes supporters… who all want him to leave.
May 18, 2013: The FCN finds the elite
Winners on the smallest of scores, on May 18, 2013, against Sedan, the Canaries secured a 3rd place synonymous with a climb. 36,967 spectators will invade the lawn of the La Beaujoire stadium to celebrate the climb with the players. A logical return for one of the most historic clubs in the French championship.
August 23, 2018: Record transfer
On August 23, 2018, FC Nantes recorded the most expensive transfer in its history. Anthony Limbombe arrives from the Brugge club for 8.25 million euros. The left winger is the most expensive rookie ahead of Ludovic Blas (€8m) and Alban Lafont (€7.5m). However, he will not have left an imperishable memory to the supporters with only 4 goals in as many seasons. Note that the club’s most expensive sale is Diego Carlos for 15 million to Sevilla FC.
January 21, 2019: death of Emiliano Sala
On January 21, 2019, a small private plane took off from Nantes for Cardiff. On board, Nantes striker Emiliano Salah. We will lose track of it above the sea not far from the island of Guernsey. It is 15 days later that a body will be found. It will take three days to identify the body of the striker transferred to Cardiff City. His disappearance, the time for research and then the announcement of his death plunged the two clubs into dread. But it is the whole world of football that has been affected by this tragedy. This memory is still very painful today among Nantes supporters.
May 7, 2022: Victory in the Coupe de France 21 years after the last title
On May 7, Nantes won the Coupe de France against OGC Nice (1-0, goal by Ludovic Blas from the penalty spot). FC Nantes regains a trophy, 21 years after their last French championship in 2001. An extraordinary breath of fresh air for the supporters who had already invaded the lawn of La Beaujoire during the qualification for the semi-finals against AS Monaco ( 4 to 2 tabs). The Nantes ultra group, the Loire Brigade, took the opportunity to deploy a magnificent tifo.
Fanch Tessier-Merhand
Retro: from Marcel Saupin to Antoine Kombouaré, the history of FC Nantes