OGC Nice

Olympique Gymnaste Club Nice Côte d'Azur (French pronunciation: ​[ɔlɛ̃pik ʒimnast nis kot daˈzyʁ]; commonly referred to as OGC Nice or simply Nice) is a French association football club based in Nice. The club was founded in 1904 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the top-tier of French football. Nice plays its home matches at the Allianz Riviera. Nice is managed by Lucien Favre and captained by defender Paul Baysse.

Nice was founded under the name Gymnaste Club de Nice and is one of the founding members of the first division of French football. The club has won Ligue 1 four times and the Coupe de France three times. Nice achieved most of its honours in the 1950s with the club being managed by coaches such as Numa Andoire, Englishman William Berry and Jean Luciano. The club's last honour was winning the Coupe de France in 1997 after beating Guingamp 4–3 on penalties in the final. Nice's colours are red and black.

During the club's successful run in the 1950s, Nice were among the first French clubs to successfully integrate internationals players into the fold. Notable players include Héctor De Bourgoing, Pancho González, Victor Nurenberg and Joaquín Valle. Valle is the club's all-time leading goalscorer and, arguably, the club's greatest player.

Stadium

From 1927 until 2013, Nice played its home matches at the Stade Municipal du Ray, usually shortened to simply the Stade du Ray. The stadium is, however, officially known as the Stade Léo-Lagrange, named after a French politician who had a stint in politics as the assistant secretary of state for sport. The Stade du Ray has gone through many renovations, most recently being in 1997 and has a capacity of 17,415. The stadium is popular with supporters for being located in the centre of the city, but suffers from its old structure and small capacity, as the Nice metropolitan area has hope over one million residents.

Nice began to attempt to build a new stadium in 2002. In its first attempt, the club was heavily criticised by local politicians who questioned the usefulness and format of the stadium. Despite the critics, however, the club's proposition passed and excavation of the site in the plain of Var, at Nice-Lingostière, was set to begin in July 2006. The Tribunal administratif of Nice cancelled the project for irregularities committed concerning the fixation of the price of tickets. In October 2008, the new deputy mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, declared that Nice would have a new stadium "no later than 2013". The new stadium should be built at the same place as before, at Nice-Lingostière.

On 22 September 2009, French newspaper L'Équipe reported that the Grand Stade Nice had been selected by the French Football Federation (FFF) as one of the twelve stadiums to be used in the country's bidding for UEFA Euro 2016. The FFF officially made its selections on 11 November 2009, and the city of Nice was selected as a site to host matches during the tournament. The construction of the Allianz Riviera started in 2011 and completed in September 2013.