FC Nantes' style of football — the jeu à la nantaise— influenced a generation, and brought silverware to a club where Didier Deschamps, Claude Makelele and Marcel Desailly all first emerged.
History
Founded in 1943 by the fusion of five local clubs, Nantes have since become one of French football's iconic teams. They turned professional in 1945, and began in the second division. After a series of near-misses, they eventually managed to gain promotion to the top flight in 1962-63, and by 1965 had won the first of their eight league titles under José Arribas, who — as coach — would start a dynasty that has an influence on the club to this day.
His team, boasting the best defensive record and best attack, defended the title the following season. La Jonelière — Nantes' fabled youth academy — now bears the name of Arribas, who asked former players, notably Jean-Claude Suaudeau, to teach promising young talents the principles of the 'jeu à la nantaise', the Nantes style based on fluid passing and movement.
Arribas won a third league crown in 1972-73 before joining Olympique de Marseille three years later as AS Saint-Étienne dominated the decade. After Jean Vincent added two more league titles and had finished runner-up three times, Suaudeau took charge of the first team during the 1981-82 season. Suaudeau, who had been reserve team coach since 1969, picked up another title — and brought Deschamps into the first team — before Nantes' star began to wane.
They would win the league title twice more — in 1995 in Suaudeau's second spell, losing just one game all season, and 2000/01 under the club's former youth academy coach, Raynald Denoueix — to take their tally to eight. They have also won three Coupes de France, and reached the UEFA Champions League semi-finals in 1996.
Club colours
Nicknamed Les Canaris — the Canaries — for obvious reasons, the club's colours come from those used by jockeys riding 'Ali Pacha', a legendary horse owned by Jean Le Guillou, one of Nantes' founders.
Club icon: Didier Deschamps
France's FIFA World Cup-winning captain and coach started his playing career in the colours of Nantes. "My parents were great. They let me choose," explained Deschamps, who — in his mid-teens — had all of France's top clubs chasing him. "I opted for Nantes, because the club gave me certainty in terms of my schooling."
He would emerge alongside his future club and international teammate Desailly at Nantes, who would meet his parents monthly to tell them, "He'll be a pro and will play for France," according to Deschamps' father.
He made his Ligue 1 Uber Eats debut in September 1985, the first of over 100 competitive appearances for the club before he joined Marseille in 1989.
Stadium: Stade de la Beaujoire - Louis Fonteneau
Capacity: 35,322
Louis Fonteneau was Nantes president from 1969 to 1986, but though his name appears in the stadium's official title and he was a driving force behind its construction, it's mostly only known as 'La Beaujoire'. Opened in 1984, it replaced the former Stade Marcel-Saupin situated in the city centre, and was renovated before the 1998 FIFA World Cup during which it staged six games. Minor facelifts have been undertaken since, and more are expected before it hosts matches at the 2023 rugby union World Cup.
Ten iconic former players
Bernard Blanchet, Marcel Desailly, Didier Deschamps, Philippe Gondet, Vahid Halilhodzic, Mickaël Landreau, Claude Makelele, Henri Michel, Japhet N'Doram, Gilles Rampillon
Did you know?
Nantes held the record for successive top-flight seasons at 48 until Paris Saint-Germain surpassed that mark in 2018.
