After a month of world football, just in time for a vacation, the French Ligue 1 championship resumes, much to the delight of hopeful OGC Nice fans eager for victories and great moments.
It is precisely this fanbase that was the foundational idea for the new advertising campaign by the agency “Pôle Company” for the red and black team. Nearly 30,000 people from Nice had traveled to the Stade de France and, this year, the messaging will particularly focus on the importance and role of the one who often plays as the crucial twelfth man.
President Cohen’s goal this year is to increase the number of season ticket holders to 8,000 (from 5,600 in the 2005-2006 season) and to finish in the top half of the highly competitive Ligue 1.
On the field, Frédéric Antonetti’s men played their first test match against their neighbors from Toulon, and it turned out to be a match to quickly forget both due to the score, 2-0 for Sporting Toulon Var, and the incidents that broke out in the stands, causing the match to be stopped at halftime. The Nice team included Damien Grégorini, Rod Fanni, Pancho Abardonado, Cédric Kanté, Cédric Varrault (c), Olivier Echouafni, Florent Balmont, Cyril Rool, Ederson, Marama Vahirua, and David Bellion.
The next preseason match for the eaglets is in Hyères, tomorrow, against a former Ligue 1 team, Football Club de Istres. Then, they will head to a training camp in Thonon Les Bains, where OGC Nice will face Tottenham (14/07 in Annemasse), Sochaux (18/07 in St Jean de Maurienne), Grenoble (21/07 in Aix Les Bains), and Celta Vigo (22/07 in Annecy). After that, they will return home with two more matches scheduled for July 28 against their neighbors AS Cannes and the following day at Ray Stadium against Lens.
The real challenges start on August 5 with a perilous trip to Le Mans, which finished in eleventh place in the 2005-2006 edition, before the season opener at Ray Stadium against the Nantes Canaries (https://www.fcna.fr) on August 12, in front of what is expected to be a large crowd during the summer period.
Let’s wish the eaglets a good preparation, and we look forward to seeing you at Ray Stadium on July 29 to see the red and black on the nice green rectangle again.