AS Nancy - History

History

Prior to the creation of AS Nancy, the city of Nancy was given host to football by FC Nancy and US Frontière. FC Nancy was formed in 1901, while Frontière was founded in 1910. Both clubs were a part of the Ligue de Lorraine. Frontière dissolved in 1935, while FC Nancy continued to play football through the professional transition. The club achieved very little during its 64 years of existence only winning the second division twice in 1946 and 1958. FC Nancy did reach the final of the Coupe de France in 1953 and 1962, however, on both appearances, the club lost to Lille and Saint-Étienne, respectively. In 1965, with the club enduring financial difficulties during the 1963–64 season, mainly due to the club being abandoned by the city's municipality and its supporters according to its president, Nancy folded shortly before of the new season.

The idea of a new club in the city was thought of by Claude Cuny in the spring of 1964. Cuny had previously worked with FC Nancy, but left the club prior to its destruction. Cuny is considered one of the leaders of French football mainly because of his innovative ideas and strategies. After forming Nancy, he created the first youth academy of French football. Prior to the club beginning its life as a football club, Cuny devised a strategy to immerse the club into the city's public. First, he sent out over 18,000 letters and petitions to draw interest to the team. Once the public gained notice, Cuny organized friendly matches in order to raise funds for the club. After accruing enough money, Cuny sought to turned the club professional, and, despite several setbacks, on 16 June 1967, Nancy were granted professional status and inserted into Division 2, the second level of French football. The club's first manager was Rene Pleimelding, a former French international who played for FC Nancy. Nancy, subsequently, recruited several former FC Nancy players such as Antoine Redin, as well as players from the region such as Michel Lanini, Gérard Braun, and Roger Formica.

In Nancy's inaugural season of football, the club finished 10th in the league table and reached the Round of 16 in the Coupe de France. Two seasons later, the club earned promotion to Division 1 and finished in 13th place in its first season in the league. In 1972, a player named Michel Platini arrived at the club and, initially, started out on the club's reserve team. Platini's first full season as a player came in the 1974–75 season while the club were playing in the second division having suffered relegation from Division the previous season. The season was a success for both club and player. Nancy achieved its first major honour winning Division 2, while Platini appeared in 32 league matches and scored 17 goals. In the ensuing three seasons in Division 1, Nancy, who were led by Platini, Jean-Michel Moutier, Carlos Curbelo, Paco Rubio, and Philippe Jeannol, finished in the top ten. Platini won the French Player of the Year award in two of those seasons. In 1978, Nancy achieved its highest honour to date after winning the Coupe de France. In the final, the club faced Nice and defeated its southern foes 1–0 with Platini scoring the lone goal. President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing presented Platini with the trophy to capped off the victory. Nancy's Coupe de France triumph saw the club qualify for European competition for the first time in its short history. The club participated in the 1978–79 edition of the European Cup Winners' Cup and were eliminated in the second round after losing 4–3 on aggregate to Swiss club Servette. The club played most of the season without Platini who was injured.

Platini left the club after the season, however most of the club's nucleus remained. In the team's first season without Platini, Nancy finished in 11th place. In the next three seasons, Nancy finished in the top ten. After the 1984 season, Moutier and Rubio became the last of the club's influential players to depart and Nancy suffered a free-fall finishing in the next three seasons. The implosion concluded after the 1986–87 season when Nancy finished in 19th place, thus falling back to Division 2. The only ray of sunshine for the club during this declining stint was the testimonial match held for Platini on 23 May 1988 following the players' club and international retirement. That evening, fans were treated to an exhibition that featured not only Platini, but also Pelé and Diego Maradona.

In the 1988–89 season, Nancy earned promotion back to the first division. However, the club spent the entire decade rotating between Division 1 and Division 2. The club won two second division title during this stint and finally earned promotion back to the first division, now called Ligue 1, for the 2005–06 season after winning Ligue 2. In Nancy's first season back in Ligue 1, the club won the Coupe de la Ligue defeated Nice 2–1 in the final. Nancy supporters arrived at the Stade de France courtesy of 11 special trains, while more than 300 buses and thousands of cars from the city also arrived in Paris. The cup victory allowed Nancy to participate in the UEFA Cup with the club eventually making it to the Round of 32 before losing to Ukrainian Shakhtar Donetsk. The first half of the 2007–08 season for Nancy was the club's best ever start to a season in the top division with 35 points after 19 games and sitting in 2nd place position. On 4 November 2007, in a match against Bordeaux, the club celebrated its 40th anniversary of existence with a special event involving many of the club's former players, club officials, presidents, and coaches. After a good second half start, Nancy sat in 3rd place on the final match day of the season. However, the club finished one spot short of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League losing 3–2 to Rennes, while 4th place Marseille defeated Strasbourg 4–3 to claim the spot. Nancy still managed to claim the league's best defense, alongside OGC Nice. The 30 goals conceded equaled the club's record achieved in the 1976–77 season.

In 2011, the club was swindled, involving leaders of Stabæk Fotball and Vålerenga Fotball as part of the Veigar Páll Gunnarsson transfer. After the swindle was uncovered, Stabæk and Nancy agreed upon a compensation of 200 000 Euros — which is over 500 000 Norwegian kroner more than the wrongful football transfer was contracted at.