FC Nantes

Nantes
Full nameFootball Club de Nantes
Nickname(s)La Maison Jaune (The Yellow House)
Les Canaris (The Canaries)[1]
Short nameFCN or Nantes
Founded21 April 1943; 81 years ago (1943-04-21)
GroundStade de la Beaujoire
Capacity35,322
OwnerWaldemar Kita
PresidentWaldemar Kita
Head coachAntoine Kombouaré
LeagueLigue 1
2023–24Ligue 1, 14th of 18
Websitefcnantes.com
Current season

Football Club de Nantes, commonly referred to as FC Nantes or simply Nantes (IPA: [nɑ̃t] ; Breton: Naoned; Gallo: Naunnt), is a French professional football club based in Nantes in Pays de la Loire. The club was founded on 21 April 1943, during World War II, as a result of local clubs based in the city coming together to form one large club. From 1992 to 2007, the club was referred to as FC Nantes Atlantique before reverting to its current name at the start of the 2007–08 season. Nantes play in Ligue 1, the first division of Football in France. Nantes is one of the most successful clubs in French football, having won eight Ligue 1 titles, four Coupe de France wins and attained one Coupe de la Ligue victory.

The club is famous for its jeu à la nantaise (lit.'Nantes-style play'), its collective spirit, mainly advocated under coaches José Arribas, Jean-Claude Suaudeau and Raynald Denoueix and for its youth system, which has produced players such as Marcel Desailly, Didier Deschamps, Mickaël Landreau, Claude Makélélé, Christian Karembeu and Jérémy Toulalan. As well as Les Canaris ('The Canaries'), Nantes is also nicknamed Les jaunes et verts ('The Green and Yellows') and La Maison Jaune ('The Yellow House').

  1. ^ "#208 – FC Nantes : les Canaris" (in French). Footnickname. 21 August 2020. Retrieved 3 September 2021.