Mario Balotelli in OGC NICE
• Nice fans precede every home game by singing their club anthem Nissa La Bella (translation: Beautiful Nice) – the city's official song, written in the local dialect. The lyrics go something like this:
"My beautiful Nice, queen among flowers
I will always sing of your old roofs and the mountains
Your rich surroundings, your green countryside, your great golden sun."
• Nice's history offers a clue as to their footballing style. It was only in 1860 that Napoleon III (nephew of the more famous Napoleon) negotiated to make the territory part of France, and the Italian cultural influence remains strong in this part of the French Riviera, with the club's fans and the style of play reminiscent of Serie A. New signing Mario Balotelli should feel at home.
• The club gave local boy Hugo Lloris his first big break. He made his senior debut aged 18 before moving on, to Lyon and then Tottenham, in 2008. No one has captained France more times than Lloris, and the goalkeeper's 21-year-old brother Gautier is now at Nice too, playing as a centre-back.
• Another great No1, Spain's Ricardo Zamora, played his final season with Nice. The ex-Barcelona, Espanyol and Real Madrid custodian fled to France during the Spanish Civil War and represented Nice from 1937–38. The trophy handed out to the Spanish Liga's goalkeeper of the season still bears Zamora's name.
Hatem Ben Arfa's career was revitalised at Nice
• Nice's reputation for helping lost souls continues. Hatem Ben Arfa resurrected his career there with 17 goals last term following an unhappy spell at Newcastle – earning a return to the French national fold and summer switch to Paris. And following Balotelli's recent recruitment, Ben Arfa said Nice club president Jean-Pierre Rivère had "the biggest 'cojones' in French football" given his willingness to take risks.
• Nice originally wore blue and black, Internazionale style, before switching to AC Milan-ish black and red. Initially founded in 1904 as an athletics club, with no footballing section until 1908, Nice did not adopt their current colours until they merged with another local side, Gallia Football Athletic Club (GAFC), 11 years later.
EURO 2016 highlights: England 1-2 Iceland
• Nicknamed 'Les Aiglons' (the Eaglets) after the bird in the city crest, the club now have a real eagle called Mefi (translation from Nissart: beware) that circles the Stade de Nice, Benfica-style, before every match. The club's newly-built home, meanwhile, witnessed eagle-like daring at UEFA EURO 2016: it was there Iceland eliminated England to reach the quarter-finals.
• Nice were at their peak in the 1950s. During that decade, they collected all four of their French titles and two of their three French Cups. Argentinian Luis Carniglia was a major factor, the striker winning a championship as a player and another in his first campaign as a coach before departing for Real Madrid, whom he led to a Spanish title and back-to-back European Champion Clubs' Cups in 1958 and 1959.
• Nice have reason to look forward with optimism. Since the 1950s, Nice's only major success has been the 1997 French Cup, but national Under-18 championship triumphs in 2004 and 2012 may indicate better times ahead. Last season, they finished fourth in Ligue 1 under Paul Le Guen to earn a European berth with the youngest squad in the division (average age: 24.12).
Christian Chatelet 13-09-2106
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