On Wednesday, Alain Wathelet left his role as OGC Nice Academy Director. After playing for the club, becoming assistant first team coach, youth team coach and an academy coach, Alain Wathelet took charge of the Academy in 2014.

In two decades as a coach at Le Gym, his boyhood club, he has contributed to the development of various generations, from Hugo Lloris to Malang Sarr, as well as the structuring of the club’s academy. “If I stayed for twenty years, it’s because I said to myself that there were things to be done, he explained. I have done nearly every role that there is and have been involved in the construction of lots of things with the club. With the academy, there was the title of Champions of France in 2004, the Gambardella in 2012 – even though I was coaching the U17s at the time - in the youth set-up, we also set up the sport studies department and developed partnerships with clubs.

In charge of Les Aiglons who were finalists in the Gambardella in 2002

“It’s a source of real pride. Above and beyond anything else, it’s the relationships that are built that are most important. In this regard, I leave with a calm head. I am a Niçois, was born here, my brother brought me to this club when I was seven years old, I did my apprenticeship here, left for my professional playing career, but came back in 1999. If I said that OGC Nice was my club, I would be lacking in humility, because it doesn’t belong to me, and it will never belong to anybody. It is, however, the club of my heart and I wish the club the very best for the future. For now, what I would like to find is a new project, so that I can continue to build something, because as my career has shown, I am not a mercenary.”

OGC Nice would like to thank Alain for his faultless commitment both on and off of the pitch, and wish him the best of luck for the rest of his career.

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