This Wednesday, Le Figaro published a report on OGC Nice, a "historic club" that "wants to invite itself to the table with the greats".

Report - Having been taken over by British petrochemical giant, Ineos in 2019, the team from the Côte d'Azur is focused on continuing its progression, but without losing sight of its values or giving into pressure. Ambition, but without going crazy…

Bit by bit, Les Aiglons are building their way to the top. In fact, they now want to spread their wings and go toe to toe with the best, in the highest spheres of French football. The times of modesty and the small club slowly moving forward and being watched from above are over, and are almost mocked now. After having tasted the joys of the top 5 in Ligue 1 on four occasions in the last nine seasons, including a third place finish in 2016-2017, OGC Nice no longer want to consider them as "anomalies" as President Jean-Pierre Rivère described them given the club's means at the time.

With an owner like Ineos, any dream is possible. Although the British petrochemical giant, who bought the club in 2019 for 100 M€, doesn't intend on spending at any cost. The 113th richest person in the world according to Forbes, Jim Ratcliffe, 68 years old, made it abundantly clear: "With measured and reasonable investment, we want to make Nice a club that is capable of regularly participating in European football. And above all, performing in it.", he stated.

Clearly, Le Gym won't be "rivalling PSG", as President Jean-Pierre Rivère explained to Le Figaro. "We don't intend on spending hundreds of millions of Euros. We are going to try to do things intelligently. Ineos has already invested a significant amount of money. The objective is to bear the fruits of this investment. Until now, we have systematically needed to sell our best players. Now, we want and we are able to keep them, help them to progress together. Although there will be players that are sold, we won't be entering into trading", outlined the 64-year-old who has been in charge of the club since 2011, except from a small hiatus from January to August 2019. "When we sold players to an average European club in previous times, we will now sell to a big club or not at all" he details, highlighting that his British bosses are "people who know that every project takes time. We have a lot of room for manoeuvre. They are alongside us, but are not at all intrusive."

"We are privileged"

Ambitious, yes, but without going crazy. The message was clearly shared with the Nice supporters, in order to avoid getting hopes up and the fantasies of seeing World superstars playing at the Allianz Riviera. "We can't lose our heads. We are here to try to lead the club into the top 5 and to make it into Europe on a recurring basis. Ineos is here for that, but they aren't a State… They are alongside us, and that's an incredible opportunity, because they are here for the long run. If we work well, we will bear the fruits of the seeds that have been sown", continues Jean-Pierre Rivère. Before adding: "It took us years to put the foundations in place. There was just the final stage to come, finding the right owners who can stay for a long time, who aren't coming to make money, but not to lose money either, but rather to structure and develop the club. They are the perfect owners."

Shareholders that love sport, as shown by their investments in cycling, sailing and football… It was, however, almost a coincidence that Jim Ratcliffe set up home in Nice. So to speak. When he discovered Ineos' interest in football and Jim Ratcliffe's project to relocate… to Monaco, in a newspaper article in October 2018, Jean-Pierre Rivère got it into his head that he needed to sound them out. He was already on the lookout for a new owner at that time, in agreement with the Sino-American shareholders who had taken over two years earlier. "When I realised, unfortunately a little late, that these owners weren't the right ones for the future of OGC Nice, we agreed that I needed to begin the search for new investors, the right investors for the club", remembers the President, who was approached by "lots of people". According to our information, the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, who recently took over at Newcastle, were among the interested parties.

Ineos were not, however, and the British owners weren't biting in the first instance. Jean-Pierre Rivère and Julien Fournier, Director of Football, then devised an audacious plan, leaving the club in January 2019 in order to get things moving. A bet that paid off. Two weeks later, the Englishmen came forward. And were there until the epilogue, at the end of August, after numerous plot twists along the way. "It was long, very long… But they weren't discouraged", hails the President, who didn't intend to return to business. "I had only one obsession: get the club into good hands" he promises. However, the Ratcliffe brothers had no intention of doing without his expertise, nor that of Julien Fournier. "Jim and Bob said to us: We will do the deal if you stay", he explains.

Property entrepreneur, Jean-Pierre Rivère didn't think twice, and as he says himself he is attached to OGC Nice. "I believe that you have a patrimonial responsibility when you lead a football club, which belongs to its city, its supporters", explains the man who, alongside others, contributed to the reinforcement of the club's structures, its credibility and the weight that OGC Nice now boasts in the landscape of French football and its institutions. A club born in 1904 and four-times French Champions in the 1950s, but who had struggled to find its place in the sun between its neighbour in the Principality and the shady cousin in Marseille. The Condom-born businessman isn't the type of person to look to get himself noticed. Anything but a schemer. "I would never have imagined spending ten years in football. I am very lucky. Even though the industry is tough and there are difficult moments, sometimes a level of violence and little satisfaction for the amount of work needed, leading a football club is a brilliant experience. We are privileged", he swears, priding himself on his ability of having "perspective".

God only knows that he needed some, after the tumult of recent weeks, with the crowd disorder on 22 August, during the match between Nice-OM. Events that led to a punishment of three matches behind closed doors and 1 point being deducted and President Rivère saw his reputation called into question for having defended his supporters before admitting that "his" club accepted "a large share of the responsibility". The atmosphere has always been intense in Nice, even in the old days at the Stade du Ray, at times absolutely electric. But on that evening, it was too much. "We overstepped a mark that can never be crossed ever again", declared the Ratcliffe brothers. "We have closed the page. I just hope that we want be forced to reopen the book at the end of the season when looking at the league table", added Jean-Pierre Rivère.

Multiple social action programmes

A hiccup, one would hope, in a season that Nice hopes to be fruitful, under the orders of a certain Christophe Galtier. A real coup for the club, who has never been very greedy in terms of coaches in the past ten years. Claude Puel (2012-2016), Lucien Favre (2016-2018) and Patrick Vieira (2018-2020) who preceded him. "A coach is the cornerstone of any project" explained Jean-Pierre Rivère, convinced of having hit upon "the coach who can bring what we think OGCN needs". The coach has everything needed to please. Although his arrival on the Côte d'Azur certainly surprised some. "Going from the Champions League to Nice could raise some eyebrows, I understand that. But I am convinced it's the right choice and it's in line with what I want to do with my career", justified the coach who had led Lille to the title in 2021.

"It's always very difficult to find the right coach at the right time. In football, the difficulty is staying on track", details the President of OGC Nice, explaining that it is impossible to embark on "a development project if you give in to pressure from the media, the supporters, and you make decisions based on that. The most important thing is the project. You can't allow pressure to take over. If you do, you are dead…" And Le Gym is most definitely alive. Its project is too. Of course there is the sporting project, but not only that. "The role of a football club is to get results, but beyond that, it's to offer a helping hand to all those struggling, in line with our means", notes Jean-Pierre Rivère, explaining that he has experienced his "greatest emotions" through the club's various social action programmes, which total approximately 500 each year, "almost to a greater extent than during matches".

The club has also put in place a "Spending Power" programme, which allows its 12,500 season ticket holders to save money on their daily spending or through the optimisation of their subscriptions and contracts. "Those that use it realise that their season ticket costs them nothing, delights Rivère. For us, it was important to say: "Times are tough, we are here for you." We need to help people so that they can continue to live their passion" reveals the man, who was "touched" by certain messages Le Gym received when the club had, modestly contributed in giving the Niçois a little bit of "pride" after the tragic terrorist attack on 14 July 2016. "If we can make people happy, that's important."

Les Aiglons got a good dose of happiness on Sunday when they were victorious at Rennes (1-2). They sit in fourth place in the league table before the final round of matches of the first half of the season next Wednesday. The project is underway. "Whether you are an owner, president, shareholder, we are just passing through. The club remains after we leave. My only objective is to say to myself when leaving, and I don't know when that will be, that we tried to build something that will endure" explains Jean-Pierre Rivère. With a new or nearly new stadium and training ground, a solid owner and a top coach, the pieces of the puzzle are in place. And he concludes: "What we are missing is the final stage, the final level: to be near the top all of the time."

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