Having beaten AS Saint-Étienne 4-1 in last Friday’s play-off second leg to secure its place in Ligue 1 at the end of a long, hard season, OGC Nice’s men’s team is now set to enjoy its 25th consecutive top-flight campaign in 2026–27. As a result, the club founded in 1904 will continue its longest-ever spell at the peak of the French men’s game, a record that was officially established away to Stade de Reims on 11th August 2018 and that is worth putting into perspective as we approach the end of spring.

THE SIXTH LONGEST SPELL OF ANY TEAM IN LIGUE 1

Aside from a small group of the division’s traditional heavyweights, no club has established itself as firmly in the French men’s top flight as OGC Nice. In fact, just five sides have spent more consecutive seasons in what is now Ligue 1: Paris Saint-Germain (53), Lyon (38), Rennes (33), Marseille (31) and Lille (27).

AN UNPRECEDENTED FEAT IN ROUGE ET NOIR HISTORY

Even when looking back to its most successful periods, Le Gym has never before experienced such stability and consistency at the summit of the French game.

For example, the club’s Division 2 title win and subsequent promotion to Division 1 in 1948 kickstarted what is still the greatest decade in its history, with four D1 titles (in 1951, 1952, 1956 and 1959) and two Coupes de France (in 1952 and 1954). However, these glory days lasted for just 16 seasons as the team was relegated back to the second tier in 1964.

The 1970s also started with a Division 2 title for Les Rouge et Noir and saw the side welcome some big-name players and serve up some classic matches, but the crucial difference when compared to the previous era is that these years sadly didn’t yield any titles, with the club remaining in Division 1 for 12 seasons before suffering relegation in 1982.

These two periods were OGC Nice’s longest stretches at the top of the men’s game in France before its current stint there.

A TIMELY REMINDER

A close shave is better than a full-blown cut – these words could sum up the last few months for OGC Nice, which ended with a relegation play-off that the club hadn’t played in since 1990.

Before rescuing themselves against Les Verts, Les Aiglons ended the league season in 16th place, their lowest finish since 2014–15. Back then, Claude Puel’s men recorded an 11th-place finish thanks to a 3-2 win away to Toulouse on the final day, but they had only officially escaped relegation a week beforehand, when goals from Didier Digard and Jordan Amavi helped them to a 2-1 victory over Lens.

So, it was 11 years since Les Niçois had last gone through a Ligue 1 survival fight, which naturally brings back memories of their previous relegation battles: staying up with two games to spare by beating Reims at the Stade du Ray in 2014, having negotiated the aftermath of losing to Apollon Limassol in the UEFA Europa League play-off round; René Marsiglia’s boys earning themselves a 4-3 win away to Lyon on the final day in 2012; Le Gym’s defeat away to Valenciennes in 2011 being surpassed by Monaco’s loss to OL, which sent our south-coast neighbours down to Ligue 2; Frédéric Antonetti’s squad picking up a draw away to Lens in the penultimate game of 2006–07…

It should therefore never be forgotten that these battles are a part of Les Rouge et Noir’s DNA and that happier times have followed some of them, as proven by the fact that in the 11 seasons since the aforementioned struggles of 2014–15, the club has finished among Ligue 1’s top five teams on six occasions (in 2015–16, 2016–17, 2019–20, 2021–22, 2023–24 and 2024–25).

 

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