LA MAISON DES NIÇOIS ! Episode 3 de la websérie des 10 ans de l’Allianz Riviera

Dans le 3e et dernier épisode de notre #webserie consacrée aux 10 ans de l’Allianz Riviera, retour sur l’appropriation progressive du stade par les Niçois.

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🎥 EPISODE 1 : LA GENÈSE

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🎥 EPISODE 2 : QUE D’ÉMOTIONS !

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Websérie « A l’Ouest, le renouveau »
#ogcnice x Kick Off Prod (2023)

Previously… It was really an incredible night, like a dream. It was the first time I’d seen Allianz full like that! My last dream is that the club, the supporters, will hear that music! 10 years of the Allianz Riviera ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT Episode 3: Making it our own

Can I have your attention, please So, we’re going to choose a name for the eagle of OGC Nice. We have Nikaia… Next? Abel? The Irresistible Eagle The Irresistible Eagle. Mefi, because in Nice dialect, Mefi means ‘Be Careful’ And Mefi! Benfica already had an eagle, and when we thought about it,

We had a few problems, like you do when you try something new! People said it’s impossible! You can’t put an eagle in a stadium where there are children, adults… we don’t know what could happen. We took the risk, and it’s still here So we did the right thing!

I would’ve loved to go to a stadium like this. We play in the park and then watch the match and go home! I think it’s great, especially for the kids! At the last game against Toulouse, I saw a young girl with a ball, playing really well out the front

It’s great to see girls coming to watch us, kids having fun with stars in their eyes. A stadium is a special place. When my son has the chance to go, he doesn’t hesitate a second! My son is a real supporter! In the shower he sings all the chants

His dream is to watch a game with the Brigade Sud! And he’ll go one day! And maybe I’ll disguise myself and go with him! That would also be great! 7 March 2020: Nice vs Monaco I remember jumping and running from the bench, screaming, celebrating in front of the Monaco fans

Coupe de France quarter-final win against Marseille. 9 February 2022: Nice vs Marseille After the first meeting, we were very disappointed So beating them 4-1 was very nice! 24 October 2021: Nice vs Lyon The best atmosphere was when we beat PSG! 5 March 2022: Nice vs Paris That was really something…

Against Maccabi as well, that was a big game The fans really pushed us to win! 120 minutes… Alexis Beka-Beka! That could have been the goal of the year! 2020-21: A silent stadium during the pandemic At first it’s weird to be in an empty stadium. 29 October 2020: Nice vs Hapoel Beer-Sheva

I won’t say it was tough, because there are worse things in life But when we beat Marseille 3-0 It was a shame our fans weren’t there to celebrate with us. Honestly, I play for the love of football. Whether there are fans or not, I’m going to play

But with the fans, there’s such energy around the place that for us players, it’s an amazing boost for us But I arrived during Covid, So my first match back at Allianz with fans was against AC Milan a friendly match and it was great. I immediately loved the atmopshere inside the ground

How is it different? When the BSN (Brigade Sud Nice) is there, that makes a big difference. I love the noise, at home or away, I love noisy stadiums. I love the colourful atmospheres One little story, or secret, I have is that

Every time we meet up on the day of the game or the night before I always park and come to see how the pitch is. Just to say Bonjour because that inspires me, when I see the empty stadium You can feel that you are in Nice!

We thought the stadium on its own wouldn’t make any sense but thinking about Nice and the eco-area around it with the tramway that we introduced a view years later here. It was the starting point to launching the area. The stadium wasn’t put here by chance.

It allowed us to build the town from scratch, a modern town that attracted businesses and accommodation for the workers, green spaces, and sports facilities. It also allowed us to preserve the old town. If we’d put these facilities that Nice needed for economic and social cohesion in the old town,

UNESCO would never have accepted to make it a 550 hectare world heritage site. Nice has kept its identity and created its future at the same time. In terms of accessibility the first thing that springs to mind is the prolongation of tramline number 3 in November 2019.

That improved the links between the stadium and the city centre. That was something that the developers liked because the link between the city and the airport makes the stadium more attractive. A place like this also helps solve big social issues. The job fair takes place here every year in collaboration

With the city of Nice and Pôle Emploi. There’s the escape day which is perhaps more anecdotal and ad hoc. At the start of August 2021 the stadium become an additional vaccination centre to those that were already open in Nice. Through football, we can do a lot of social good,

Make people happy, those who are facing small or big problems. It’s something I wanted to develop as soon as we arrived, and I have teams that have done such a remarkable job, I’m very proud of them. We’ve got different functions, there have been around 10 running and cycling events over the years.

And also a meeting function where we have around 100 events per year, from meetings of 30-40 people to much bigger conventions and conferences. We’ve had cinema, a Michèle Laroque film in 2017. In June 2018 we welcomed a professional drone race, it was an international competition much like the F1 world championship.

We adapt for the different events. Thank you for this honour, I think it’s great to do things like this for French sport. The integration of the national museum of sport into the project was something that the mayor wanted originally. Everyone worked actively on it, the club also pushed to have  

The Café des Aiglons inside. I think it found its place. When I was little, I didn’t watch a lot of matches in stadiums because my family didn’t have a lot of money. My brother took me to watch my first match. It was at the Parc des Princes, PSG-Lorient.

It was there where I really fell in love with football. Often, the first time you go to a stadium, more so if it’s the stadium of your home town, it stays with you for life. We’re trying to get families and children to come because we need to work for the future.

The youngsters in our stadiums today, are the fans of tomorrow. Or maybe they’ll become players, if they enjoy watching matches and their favourite players from their favourite club, they’ll love it! Our goal is to share this heritage, because we’re just passing through there will be more presidents and players

But the transmission comes through the fans. They are the heritage, they transmit it from father to son, from grandfather to grandson and so on. A stadium represents all the memories we accumulate. I’m sure we’ll continue to have great meetings. One day, I won’t be involved in public affairs anymore,

I don’t know when, the democracy will decide. What I do know is that, once my time is over, as for the directors and those who expresse themselves on the pitch, that there will be generation upon generation that will live on to give this stadium warmth and excitement.

A full stadium at the Allianz, I’m telling you, it’s scary. The stadium is very big, there are lots of seats. I think if there’s a Champions League match or a first place where there will be a lot more people, it would be great for this club.

That’s everything that I can wish for them and us. The new generation will always be happy to have known this stadium, to be there and enjoy it to the fullest. It really is a beautiful stadium and I hope they get to experience incredible things in the future.

We came from the Ray to here, for us, being Niçois is very important, it’s a revival for us, the celebrations were extraordinary. We’ve seen that, since the start of the season, there are more fans. It was incredible. -It was so good!