Nantes
Football Club

Nantes was founded during WWII in 1943 when many local clubs merged. Although the team was known as FC Nantes Atlantique between 1992 and 2007, it reverted to its original name for the 07-08 season. Widely considered one of the most successful clubs in French football history, they have won 8 Ligue 1 titles, 4 Coupe de France and 1 Coupe de la Ligue. They have also most recently made it to the final of the Coupe de France, where they lost 5-1 against Toulouse.

The team is most famous for its self-branded Nantes style of play, or jeu à la nantaise as it's known in French. Former legendary coach Jose Arribas developed this. They have an undeniable collective spirit and a successful youth system responsible for big names like Jeremy Toulalan, Christian Karembeu, Claude Makelele, Didier Deschamps and Marcel Desailly, to name just a few.