Every Saturday, until August 26, Objectif Gard offers you a series of portraits of the most outstanding presidents of Nîmes Olympique. An important personality in the city, the strong man of the NO is often the target of criticism when the results are bad, but also very respected when the team wins. Benefactors or gravediggers, the presidents of the Crocodiles belong to their time. This week, we are talking about the presidency of Jean Bousquet from 1982 to 1995.
Jean Bousquet was one of the most outstanding presidents in the history of Nîmes Olympique. He was the only one to also be elected mayor of the city. But before accessing these two functions, the creator of the Cacharel brand was first a player in the young teams of the club, before becoming its first sponsor in 1969. He also invested in certain transfers such as those of the Romanians Pircalab and Voinéa in 1970. The former tailor’s apprentice is an insolent success.
It is obvious that he took over from Paul Calabro in 1982 at the head of the club. A year later, the NO returned to the first division after a memorable victory in the play-off against Tours in a Jean-Bouin stadium drunk with joy. But the sporting ascent did not last and the Crocodiles immediately fell back into D2 in the summer of 1984. Jean Bousquet then had only one obsession, that of returning to D1. Every year, for seven years, the club breaks its teeth at the play-offs (1985, 1989 and 1990) or even before.
The father of the Costières stadium
The president of Nîmes is ambitious, but he is impatient and the coaches who fail in the objective of climbing are quickly replaced. The club has undergone thirteen coaching changes in thirteen years. The staff is also regularly renewed. It is then difficult to build over time. Jean Bousquet is also a builder and he is at the origin of the project of the Costières stadium which is delivered in March 1989. Nîmes has a good tool to play in the elite, but it is necessary to wait until 1991 to celebrate the rise in D1.
Jean Bousquet was president of the NO from 1982 to 1995 • photo : Anthony Maurin
Again, the joy is fleeting and lasts only two seasons. With this elegant president, supporters eagerly awaited the transfer period. The mayor of Nîmes likes transfer windows that shine and he does not hesitate to seek players in D1 or abroad. In the summer of 1987, Nîmes recruited Krawczyk (Lens), Bernad (Metz), Stéfanini (Laval), Ninot (Rennes), Lada (Sochaux), Anigo (Marseille), Januzzi (Nice), N’Gouette (Bastia), Vidot (Le Havre), Desrousseaux (Tours), Menad (Tizi Ouza) and Jean Sérafin (the Nice coach).
Poorly negotiated transfer windows
An XXL recruitment which made the NO the big favorite for the climb, but the hope turned into a disappointing sixth place in group B. For the return to the elite in 1991, it was the internationals Cantona, Vercruysse and Ayache who arrived without realizing the hopes raised on their arrival. In 1994, Nîmes missed the climb by very little, but rather than relying on this group made up of a few young people with Ecker, Preget, L. Gros, Kachloul, Martel and Marx, the club preferred to hire high-sounding names like Henry (Marseille), Galtier (Angers) and Bray (Lille) surrounded by the improbable Vukic (Zagreb), Mario-César (Toulon) and coach Josip Skoblar.
The rest looks like a descent into hell with a first relegation to national. The flamboyant president left the club in 1995 through the back door. He may have lacked patience and more reason in his choices to install the NO in the elite of French football.
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