After going close to promotion last season, Nimes have finally made it back it Ligue 1 for the first time in 25 years, going up as the record scorers in a 38-game Ligue 2 campaign, having found the back of the net 75 times.
There was little evidence that they would enjoy such success in the early weeks of the season. They won only one of their opening four matches and were shut out three times in those fixtures. It proved to be very uncharacteristic of the team and may just have been a hangover from the previous May, where they were in the hunt until the final day of the campaign.
After a spluttering start to the campaign, which seemed to have gotten underway in September with a four-win burst only for Niort and Paris FC to record successive wins, it was a terrific burst of form before Christmas that lifted Nimes into the top two.
Although they proved incapable of catching Reims and even replicating their own devastating form shortly before the festive period – including a five-match winless streak – none of their rivals were able to take advantage, and another six-match winning run went a long way to securing their promotion.
Goals was the theme of the season, largely those contributed by summer signing Umut Bozok, who made the step up from the Championnat National perfectly and bagged 24 in a prolific campaign. Rachid Alioui netted 17, but beyond that pairing no-one else mustered any more than five.
When they go up to the top flight next term, they may find they need to have other sources of goals, as injury or suspension to either of that pair would prove highly problematic, especially at an elevated level.
Head coach Bernard Blaquart’s style has always been to attack, and it would be surprising to see them change for Ligue 1. They should make for an entertaining addition to the top flight.
