'Nantes-style play'), its collective spirit, mainly advocated under coaches José Arribas, Jean-Claude Suaudeau and Raynald Denoueix and for its youth system, which has produced players such as Marcel Desailly, Didier Deschamps, Mickaël Landreau, Claude Makélélé, Christian Karembeu and Jérémy Toulalan.

Under historic president Marcel Saupin [fr], it spent a few years as a mid-table club in that division, with even threat of relegation in 1950, avoided on the last game only.

His successor Anton Raab was able to recruit more prestigious players, including Dutch stars Gerrit Vreken and Jan van Geen, but despite this, the club stagnated again.

The following season was even better: the club becomes French champions, and their star striker Jacky Simon was the league's top goalscorer and became the first Nantes player to earn an international cap.

At the end of that season, three Nantes players (De Michèle, Gondet and Budzynski) were part of the French team playing the World Cup in England.

Young players such as Patrice Rio, allied with experienced Argentinians Ángel Marcos and Hugo Bargas, as well as Bayern Munich star Erich Maas enabled the club to turn its fortunes around and win the league in 1973.

That year, the club opened its state-of-the-art training complex La Jonelière [fr] (since renamed José Arribas Sporting Centre), the most advanced in France at the time.

In 1979, when Jean-Claude Suaudeau was made assistant manager, this promotion saw the club thrive, winning the French Cup, its first although finishing 2nd in the league.

Jean Vincent left the club in 1981, struggling to fit his new star striker, Yugoslav Vahid Halilhodzic, into the Nantes system of play.

He benefited from a star-studded defense, with French international goalkeeper Jean-Paul Bertrand-Demanes, centre-backs Patrice Rio and Maxime Bossis, and full backs Michel Bibard, Thierry Tusseau and William Ayache; Bruno Baronchelli still pulls the strings in midfield, helped by academy youngster Seth Adonkor protecting the defence; winger Loic Amisse enjoyed a purple patch in his twilight years; strikers José Touré (nicknamed 'the Brazilian') and particularly Vahid Halilhodzic enjoyed a great partnership.

In their new La Beaujoire stadium, built for the 1984 Euro competition, Nantes won the title in 1983, and missed out on the double when they lost the French Cup final to Paris Saint-Germain.

Nantes were still among the premier clubs in France, attracting players such as Jorge Burruchaga (World Cup winner with Argentina in 1986), and managed to finish sixth in 1984, second in 1985 and second again in 1986.

The constant influx of talented academy players such as Didier Deschamps and Marcel Desailly was not quite enough to compensate the departures and progress made by other clubs.

The club however experienced financial difficulties (and was even nearly demoted in 1992), and had to rely almost exclusively on its young academy players to survive in the top division.

Working closely with youth coach Raynald Denoueix, Suaudeau reinstated the "Nantes way of play" and, despite Marcel Desailly's departure to Marseille, stabilised the team.

The academy provided players who could mix the physical with the technical, particularly those such as Christian Karembeu, Patrice Loko, Japhet N'Doram and Nicolas Ouédec.

In 1995–96 Nantes reached the semi-finals of the European Cup, coming close to eliminating Juventus after a superb performance in the return leg at home.

[5] In April 2016, after a tense relationship, club president Waldemar Kita announced that Der Zakarian would leave at the end of the season.

[10] After a year with Christian Gourcuff in charge and seven games under former France national team manager Raymond Domenech, 18th-placed Nantes hired Antoine Kombouaré on 10 February 2021.

[11] On 7 May 2022, Nantes won their fourth Coupe de France with a 1–0 win over Nice, their first honour since 2001; Ludovic Blas scored the only goal from the penalty spot.

[12] In the 2022–23 Ligue 1 season, Nantes avoided relegation on the final day of the campaign defeating Angers 1–0 to leapfrog Auxerre who went down instead.