Before WW2 derbies were quite common but they disappeared when new national leagues were artificially created - by the Vichy regime - involving only one team from each region.
And because French people usually identify primarily with their town or region (Esprit de clocher), these local derbies do attract much attention.
Notable local derbies include: While the attribution of the classico moniker can be pretty straight forward in countries such as Spain, things are not as clear cut in France.
Infamously heated until the mid-2000s, with much tension and aggressive behaviour by supporters of both teams, the rivalry is softening, as Paris has seen its financial abilities skyrocket since the purchase of the club by the Qatari sovereign wealth fund.
The French major football broadcaster Canal+ calls this game "Olympico" referring also to El Clásico.
Unlike Le Classique, the rivalry has no bad blood within it and, instead, stems from the competitiveness of the each club's players, managers, supporters, and presidential hierarchy.
The rivalry is often cited as being particularly important as both clubs are of high standard in French football and the championship is regularly decided between the two.
During that period, the clashes between the two clubs were the climax of the season and were eagerly anticipated by national networks, as they would be crucial to the final classification.
Helped by the establishment of the French First two modern football academies, each team developed a specific identity: "Les Verts", representing the Working-Class mining and industrial city of Saint-Etienne played tough and very intense football, somewhat similar to the English "kick-n-rush", whereas the players of Nantes, "Les Canaris", created a distinctive football called "jeu à la nantaise" based on technical abilities, ball possession and a very strong tactical cohesion, a style that would please the merchant and elegant city of Nantes.
Notable players to have played for the two teams during this period were Henri Michel, Maxime Bossis, Jean-Paul Bertrand-Demanes, Loïc Amisse, Vahid Halilhodžić under the directing of José Arribas, Jean Vincent, Jean-Claude Suaudeau for Nantes, and Jean-Michel Larqué, Hervé Revelli, Johnny Rep and Michel Platini for Saint-Etienne, coached by Robert Herbin.