Association Sportive Nancy Lorraine (French pronunciation: [asɔsjɑsjɔ̃ spɔʁtiv nɑ̃si lɔʁɛn]), known as AS Nancy Lorraine, and more commonly as Nancy or ASNL, is a French football club founded in 1967 and based in Nancy, Grand Est. The club plays its home matches at the Stade Marcel Picot located in Tomblaine in the inner suburbs of Nancy, where its head office is also located. The infrastructure of the training center is located within the forest of Haye business park, in Bois-de-Haye. It currently competes in the second tier of French football, Ligue 2, from 2025–26 after being crowned champions on May 2, 2025 and securing promotion from Championnat National in 2024–25.
The club was founded in 1910 by Maurice de Vienne under the name Union sportive Frontière, then was later renamed Association Sportive Lorraine in 1928. In 1967, following the collapse of FC Nancy, the club created a professional section and as such changed its name to become Association Sportive Nancy Lorraine. The club has won 8 titles: the Coupe de France (1978), the Coupe de la Ligue (2006), five Ligue 2 champion titles (1975, 1990, 1998, 2005 and 2016) and the Championnat National title (2025). The club also has participated in three European competitions: the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1979 and two appearances in the UEFA Europa League, in 2007 and 2008.
In December 2020, Chien Lee of NewCity Capital, Randy Frankel of Partners Path Capital, Paul Conway of Pacific Media Group (PMG) and Krishen Sud acquired AS Nancy Lorraine and Chien Lee became the chairman of the board, replacing Jacques Rousselot who had been in charge since 1995.
In June 2023, AS Nancy's shareholding was consolidated between two of the owners, Krishen Sud and Chien Lee, who now own almost 100% of the Club.
On August 28, 2025, the club announced that Paul Conway had been removed from AS Nancy Lorraine's Board of Directors by the shareholders. Krishen Sud and Chien Lee, who collectively own nearly 100% of the shares, have continued to oversee the management of the club since their takeover in July 2023. Paul Conway is no longer a shareholders of AS Nancy Lorraine.
ASNL is renowned as a club with a good training center. One of the club's most notable players is Michel Platini, the former president of UEFA. Platini began his career at the club in 1972, playing eight seasons with Nancy. He scored the only goal in the aforementioned Coupe de France final and won two French Player of the Year awards whilst playing with the club. Platini also established himself as a French international while at the club and went on to achieve numerous team and individual accolades after his departure from Nancy. He is considered to be, arguably, the club's greatest player ever and, upon entering the section of the club's official website showing Nancy's greats, a picture of a young Platini is displayed. Other notable players to have played for ASNL include Mustapha Hadji, winner of the African Ballon d'Or in 1998, his brother Youssouf Hadji, with more than 300 matches in the colors of the club, Olivier Rouyer and Tony Vairelles. Other players have emerged or shown great promise at the club, such as Tony Cascarino, Jean-Michel Moutier, Roger Lemerre, Aleksandr Zavarov, Bernard Zénier, Clément Lenglet, Michaël Cuisance, Amine Bassi and Neil El Aynaoui.
Contents
History
Prior to the creation of AS Nancy, the city of Nancy was host to football by FC Nancy and US Frontière. FC Nancy was formed in 1901, while US Frontière was founded in 1910. Both clubs were a part of the Ligue de Lorraine. FC Nancy continued to play football through the professional transition. The club achieved very little during its 64 years of existence only winning the second division twice in 1946 and 1958. FC Nancy did reach the final of the Coupe de France in 1953 and 1962, however, on both appearances, the club lost to Lille and Saint-Étienne, respectively. In 1965, with the club enduring financial difficulties during the 1963–64 season, mainly due to the club's being abandoned by the city's municipality and its supporters according to its president, Nancy folded shortly before the new season.
The idea of a new professional club in the city was thought of by Claude Cuny in spring 1964 based on amateur Association sportive Lorraine, formerly known as Union sportive Frontière. Cuny had previously worked with FC Nancy, but left the club prior to its destruction. Cuny is considered one of the leaders of French football mainly because of his innovative ideas and strategies. After forming Nancy, he created the first youth academy of French football. Prior to the club beginning its life as a football club, Cuny devised a strategy to immerse the club into the city's public. First, he sent out over 18,000 letters and petitions to draw interest to the team. Once the public gained notice, Cuny organised friendly matches to raise funds for the club. After accruing enough money, Cuny sought to turn the club professional, and, despite several setbacks, on 16 June 1967, Nancy were granted professional status and inserted into Division 2, the second level of French football. The club's first manager was René Pleimelding, a former French international who played for FC Nancy. Nancy, subsequently, recruited several former FC Nancy players such as Antoine Redin, as well as players from the region such as Michel Lanini, Gérard Braun and Roger Formica. In Nancy's inaugural season of football, the club finished tenth in the league table and reached the Round of 16 in the Coupe de France. Two seasons later, the club earned promotion to Division 1 and finished in 13th place in its first season in the league.
In 1972, Michel Platini arrived at the club, initially with the club's reserve team. His first full season as a player came in the 1974–75 season whilst the club was playing in the second division, having suffered relegation from Division 1 the previous season. The season was a success for both club and player: Nancy achieved its first major honour winning Division 2, while Platini appeared in 32 league matches and scored 17 goals. In the ensuing three seasons in Division 1, Nancy, led by Platini, Jean-Michel Moutier, Carlos Curbelo, Paco Rubio and Philippe Jeannol, finished in the top ten. Platini won the French Player of the Year award in two of those seasons. In 1978, Nancy achieved its highest honour to date after winning the Coupe de France. In the final, the club faced Nice and defeated its southern foes 1–0 with Platini scoring the lone goal. President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing presented Platini with the trophy to cap off the victory. Nancy's Coupe de France triumph saw the club qualify for European competition for the first time in its short history. The club participated in the 1978–79 edition of the European Cup Winners' Cup and were eliminated in the second round after losing 4–3 on aggregate to Swiss club Servette. The club played most of the season without Platini who was injured.
Home Stadium
Opened on August 8, 1926, the Stadium originally known as the University Stadium or Essey Bridge Sports Park, was originally intended for the Lorrain University Stadium. Fully devoted to the cause of FC Nancy, Marcel Picot, a hatter installed in the 1930s in the city centre, will become president of the club and leave his name to the compound.
The complete renovation of the Marcel Picot stadium, led by the Bernt-Morillon-Thouveny agency on behalf of the Urban Community, took place between 1999 and 2003. It increased the capacity of the stadium to 20,087 seats and covered. Another expansion project is planned, bringing the stadium's capacity to 32,000 seats.
Players
Current squad
As of 13 August 2026
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Notable former players
Below are the notable former players who have represented Nancy in league and international competition since the club's foundation in 1967. To appear in the section below, a player must have played in at least 100 official matches for the club.
For a complete list of Nancy players, see Category:AS Nancy Lorraine players
Club officials
Chairman: Chien Lee
President: Krishen Sud
General Secretary: Pascal Rivière
Manager: Pablo Correa
Honours
Domestic
Coupe de France
Winners: 1977–78
Coupe de la Ligue
Winners: 2005–06
Ligue 2
Champions (5): 1974–75, 1989–90, 1997–98, 2004–05, 2015–16
Coupe Gambardella
Runners-up: 1973–74
Championnat National
Champions: 2024-25