Romain Genevois : “Leca wanted to boast…”
- Former Nice player (2012-2016)
“I discovered this rivalry while playing in Nice. I didn't know that there was such friction between the two. I inevitably think back to this match at home where it boiled over a little bit… (Editor's note: He talks about the “famous” Nice – Bastia of 2014, when Jean-Louis Leca, then Sporting goalkeeper, brandished a Corsican flag at the end of the match, leading to very big excesses on the pitch, with supporters who had invaded the lawn). As a player, we know that we must have an exemplary attitude and not enter into this game which must remain that of the supporters With respect, with restraint, without it leading to aggression. match, that was not necessarily the case opposite, especially with Jean-Louis Leca who took out his flag. Doing that is giving an excuse for things to start in a fight. That's not the role. of a player football. Maybe he wanted to show off, to show that he was a real Bastiais… Maybe a part of him regretted it. We find ourselves in the middle of all this, it goes to hell, we see kicks… I try to calm down, so that certain supporters don't attack players, but that's not obvious… I didn't want to act like a thug just to please the supporters. It is still remembered today, but not for good reasons. But we shouldn't remember that from these matches either. It also amused me to see certain players who were not originally Corsican almost become Corsican in the way they spoke (laughs). This folklore was funny. Bastia remains a club with hot-blooded supporters. It's never easy, no matter the team… I remember playing with Gueugnon, with Tours… The red carpet was never rolled out for us! Even if there wasn't as much animosity as with Nice.”
Jean Louis Leca, Bastia goalkeeper, waves the Corsican flag on the sidelines of the Ligue 1 match against Nice, October 18, 2014 at Allianz Riviera
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Frederic Hantz : “Agricultural bombs at the feet of Letizi”
- Former Nice player (1993-1995) and former Bastia coach (2010-2014)
“If I take the Bastia side, the most significant derby is against Ajaccio. It's the real derby, with a lot of symbolic things behind it. But Bastia-Nice is heavy. But the genesis, I think it comes from the 60s, when the Paoli de Corte University had not yet opened. Before 1981, Corsican students went to the continent, to Paris, Marseille, but. also a lot of Nice. So there was emulation in relation to that. The memory I have is when I was a player during the 1993-94 season. The two clubs were in Ligue 2 and moved up at the end. season I remember Bastia-Nice (0-0, 1994)… Lionel Letizi (former OGCN goalkeeper) was in goal. Casanova, emblematic player of Bastia. A constant fight Today, we talk about the smoke bombs in the stands, but I see the agricultural bombs which farted at Lionel's feet. from a meter, they explode his ankle…” There, we had gone 0-0, but it was still narrow scores. Before Bastia-Nice, among the players, yes, there was apprehension. In any case, this rivalry was really established by the supporters. Between clubs, this is not really the case. There is always a fear regarding this match, especially in terms of refereeing, but I think that there is nothing to worry about. Because it has nothing to do with Bastia-Ajaccio.”
Frédéric Hantz, coach of Bastia, in Ligue 1, in 2013
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Nicolas Penneteau : “I loved experiencing these matches in the South”
- Former Bastia player (1997-2006)
“A Bastia – Nice which hurt us, it was in 2003. We were very well ranked, in the top six. We host Nice. We lead 1-0 (goal from Florian Maurice). Then there is a ball in depth for Abdelmalek Cherrad, our defender, crashes when racing to defend. We make 1-1. This breaks our good momentum and it is the start of a long negative series. 5 defeats and 6 draws to end the season), where we were almost afraid to go down Historically, a Bastia – Nice is still a match with heated confrontations, with little electricity whether between players or with the supporters. At Le Ray, when I came to Bastia and even then with Valenciennes, I was 'welcome' (smile). the other club, they were always close matches, one goal apart, but I loved experiencing these matches in the South with a bit of aggression, verbal and physical, a bit old-fashioned. We were waiting for these matches because we knew we were going to crash into each other. Intimidation games with, despite everything, teams that had great qualities. It was more about the mind than the technique. With a priority on engagement. But it all comes above all from the animosity between supporters. It was transmitted through them. And as we wanted to make them proud… Afterwards, those who played for Nice or Bastia were often players with character. Recruitment was also made to fit into this derby mode.”
Olivier Echouafni : “Stuck 3-4 hours in Furiani”
- Former Nice player (2003-2010)
“Ah yes, a Nice – Bastia, it has always been something… But for not much, I want to say! There has always been a history, with some difficult matches. I remember, in 2004. We went to Bastia. The Nice fans had come in 200-300 numbers, they had been blasted like never before and we found ourselves waiting for three or four hours, stuck at the stadium. there was fights all around the stadium. We wondered what was happening. We were told that security was not guaranteed at all and that we couldn't go to the airport to leave. yes, there was commitment, but I don't remember any 'knife' matches either. Aggression, yes, but today, with VAR, that would no longer work.'
Throwing projectiles at the Nice supporters' bus before Bastia – Nice in Ligue 1, April 2, 2004
-Credit: Getty Images
Chaouki Ben Saada : “A battle of pride and pride”
- Former player of Bastia (2001-2008 and 2019-2022) and Nice (2008-2011)
“The memory is the fervor that there was at the stadium, at Furiani. We felt that it was a derby like no other. With a lot of animosity around the pitch. For the players, it's a match like any other, not like the Corsican derbies I really believe that it is played between the supporters. The stadium was full, because it was Nice opposite. A battle of pride between supporters. , we were one few of the same clubs, with a lot of pride in being from Bastia or from Nice, a lot of fervor in each of the 'small' stadiums, Furiani on one side, Ray on the other. Also with this fighter, conqueror mentality. But we were not made to understand that we had to win this match more than any other Afterwards, I think that this derby took on an importance after the Bandera (Editor's note: The Nice – Bastia of 2014 with. Jean-Louis Leca).”
Neal Maupay and Francois Joseph Modesto during Nice – Bastia in Ligue 1, March 15, 2014
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Gaël Danic *: “The speeches of Yannick Cahuzac and Jean-Louis Leca”
- Former Bastia player (2015-2017)
“When I arrived in Bastia, I didn't know that there was so much excitement around this match against Nice. I had my daughters come to the locker room after my first match. We got stuck for more than 'an hour because there were smoke bombs and firecrackers outside the Nice supporters were together with the Bastia supporters. That's when I saw that there was animosity… You're trying to. explain that to your daughters but… You say it's stupidity. Instead of talking about sport with them, I talked more about education. But Nice and Bastia are hot, yes. there is an experience also with my friend Jean-Louis (Leca) who waved the flag at the Nice stadium… I arrived the year after that so… Players like Jean-Louis Leca and Yannick. Cahuzac, before a Bastia-Nice, could give us a a little more alert and tell us that we had no right not to make the effort and that the foot, we don't put it on the throat, but when we try to put it on the ball like that. habit, there, you have to put it more, more.”
Tempers heat up between players from Nice and Bastia, February 26, 2016
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Frédéric Née *: “Goals that people remember”
- Former Bastia player (1998-2001 then 2003-2006)
“A rivalry between supporters, quite historic. We were made to understand that we must not miss out. That commitment and aggressiveness were needed. It was much more significant for them than a sporting rivalry between the two clubs. It was more of a historical and political aspect, I would say, which made it a separate match. There were matches where it was tense, but without a fight on the pitch. I have won more derbies than I have lost. I remember the joy of the supporters. The week following a won derby, they were proud and happy. You could see that people were happy. A goal? I scored one against Nice at Furiani, yes. On an action with Youssouf Hadji (2-0, 2005). Always satisfying in such a match. Goals that people remember. It was another motivation.”
