Louis Nicollin :
Founder and Chairman

A moderate love of studies did not prevent Louis Nicollin from becoming one of France’s greatest business leaders. After taking over from his father, he developed and prospered the family business. Under his impetus, the eponymous group became one of the most powerful in its sector, “He knew how to lead others in his wake,” according to his friend Gilbert Varlot.

Child of the Gerland Stadium, become father of the La Paillade Stadium

Louis Nicollin liked to talk about his first football match, and remembered it as if it were the day before. “It was Lyon v Troyes at Gerland in 1955. I was 12 years old. A fortnight before, there had been Lyon-Racing and Mr Varlot, my friend Gilbert’s father, was supposed to take me along, but my mother didn’t want us to walk to Gerland, she was worried… In the end, my parents gave me permission to go to the match against Troyes.” That evening, Lyon won 2-0 thanks to goals from their two Swedes, Hjalmarsson and Jensen. “Lyon had a hell of a team. We had Schultz at centre-forward, Fatton the Swiss, Pelevert, Ninho, Antonelle, André Lerond, Duval in goal… The whole famous era from 1955 to 1960…” recalled Louis Nicollin. “After 1960, things were different. I was always with them because they were friends.”

It was impossible to talk about Louis Nicollin’s footballing childhood without mentioning the derbies against Saint-Etienne. “My first derby was in 1957. Lyon won 1-0 at Geoffroy-Guichard, Ninel scoring the winner.” So Président, was a derby special? “Of course! When I was a kid, derbies were really something. We’d go off in the car with Mr Varlot to Geoffroy Guichard… as soon as you’d crossed Saint Chamond they’d already start arguing! We did the same thing on the way back, if Lyon won. It wasn’t hatred, because I’ve got nothing against the Stéphanois, but in football a derby is a derby. It was better to win!”

When asked about his first idols, Louis Nicollin replied without hesitation: “André Lerond! I was very unhappy when he left for Stade Français. I remember that the first year he came back to play at Gerland, OL lost 7-1. It made me sick… Frankly, when I think back to when I was a kid, I put myself in the shoes of the boys who support Montpellier. When they see La Paillade lose, they must be very unhappy.”

From DH to Ligue 1 Champions

La Paillade, here we are! The story of his life, the “daughter he never had” as he used to say. Louis Nicollin arrived in Montpellier in 1967, but it was only 10 years later, following the death of his father, that he took over the family business. In the meantime, this loyal fan of Gerland had chosen to become an active participant by creating Montpellier Paillade SC in November 1974. It wasn’t exactly a decision he had planned from the outset. “I was the happiest man in the world. I had my corpo club, my friend Bernard Gasset knew all the players in the area and, as we were allowed to play in two clubs at the time, we recruited a lot of players from Sète and Alès… We were having a great time,” recalled Louis Nicollin. “And then, at the time, a journalist from Midi Libre, Carlo Llorens, insisted that we merge with La Paillade, who were bottom of the DH… He ended up convincing us and we suddenly gave up all the corpo and the whole team went into civilian football. We had a great team, but… I remember that before our first match, we were 12 points behind the second-bottom club and 14 behind the first non-relegated club.” (Editor’s note, the merger took place in November 1974, right in the middle of the season).

In the end, the incredible gamble paid off and La Paillade stayed in the DH. The following year, Louis Nicollin brought in Augé, Calmette and a certain Fleury Di Nallo. Other former Lyon players followed suit, including Robert Nouzaret, who became coach of the Montpellier club in 1976. “They were my age, we were buddies and frankly, when I paid them at the end of the month, it was a bit weird,” laughed Louis Nicollin. “But there was a terrible state of mind. When we had to go to Paulhan, Millau or Agde, it was hard… Sometimes, Fleury Di Nallo would turn blue when he saw the state of certain pitches! It was tough, but we ended up going up. It’s a shame that Combin went to Hyères. I would have loved to have had him there. Nestor was one of my idols too.” Little by little, La Paillade climbed the ladder, first reaching D1 in 1980, then a second time on a permanent basis in 1987. « I never would have imagined we would one day end up at the Parc des Princes or Gerland… But I owe it all to my friend Bernard Gasset ».

With the rise to D2 and then D1 came his first encounters with Olympique Lyonnais, who he had supported during his youth. Two of these encounters with OL left a deep impression on the President of MHSC. « I remember this one time in the French Cup. Bernard Ducuing was our captain. We lost in Lyon and won the return match. Jacquet was the coach at the time. On the other side were Chiesa, Jodar… But we went through! »

And then, of course, there was the unforgettable match in 1987. That year, Montpellier and Lyon were battling for promotion to D1 and met on the final day in a decisive match for promotion to D1. « It was an intriguing match because Robert Nouzaret was coaching Lyon, recalls Louis Nicollin. In the first match, at the start of the season, we took 4 – I was enraged! On the return, Joël Quiniou (the referee) sent off Baills at half-time… But we still won 3-1.»