The Cup of France was also surprising – none of the bigger clubs reached the final. It was contested between Nancy and Nice. Mid-table clubs really, complimenting the unusual championship to a point. And it was really the year of the small guys – Nancy won the Cup, clinching 1-0 victory. Michel Platini scored the golden goal and his club triumphed.
OGC Nice was the favourite on paper – as far as finals can be argued in advance, Nice was stronger.
Giullou, Huck, J. Jouve, Toko, the two Yugoslavian stars Katalinski and Bjekovic, and Baratelli still the first choice of France between the goalposts – admirable names, to which Nancy had a single response, Platini. History also favoured Nice – 4 times French champions and twice Cup winners. On the negative side, Nice was gradually fading club. The great years were in already distant past – all trophies were won in the 1950s. In the next decade Nice went into violent convulsions and was relegated twice. Came back in 1970 and since then stayed in first division, but slowly declining: the club had much better team in the early 1970s, almost with champion’s potential. By 1977-78 there were few left and they were aging. In a way, Nice was fascinating club: it was quite clear that they were not great and had no money for grand ambitions. But they maintained a number of top players, including foreigners of high status. May be status was the real aim at Cote d’Azur, not playing – the names not always justified themselves with performance. May be beach life was more tempting, but it looked like that Nice was the end for foreign stars. Nice was coming near victory at best – and the cup final was no exception: they reached it, had better chance, and lost the Cup. Not by much, but lost it. The steady decline continued just like that – not very obvious, not by much, but going on.
Nancy was different story. First of all, it was new club.
Association Sportive Nancy-Lorraine, as the full name hardly ever used is, was formed in 1967. Back than FC Nancy collapsed and the new club had to replace the expired. There was nothing ambitious in the new creation – a modest club, which had no money for big plans. Second Division was most likely place for Nancy and there they stayed quite often. Naturally, an young club would not have time to collect trophies, but modest club was not expected to triumph anyway. And they had nothing until 1974-75, when Nancy won the Second Division – their first trophy, not ranking very high by any standard. Their first real trophy came in the spring of 1978 – and it remains the only one today. Very likely nothing will change in the future, so 1978 stays as the most outstanding year in the club’s history. Hats down to the small club!
The boys did not look like winners – Rouyer was a national team player, yet, not a regular; may be Curbelo was above average; the ‘obligatory’ African player, without which no French team seemed like French team, Pokou. The centre-forward Laurent Pokou N’Dri, from Cote d’Ivoir, joined Nancy in the summer of 1977, but was no newcomer to French football – he played for Rennes before. Like most Nancy’s players, hardly a star… Nancy had very little to oppose to Nice or any other club. But this little was very special: Michel Platini, already hailed as a great European star. With him Nancy won the second division, with him the club performed well and actually climbed the ladder of first division to respectful 6th place in this very season. With him Nancy reached the Cup final. And he put the finishing touch as well, scoring the winning goal at the final. Platini was Nancy – it was already very rare in the 1970s a single player to win matches and elevate his club, but it happened with Nancy. It was painfully clear that Platini deserved better teammates, stronger club, and Nancy was not able to surround him with worthy teammates, and therefore, would not be able to keep him, but so far his presence was more than sufficient. A winning presence. It was great for the club and may be more for Platini – it was his first trophy too.