1996–97 FC Nantes Atlantique season

The 1996–97 season was the 54th season in the existence of Nantes Atlantique and the club's 35th consecutive season in the top flight of French football.

During the 1996–97 French football season, Nantes Atlantique competed in the French Division 1, Coupe de France, Coupe de la Ligue and UEFA Intertoto Cup.

Nantes Atlantique finished third in Division 1, thus qualifying for the 1997–98 UEFA Cup. At the end of the season, manager Jean-Claude Suaudeau, tired of his best players being sold in order to clear the club's debts, retired from football at the end of the season; he was replaced by the club's youth academy manager, Raynald Denoueix.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  FRA Dominique Casagrande — GK  FRA Mickaël Landreau — DF  FRA Eddy Capron — DF  FRA Bruno Carotti[notes 1] — DF  FRA Éric Decroix — DF  FRA Serge Le Dizet — DF  FRA Christophe Pignol — DF  FRA Nicolas Savinaud — MF  FRA Eric Carrière — MF  FRA Frédéric Da Rocha — MF  FRA Jean-Michel Ferri

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  FRA Jocelyn Gourvennec — MF  FRA Christophe Le Roux — MF  FRA Mehdi Leroy — MF  FRA Claude Makélélé — MF  FRA Olivier Monterrubio — FW  FRA Alioune Touré — FW  YUG Nenad Bjeković — FW  ARG Javier Mazzoni — FW  TUN Adel Sellimi — FW  CHA Japhet N'Doram

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — DF  FRA Nicolas Gillet

ES Vitrolles v Nantes

15 January 1997 Round of 64	ES Vitrolles	2–1	Nantes	Stade Jules-Ladoumègue, Vitrolles
			Sellimi 57'	Attendance: 1,500

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		NAN	LIL	HEE	KAU	SLI
1	Nantes	4	3	1	0	12	7	+5	10	Advanced to semi-finals		—	—	3–1	3–1	—
2	Lillestrøm	4	3	0	1	11	4	+7	9			2–3	—	—	—	4–0
3	Heerenveen	4	1	1	2	4	5	−1	4			—	0–1	—	3–1	—
4	Kaunas	4	1	0	3	4	10	−6	3			—	1–4	—	—	1–0
5	Sligo Rovers	4	0	2	2	3	8	−5	2			3–3	—	0–0	—	—

Nantes v Kaunas

29 June 1996 1	Nantes	3–1	Kaunas	Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes
	N'Doram 4', 60' Gourvennec 65'		Žalys 68'	Attendance: 3,355 Referee: Livio Bazzoli (Italy)

Sligo Rovers v Nantes

6 July 1996 2	Sligo Rovers	3–3	Nantes	The Showgrounds, Sligo
	Kenny 13' Hawtin 20' Rooney 70'		Gourvennec 21' N'Doram 23' Carotti 76' (pen.)	Attendance: 1,055 Referee: Jürgen Aust (Germany)

Nantes v Heerenveen

13 July 1996 3	Nantes	3–1	Heerenveen	Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes
	Kosecki 7' N'Doram 67' Le Roux 78'		Tomasson 2'	Attendance: 2,217 Referee: Celino Gracia Redondo (Spain)

Lillestrøm v Nantes

20 July 1996 4	Lillestrøm	2–3	Nantes	Åråsen Stadion, Lillestrøm
	Strandli 65', 68'		N'Doram 42', 56' Le Roux 54'	Attendance: 1,724 Referee: Jarmo Karhunen (Finland)

Standard Liège v Nantes

28 July 1996 First leg	Standard Liège	2–1	Nantes	Stade Maurice Dufrasne, Liège
	Schepens 60' (pen.) Lawarée 73'		Carotti 43'	Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Charles Agius (Malta)

Nantes v Standard Liège

31 July 1996 Second leg	Nantes	0–1 (1–3 agg.)	Standard Liège	Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes
			Edmilson 86'	Attendance: 9,000 Referee: Ilca Koho (Finland)