Stade de la Beaujoire
The Stade de la Beaujoire – Louis Fonteneau, mostly known as Stade de la Beaujoire (French pronunciation: [stad də la boʒwaʁ]), is a stadium in Nantes, France. It is the home of French football club FC Nantes.
La Beaujoire | |
 | |
  Stade de la Beaujoire – Louis Fonteneau Location in Nantes  Stade de la Beaujoire – Louis Fonteneau Location in France | |
| Location | Route de Saint Joseph 44300, Nantes, France |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 47.255631°N 1.525375°W |
| Capacity | 35,322 |
| Field size | 105 m × 68 m (344 ft × 223 ft) |
| Surface | Desso GrassMaster |
| Opened | 1984[1] |
| Tenants | |
| FC Nantes (1984–present) | |
The stadium opened for the first time on 8 May 1984, for a friendly game between FC Nantes and Romania. It was named after Louis Fonteneau, who was president of FC Nantes between 1969–1986. It was renovated in 1998, for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. While its original capacity was 52,923, in 1998 it was converted to an all-seater stadium and its current capacity is 38,128. Previously, the team played at Stade Marcel Saupin.
The stadium also hosts international rugby matches, including France against New Zealand (16-3) on November 15, 1986. In September 2007, it hosted three pool matches of the 2007 Rugby World Cup: Wales vs Canada on September 9, England vs Samoa on September 22 and Wales vs Fiji on September 29. In domestic rugby, La Beaujoire hosted both Top 14 semifinal matches in 2013, and Paris-area Top 14 side Racing Métro 92 will play their final "home" match of the 2013–14 season against Clermont at La Beaujoire on April 19, 2014.
La Beaujoire hosted matches during the UEFA Euro 1984, including a 5–0 victory for France over Belgium. Six matches were also played there during the 1998 FIFA World Cup, including the quarter-final between Brazil and Denmark. The stadium was not selected for the UEFA Euro 2016.
The France national football team have played here on five occasions, most recently in 2019 where they played a friendly match against Bolivia.
The stadium has also hosted musical concerts including:
- 1980 - Bob Marley and The Wailers
- 1982 - AC/DC
- 1983 - The Police
- 1984 - Yes
- 1985 - Phil Collins
- 1987 - Genesis
- 1988 - Pink Floyd
- 1991 - Sting
- 1992 - Dire Straits
- 1993 - U2, with Urban Dance Squad & Utah Saints
- 2003 - Eminem
Future
A new stadium named YelloPark was planned to replace the Stade de la Beaujoire, which was to be demolished for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris and the 2023 Rugby World Cup.[2] On 26 February 2019, the project was cancelled.
1998 FIFA World Cup
The stadium was one of the venues of the 1998 FIFA World Cup, and held the following matches:
| Date | Team #1 | Res. | Team #2 | Round |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 June 1998 |  Spain | 2–3 |  Nigeria | Group D |
| 16 June 1998 |  Brazil | 3–0 |  Morocco | Group A |
| 20 June 1998 |  Japan | 0–1 |  Croatia | Group H |
| 23 June 1998 |  Chile | 1–1 |  Cameroon | Group B |
| 25 June 1998 |  United States | 0–1 | %253B_Flag_of_Serbia_and_Montenegro_(2003%E2%80%932006).svg.png.webp){kind=small} FR Yugoslavia | Group F |
| 3 July 1998 | Brazil | 3–2 |  Denmark | Quarter-finals |
References
- "Stade de la Beaujoire - Louis Fonteneau". soccerway. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
- "Le FC Nantes aura son nouveau stade, le YellowPark, en 2022" (in French). FranceInfo. 19 September 2017.
