The Stade Marcel-Saupin is a sports complex in the city of

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabit ...

(

Loire-Atlantique Loire-Atlantique (; br, Liger-Atlantel; before 1957: ''Loire-Inférieure'', br, Liger-Izelañ, link=no) is a department in Pays de la Loire on the west coast of France, named after the river Loire and the Atlantic Ocean. It had a population ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

. It was opened in 1937 under the name Stade Malakoff, and was used primarily by

Stade nantais université club Stade (), officially the Hanseatic City of Stade (german: Hansestadt Stade, nds, Hansestadt Stood) is a city in Lower Saxony in northern Germany. First mentioned in records in 934, it is the seat of the district () which bears its name. It i ...

for

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

, then became the stadium of

FC Nantes Football Club de Nantes (; Gallo: ''Naunnt''), commonly referred to as FC Nantes or simply Nantes (), is a French professional football club based in Nantes in Pays de la Loire. The club was founded on 21 April 1943, during World War II, as ...

after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

until the club moved to the

Stade de la Beaujoire The Stade de la Beaujoire – Louis Fonteneau, mostly known as Stade de la Beaujoire (), is a stadium in Nantes, France. It is the home of French football club FC Nantes. The stadium opened for the first time on 8 May 1984, for a friendly game ...

in 1984.

History

At first, the stadium did not have lights for night matches; these were not installed until 1957. There was room for 14,000 spectators, but there were only 1,200 seats. When FC Nantes was promoted to

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. ...

, the stadium was renovated and enlarged for 25,000 spectators. In May 1965, it was renamed Marcel-Saupin, after the recently deceased president and founding member of FC Nantes, despite his links to collaborators during World War II. The unfavourable location of the stadium, wedged between the

Loire The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhôn ...

and the urban centre, limited its expansion to 29,500 spectators in the 1970s, despite the increasing popularity of the club. For more than twenty years, "Saupin" was one of the legendary stadiums of

French football Association football is the most popular sport in France. The French Football Federation (FFF, Fédération Française de Football) is the national governing body and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of association football in the cou ...

, following the success of FC Nantes. From the fireworks of

Philippe Gondet Philippe Gondet (17 May 1942 – 21 January 2018) was a French footballer who played as a striker. He played for France during the 1966 FIFA World Cup The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournamen ...

and Jacky Simon to the championship matches between Nantes and

AS Saint-Étienne Association Sportive de Saint-Étienne Loire (), commonly known as A.S.S.E. () or simply Saint-Étienne, is a professional football club based in Saint-Étienne in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. The club was founded in 1933 and competes in ...

, and tough matches with old Atlantic rivals

Girondins de Bordeaux Football Club des Girondins de Bordeaux (), commonly referred to as Girondins de Bordeaux ( oc, Girondins de Bordèu) or simply Bordeaux, is a French professional football club based in the city of Bordeaux in Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine. The ...

, it was there the ''Canaries'' wrote the most glorious chapters of their history with six French championship titles, their first

Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and professio ...

, and a European semi-final in

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Syst ...

. The

France national team France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area e ...

also played there many times in the early 1970s before their resurgence in popularly forced them to play most of their matches at the Parc des Princes in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

. After a final title in 1983, FC Nantes said goodbye to Saupin on April 28, 1984, after which they moved to the Beaujoire, a modern stadium constructed for the 1984 European championship, hosted by France. Saupin became the stadium of the Nantes reserve team. Marcel-saupin-ext

As part of an urban renewal project led by the Parisian architect Philippe Gazeau, the stadium was largely demolished in August 2006. Only the north stands, which are now named after Oscar Muller, and the field were preserved so that the reserve team would still be able to play there. The rest of the site houses the Maison des sciences de l'homme and the Institut d'études advancées of the

University of Nantes The University of Nantes (french: Université de Nantes) is a public university located in the city of Nantes, France. In addition to the several campuses scattered in the city of Nantes, there are two satellite campuses located in Saint-Nazaire ...

, a hotel-residence, and corporate offices. On 10 October 2009, Nantes hosted

FC Blois FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Pakist ...

in a

CFA2 The Championnat National 3, commonly referred to as simply National 3 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur 2, is a football league competition. The league serves as the fifth division of the French football league system behin ...

match, the first game in the new Stade Marcel-Saupin. Nantes defeated Blois 1-0 in front of 760 spectators.

Concerts

In 1984,

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more ...

, and

Carlos Santana Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist who rose to fame in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band Santana, which pioneered a fusion of Rock and roll and Latin American jazz. Its sound feature ...

played a festival at the stadium.

External links

Historique du stade Marcel-Saupin
{{FC Nantes FC Nantes FC Nantes (women) Marcel Saupin Buildings and structures in Nantes Rugby union stadiums in France Rugby league stadiums in France Rugby League World Cup stadiums Sports venues completed in 1937 Sports venues in Loire-Atlantique