Stade Vélodrome


The Stade Vélodrome, known for sponsorship reasons as the Orange Vélodrome since June 2016, is a multi-purpose stadium in Marseille, France. It’s home to the Olympique de Marseille football club of Ligue 1 since it opened in 1937 and has been a venue in the 1938 and 1998 FIFA World Cups; the 1960, 1984 and 2016 editions of the UEFA European Championship and the 2007 and 2023 Rugby World Cup and football at the 2024 Summer Olympics. It occasionally hosts RC Toulon rugby club of the Top 14. It’s the second largest stadium in France, behind Stade de France in Saint-Denis with a capacity of 67,394 spectators. The stadium is also used regularly by the France national rugby union team.
The record attendance for a club game before the 2014 renovation at the Stade Vélodrome was 58,897 in a UEFA Cup semi-final against Newcastle United in 2004. Since expansion to 67,394, the record attendance at the ground now stands at 65,894 for the match against rivals Paris Saint-Germain that occurred on 26 February 2023. The first-ever match to be played was between Marseille and Torino in 1937.
The French rugby union team began an impressive run of victories at the stadium in the early 2000s. They defeated New Zealand 42–33 in November 2000, and in 2001 defeated Australia by one point. They beat South Africa in 2002, followed by a win over England in 2003. However, their run of luck was broken in 2004 when they lost 14–24 to Argentina. The venue was used by France for a game against New Zealand in November 2009. In 2018, the stadium hosted its first Six Nations match with France hosting Italy.
France is not the only rugby team to have used the Vélodrome in recent years. On 18 April 2009, Toulon took their home fixture in the Top 14 against Toulouse to the Vélodrome, drawing 57,039 spectators to see a 14–6 Toulon win which played a key role in the Toulonnais' successful fight against relegation in the 2008–09 season. Toulon has taken two home matches to the Vélodrome in each of the succeeding two seasons. The Vélodrome was also the venue for both semi-finals in the 2010–11 Top 14 season, and was used for the Toulon v Munster semi-final of the 2013–14 Heineken Cup.
On the 28 May 2022, The Velodrome hosted the 2022 European Rugby Champions Cup Final between La Rochelle v Leinster in front of 59,682 spectators. On 29 June, The Velodrome will host the 2024 Top 14 Final due to the Stade de France being unavailable because of the 2024 Summer Olympics.
The 20th stage of the 2017 Tour de France, an individual time trial through the streets of Marseille, started and finished in the stadium.

History

In 1935, the architectural firm Pollack Ploquin was chosen to build a stadium in Marseille. Henri Ploquin designed the stadium. For economic reasons, only the Stade Vélodrome was built. On 28 April 1935, the foundation stone was laid for the Vélodrome by Marseille Mayor Ribot, on a site between downtown and the suburban areas of St. Giniez and Sainte-Marguerite on military grounds belonging to the city. The Stade Vélodrome opened on 13 June 1937, when a friendly match was played between Olympique Marseille and Italian of Torino FC. On 29 August 1937 a match took place between OM and Cannes. This was the first official match at the stadium.
As its name suggests, Stade Vélodrome was used for cycling competitions but as these races became less common, seating replaced the track which circled the stadium. The Vélodrome remained famous for fans of OM since the sloped track which was under the extended seating acted as a slide to invade the pitch at the end of matches.
Olympique de Marseille was long hostile to the Stade Vélodrome, calling it the "stadium of the City Council". For fans of the Olympians between the wars, the real home of OM was Stade de l'Huveaune, owned by Olympique de Marseille and partly financed by fans in the early 1920s. After World War II, however, Marseille no longer owned the Stadium Huveaune. Seeking support from the city, Chairman Marcel Leclerc had OM play at Huveaune from 1945 to 1960. The City Council then relented, and Olympique de Marseille moved to the Vélodrome. During the 1970s, OM shared the Stade with the Marseille XIII Rugby League.

First renovations

1970 marked the first modifications to the Vélodrome, with the replacement of the floodlights on the Ganay and Jean-Bouin tribunes by four 60 meter towers for nighttime events. In March 1971, the capacity of the stadium was increased by nearly 6000 seats, with the reduction of the cycling track and the removal of the cinder running track. This brought the total capacity of the stadium to 55,000 people, including the standing area.
Olympique returned to the Stade de l'Huveaune for the 1982–1983 season as Stade Vélodrome was under construction in preparation for the UEFA Euro 1984. The playing surface was completely replaced during this time. The semifinal between France and Portugal had set a record for attendance at an international match with 54,848 spectators. The capacity of the stadium was later reduced to 42,000 with the construction of lodges.
The cycling track was removed altogether once Bernard Tapie was appointed president of OM in 1985. He chose to remove it and rearrange the corners of the stadium, bringing the capacity up to 48,000. This renovation marked the end of the era of Vélodrome as a multi-use facility. The area around the stadium was also transformed with the creation of the second line of the metro which served the stadium from two stations and with the construction of the Palais des Sports nearby.

1998 World Cup and beyond

The Stade Vélodrome was completely renovated for the 1998 World Cup; its capacity increased from 42,000 to 60,031 seats. The Vélodrome hosted the final draw, which took place on 4 December 1997 and seven matches, including France's first match against South Africa, the quarterfinal between Argentina and the Netherlands and the semifinal between Brazil and the Netherlands. As of 2011, the record attendance for a football game was the Newcastle United UEFA Cup semifinal on 6 May 2004. During the 2007 Rugby World Cup the Vélodrome hosted six games, including two quarter-finals: Australia versus England and South Africa versus Fiji. On 16 July 2009, during preparations for a Madonna concert, one of four winches used to hoist the structure failed; the 60-ton roof fell.
Widely criticized and unloved by the Marseillais for its architecture, the Stade Vélodrome has since 2003 been the subject of several projects to modernize and enlarge it. In July 2009, following an extraordinary council of the City of Marseille concerning the City Hall renovation project, a motion was passed launching a public-private partnership. On 21 June 2010, following France's winning bid for UEFA Euro 2016, Marseille announced that the stadium would receive another renovation, making it a UEFA Elite Stadium. Works began in the spring of 2011 and were completed in summer 2014.

Attendance

In 2002, Division 1 was renamed Ligue 1. Olympique de Marseille's average attendance for each season since 2000–01 is listed below:
SeasonAverageDivision
2000–0150,755
Division 1
2001–0250,030
Division 1
2002–0348,233
Ligue 1
2003–0447,203
Ligue 1
2004–0549,970
Ligue 1
2005–0642,753
Ligue 1
2006–0747,715
Ligue 1
2007–0848,784
Ligue 1
2008–0950,134
Ligue 1
2009–1048,912
Ligue 1
2010–1150,500
Ligue 1
2011–1235,937
Ligue 1
2012–1329,383
Ligue 1
2013–1444,375
Ligue 1
2014–1553,733
Ligue 1
2015–1637,682
Ligue 1
2016–1741,650
Ligue 1
2017–1842,733
Ligue 1
2018–1943,458
Ligue 1
2019–2052,805.
Ligue 1
2020–21N/A
Ligue 1
2021–2252,193
Ligue 1
2022–2362,571
Ligue 1
2023–2460,799
Ligue 1
2024–2563,682
Ligue 1

Tournament results

1938 FIFA World Cup

DateTime Team #1ResultTeam #2RoundAttendance
5 June 193817:002–1 Round of 1618,000
16 June 193818:002–1Semi-finals30,000

1960 European Nations' Cup

DateTime Team #1ResultTeam #2RoundAttendance
6 July 196021:300–3Semi-finals25,184
9 July 196018:002–0Third place play-off9,438

UEFA Euro 1984

DateTime Team #1ResultTeam #2RoundAttendance
17 June 198420:301–1Group 224,364
23 June 198420:003–2 Semi-finals54,848

1998 FIFA World Cup

DateTime Team #1ResultTeam #2RoundAttendance
12 June 199821:003–0Group C55,077
15 June 199814:302–0Group G54,587
20 June 199821:005–0Group E55,000
23 June 199821:001–2Group A55,000
27 June 199816:001–0Round of 1655,000
4 July 199816:002–1Quarter-finals55,000
7 July 199821:001–1
Semi-finals55,000