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AS Saint-Étienne’s stadium was constructed on a piece of land donated by its founding president and local entrepreneur Geoffroy Guichard in 1930. Named after the the man who helped build the club, Stade Geoffroy-Guichard officially opened a year later on the 13th September 1931 in a disappointing defeat to AS Cannes with some sources putting the scoreline at either 9-1 or 8-3. Originally consisting of a single stand of 800 seats, a few terraces and an athletics track surrounding the pitch, the stadium today is barely recognisable compared to what it started out as due to the large number of renovations throughout the years, with the first coming in 1956 when running track was removed in a bid to become more like English football stadiums. In 1968, the local council acquired ownership of the stadium and it was a positive move for the club with further renovations occurring including the construction of a new stand taking the capacity from around 30,000 to just under 40,000, and roofing for the two smaller stands behind the goal. As has often been the driving force of change for French Stadiums, both the European Champions and World Cup contributed to modernisation of facilities for many clubs across France. The 1984 Euros increased capacity to 48,270, the 1998 World Cup transitioned the stadium to all seating and the Euro 2016 promise further redevelopments to Saint-Étienne’s home, with the project being dubbed Le Nouveau Geoffroy-Guichard stadium.

DRIVING Stade Geoffroy-Guichard is snuggled against the A72 motorway towards which makes driving a decent way transport option. Look for the signs for the exit 13 Montreynaud/Technopole and then turn off towards the city. The address for satnav is as follows: 14 Rue Paul et Pierre Guichard, Saint-Étienne Car Parks Check out Stade Geoffroy Guichard parking for the nearest free car-parks. TRAIN The main train station in the city is Gare de Saint-Étienne-Châteaucreux (Châteaucreux) for short and it is 2.5km South of Stade Geoffroy-Guichard. Connected to Paris and Lyon via high speed rail-lines, the city is very accessible from the rest of France, and you can get to the stadium by hopping on the number 9 bus outside the station. Number 9 departs every 15 minutes and shouldn’t take you any longer than 10 minutes to get to Le Marais bus stop which is very close to the ground. TRAM The quickest way to get to the city using the tram is to get on at Place Jean Jaurès (city centre) and catch either the T1 or T2 line in the Northern direction and get off at Stop G. Guichard which will leave you with less than a 10 minute walk to the stadium. Saint Etienne Tram System The tram system within the city of Etienne is run by Societe de Transports de L’agglomeration Stephanoise. BIKE St. Étienne is the historic capital of the French bicycle industry, and the city launched a bike rental scheme in June 2010 in order to encourage cycling throughout the city. With 280 short term bicycles available to rent, it can be a cheap and environmentally friendly way to get around the city. AIRPORTS The city is served by the Saint-Étienne–Bouthéon Airport which is 12km North-West of the city centre. Located within the Rhône-Alpes région, it is mainly used by low-cost airlines which is good news for your wallet.