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Between the years of 1927 and 2013 Nice played their home matches at the 18,696 capacity Stade Municpal du Ray which was popular for it’s location in the city centre but ultimately suffered due to it’s small capacity and lack of potential for growth, with a renovation project in 1997 not enough to save the future of Stade du Ray. Consequently in 2002, the club began to formulate plans to relocate to a new home but with local politicians questioning the viability of the stadium, work was set to begin four years later in July 2006 but was once again delayed due to allegations of price fixing ticket prices directed at those involved with the project. Fortunately, the new Deputy Mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi mediated and helped push through construction of the stadium by 2011, still at the same Nice-Lingostière location. Once Grand Stade de Nice was chosen to be included as part of the Euro 2016 bid, there weren’t ever any doubts that the project wouldn’t be completed on time with construction completed on September 2013, just in time for the new football season in France. The inaugural league match was held between Nice and Valenciennes with the home side kicking things off in style winning 4 nil. After the €245 million state-of-the-art stadium was complete, it was dubbed “Olympic Nice Stadium”, at least until German insurance company Allianz acquired the naming rights for the next 9 years at a cost of 1.8 million euros per year and decided to name Allianz Riviera, which actually sounds quite nice, nicer than The Allianz Arena.

DRIVING Allianz Stadium is conveniently located just off of a large motorway and series of dual carriageways which means that it is highly accessible by car. Exit 52 on the A8 motorway will take you to the stadium. Address: Boulevard des Jardiniers , 06206 Nice Car Parks Some fans recommend exiting off at 51 for less restricted parking spaces, however according to the official website the stadium boasts over 11,000 spaces which fans can use on matchdays for a few euros. BUS Bus number 95 is a special matchday service bus which runs from Hôpital St Roch in Nice’s city centre and conveniently drops you just outside the stadium. Taking around 50 minutes, buses depart every 6 minutes or so on matchdays. Alternatively you can catch a buses 9/10 which are regular services, although they take over 75 minutes which almost makes walking seem like a viable option. TRAIN The main train station of the city Gare de Nice-Ville offers a range of national and local routes which can take you to the stadium on matchday. You can either catch the train to Saint-Augustin station and then a shuttle bus to the Allianz Riviera Stade or the commuter train to Saint-Isodore station where it is a 10 minute walk to the ground. Allianz Riviera bus One of the many buses which take fans to and from the city centre on matchdays. AIRPORTS Nice Côte d’Azur Airport lies 5km South of the Allianz on the Mediterranean coast, and approximately 7km West of the historic city centre. Serving over 10.5 million passengers a year Nice Côte d’Azur is the fourth busiest airport in France with plans underway to expand outwards to sea through land reclamation which will allow the addition of additional runways. Once you have landed you can get to the city centre by taking either the 98 or 98 shuttle bus service which costs €6 and will take you to the central train station.