Stade de Gerland

Stadium in Lyon, France

The Stade de Gerland (known for sponsorship reasons as Matmut Stadium de Gerland and otherwise known as Municipal de Gerland or Stade Gerland stad ʒɛʁlɑ̃) is a stadium in the city of Lyon, France, which serves as home to Top 14 rugby club Lyon OU. It has a seating capacity of 25,000. Situated in the Gerland quarter, it was used by French professional football club Olympique Lyonnais, who moved to the newly constructed Parc Olympique Lyonnais in 2016. Local rugby union club Lyon OU moved in beginning of 2017, replacing their much smaller stadium Matmut Stadium. The stadium's capacity was also reduced from 43,000 to a more reasonable 25,000. The Stade de Gerland is listed as a Category three stadium by UEFA's standards and has hosted matches for the 1954 and 1972 Rugby League World Cups, UEFA Euro 1984, the 1998 FIFA World Cup, and the 2007 Rugby World Cup. The stadium has hosted concerts by many famous artists, including The Rolling Stones, Michael Jackson, David Bowie, Pink Floyd and Genesis.

In 1910, the mayor of Lyon, Édouard Herriot, came up with the idea to develop and build a sports stadium with an athletics track and a velodrome in the city. In 1912, the stadium was officially mandated and local architect Tony Garnier was given the reins to designing and constructing it. Construction began in 1914 with hopes that the stadium would be completed before the International Exhibition of 1914. However, due to World War I, construction was temporarily halted, but resumed following the wars conclusion in 1919 with the assistance of a large number of German POWs. By 1920, the stadium was completely functional. In 1926, the Stade de Gerland was inaugurated by Herriot. The stadium originally had a cycling track, but it was removed in order to increase the seating capacity to 50,000. In 1984, minor renovations were made to the stadium by architect Rene Gagis in order to bring the stadium up to standards for UEFA Euro 1984. This included construction of the Jean Bouin and Jean Jaurès stands. Further renovations were needed to prepare the stadium for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, as by that time FIFA had mandated that all stadiums used for international matches, including the World Cup, had to be all seated. The north and south stands were completely dismantled and rebuilt, the Jean Jaurès and Jean Bouin side stands were untouched and the athletics track that had remained, even after the cycling track had been removed, was taken out. The renovations were done by architect Albert Constantin. The new incarnation of Gerland had a maximum capacity of 40,500. From 1950 to 2015 the stadium was home to French professional football club Olympique Lyonnais. Lyon moved into the stadium as a result of splitting from the Lyon Olympique Universitaire sport club, which played at the Stade des Iris. Its record attendance for a Ligue 1 match is 48,552 set during a match between Olympique Lyonnais and Saint Étienne in 1982.

Stade de Gerland can also be used for events with mass audiences, such as concerts; in the past, it has hosted artists such as the Rolling Stones, Michael Jackson, Pink Floyd, and Genesis.

The stadium was one of the host venues for the first ever Rugby League World Cup, having seen the tournament's second group game between when Great Britain and Australia played at the stadium. Great Britain won the match 28–13.

Stade de Gerland was selected as a host venue during France's second time at hosting the tournament. The stadium, selected to host the 1972 Rugby League World Cup final, again between Great Britain and Australia. The game received a poor attendance of only 4,231 spectators with the French public seemingly uninterested in a final that did not involve French. The game, however, proved a memorable one for both Great Britain and Australia; seeing Great Britain captain Clive Sullivan's long distance try, and Australia's "greatest try never scored", by fullback Graeme Langlands. The try was disallowed by French referee Georges Jameau for offside but was later proved to be onside. Great Britain hooker Mike Stephenson scored the 73rd minute try that helped level the scores and secure the World Cup. Australia winger Ray Branighan missed his 79th minute penalty, Bob Fulton failed three drop goal attempts in the last five minutes, resulting in a 10–10 scoreline at full time. Scores were again level after extra time. Qualification for the final was achieved by a top two finish in the group stage, however with Great Britain finishing first and Australia second in the group, a draw for Great Britain would secure them the title.

The stadium hosted three pool matches in the 2007 Rugby World Cup: Australia vs Japan, Argentina vs Georgia and New Zealand vs Portugal.