How Green is my valley

The Geoffroy-Guichard stadium, built in 1931 but with its origins going back to Industrial Revolution strife, was reborn in 1998 with the World Cup and the return of the Greens to French football’s elite.

«This is the Cauldron ». Posted above the tunnel leading out onto the Geoffroy-Guichard pitch, the message is a clear warning to opponents of AS Saint-Etienne: a fever-pitch crowd awaits them. The club earned its nickname of les Verts (the Greens) when they inspired the whole of France with their swashbuckling football in the 1970s. One match was enough to forge the legend: the year was 1974 and St Etienne, led by Larqué, Revelli, Curkovic and Bathenay, knocked Hadjuk Split out of the European Cup after trailing 4-1 from the first leg. Their 5-1win in extra-time of an agonizingly dramatic match galvanized the nation. Two years later their popularity ensured that les Verts were given a parade down the Champs-Elysées avenue in spite of losing the European Cup final 2-1 to Bayern Munich.

An English stadium

During this golden age the club won five out of 10 league titles and four of six French Cup finals. Geoffroy-Guichard had been transformed into an English-style stadium with its four distinct stands (Pierre-Faurand, Henri-Point, Charles-Paret and Jean-Snella) crowding onto the pitch and giving voice to the clamour of the crowd. In 1968, the city authorities, having bought the land from the Guichard family, carried out extensive rebuilding. The Guichards, owners of a supermarket chain which became the Casino network, had bought land alongside steelworks and overlooking disused pit shafts in 1930 to build a stadium for their workers. Geoffroy-Guichard stadium, the patriarch’s name, was opened on 13 September 1931 with a match between a St Etienne XI and AS Cannes ... and, curiously, a game of rugby between AS Stéphanoise and Montferrand. Two years later AS St Etienne football club took possession of the ground.

2001: The French XV discover the Cauldron

That 1931 match did not herald any long-standing association with rugby. It was not until 70 years later, in November 2001, that France played their first match in the Cauldron. Fiji were able to confirm the ground’s passion was not exaggerated, being swept aside 77-10. Modernised for six matches in the 1998 World Cup soccer finals, the Geoffroy-Guichard is now one of the jewels in French sport while remaining a symbol of a working-man’s town. Capacity has been reduced to 35,600, putting the crowd record of 48,842 for a 1987 league match with Lens out of reach, but the fervor is still very much present. Rugby fans will get a taste in 2007 when « Flower of Scotland » will supplant « Allez les Verts ».

Useful information

Address

14 rue Paul-et-Pierre-Guichard
42028 Saint-Etienne Cedex 1
Tel: 04 77 92 31 70

Access

By plane: Aéroport de St Etienne-Bouthéon (10 km from the ground) or Aéroport de Lyon-Satolas (45 minutes from the ground)
By Train: Saint Etienne Chateaucreux (2 km from the stadium)
By car : Autoroute: From Clermont-Ferrand take the A72
From Lyon take the A47
By tramway: ligne 4
By bus: ligne 9

Key figures

Capacity: 35,650
Lighting: 1,896 lux