Good Mother watches over the Vélodrome

Built in homage to football and Olympique Marseille, the Vélodrome stadium is also carving out its niche in rugby’s history.

At Marseille football is a religion. There’s no hiding the fact that OM (Olympique de Marseille), the talismanic club of the Phocaean city, is sacred. Passions run strongly as fans dissect the twists and turns of every match. Its mascot stadium, the Vélodrome, is regarded as sancuary over which watches the Notre-Dame de la Garde basilica, known as the Bonne Mère (Good Mother).

The stadium’s history from its opening in June 1937 is punctuated by a series of sporting triumphs and popular rejoicing overflowing onto the harbour (Vieux Port) and its famed avenue de la Canebière. With 10 championship titles, as many French Cups and a European Cup - still France’s only triumph - there have been plenty of occasions to celebrate. At the beginning of the 1970s the duo Skoblar-Magnusson had fans drooling in a refurbished Vélodrome (36 000 capacity) but still containing its cycling track Twenty years later OM’s greatest triumphs were emblazoned in a stadium which had become infernal for opponents. Fans lovingly recall Papin, Waddle and company cutting down the great AC Milan side in 1991 before the team led by Deschamps and Boli brought back the European Cup two years later.

After the glory, the Mistral

Some fear the Vélodrome has lost its deafening roar since 1998 and its transformation for the World Cup. It was only the buildup to the 1938 World Cup that city fathers in 1933 authorized a project first raised in 1918. The stadium, whose capacity was increased to 60,000, is often swept by the Mistral winds which rake the region. The next stage is to cover the stands and increase capacity to 80,000. It should help raise the temperature at an extraordinary ground.

Hear the buzz of the crowd

But for several years now OM are not the only team to get the crowd buzzing. In November 2000, the French XV discovered the magic of the place, just as Michel Platini’s France had when they overcame Portugal 3-2 in an astonishing Euro 84 semi-final. France pulled off a superb 42-33 victory over New Zealand six years ago. Since then Australia (14-13), South Africa (30-10) and England (17-16) have all slipped up. But Argentina’s Pumas reversed the trend by wining 24-14 in 2004. The spell was not broken for long as the Wallabies went down 26-16 last Autumn as the Velodrome became once again an impregnable fortress.

Useful information

Address
Stade Vélodrome
3, Boulevard Michelet
13008 Marseille
Tel : 04 91 29 14 50

Access
By plane: Aéroport de Marignane
Take the A55 and head for centre ville then follow the roadsigns. Travelling time 25 minutes.
By train: Gare Saint-Charles
By metro: Ligne 2, station rond point du Prado for the Virage Sud Chevalier-Roze and Tribune Jean Bouin, station Ste Marguerite Dromel for Virage Nord De Peretti and Tribune Ganay.

Key figures
Capacity: 59,500
Lighting: 1,430 lux