Built to replace the fabled but out-dated Marcel Saupin stadium - field of dreams of the FC Nantes - the stadium covered 14,000 square metres and could hold 52,900 spectators. Safety regulations stipulating that all spectators must be seated led to renovations that would allow 1998 World Cup football matches to be held there. 15,000 seats were installed; the stadium now seats 38,285.
The La Beaujoire-Louis Fonteneau Stadium (named after the president of the FC Nantes from 1969 to 1986) is one of France’s principal arenas. Sanctum of the FC Nantes Atlantique, eight-time French football champions, La Beaujoire is also a rugby field - a field where one of the national team’s most celebrated exploits took place. On 15 November 1986, for the first time in France’s history, the Blues trounced the New Zealanders (16-3). All hopes that the stadium would continue to bring luck to the French team were obliterated four years later, when the All-Blacks settled the score with a vengeance (24-3).
La Beaujoire is getting ready to host the great nations of the union, with Wales v Canada (9 September), England v Samoa (22 September), and Wales v Fiji (29 September). It looks like Nantes is going to have to speak English during most of September...
