Stade Gerland
Stade Gerland is the home of Olympique Lyonnais. It has a capacity of 40,494 seats.
The stadium was constructed in the 1920s and officially opened in May 1926. It was designed as a stadium for multiple sports and in its first decades little football was played at the stadium. It took until 1950 when Olympique Lyonnais moved in that the stadium slowly converted into a proper football stadium.
In the 60s the Lyon city council played with the idea to construct a 85,000 stadium in order to attract the Olympic Games, however these plans never materialised. With the perspective of Euro 1984 the stadium was renovated instead, and transformed with the construction of two new stands. In 1980 the stadium achieved its record attendance with 48,552 visitors during a match against local rival Saint-Etienne.
Two matches were played at Stade Gerland during Euro 1984: one group match and the semi-final between Spain and Denmark (1-1). In 1986 the final of the Cup Winners’ Cup between Dynamo Kiev and Atlético Madrid (3-0) was played at the stadium.
In October 1994 Lyon was officially chosen as a venue for the 1998 World Cup. As a result the stadium underwent a complete refurbishment which was completed in 1996. At the World Cup the stadium hosted six matches, including the quarter-final between Croatia and Germany (3-0).
The club is currently developing plans to move to a new €450-mln stadium with a planned capacity of 58,000. Construction of this stadium is planned to get started in the middle of 2012 with delivery of the project in the summer of 2014.
Getting there
Stade Gerland is located south of the city centre of Lyon, approximately 5 kilometres from Saint-Jean Cathedral and 4 kilometres from Lyon-Perrache train station.
The stadium can be best reached with metro line B. This line connects the stadium (stop Stade de Gerland) with Lyon’s other main railway station Gare de la Part-Dieu, and meets with line D at Saxe-Gambetta, which in turn connects with the old city centre.
From railway station Perrache one can take tram 2 to metro stop Jean Macé and get on metro line B there, or take bus 60 in the direction of Feyzin Les Razes. This bus will drop you off directly at the stadium.
Stade Gerland lies close to two motorways which makes it easy to access. The best way to approach the stadium is from the ring road south (Périphérique Sur) taking exit 16 Gerland. Following the boulevard north and subsequently with a curve left will get you to the stadium.
From the A7/A47/Autoroute du Soleil take exit 1 toward Gerland and cross the bridge (Pont Pasteur). Turn right after the bridge and follow the road until you see the stadium.
Address: 89 Avenue Tony Garnier, 69007 Lyon
Tickets
Tickets can be purchased at the OL Store near the stadium (next to the metro entrance), via the France Billet, Ticketnet and Digitick network (e.g. at Carrefour, FNAC, Virgin, or Leclerc stores), or online.
Ticket prices range from €15.00 to €60.00. For more information call +33 (0) 892 69 69 69.
Relevant Internet links:
Olweb.fr – Official website of Olympique Lyonnais.
Lyon-france.com – Lyon tourist information.
Tcl.fr – Metro, tram and bus information for the Lyon agglomeration.
