Lyon (LOU) 36-10 ASM Clermont Auvergne, Saturday 17th February 2018

Lyon (LOU) 36-10 Clermont-Ferrand (att. 17,375)

Welcome to .....LOU (Lyon Olympique Universitaire)

I hate rugby, but I couldn’t pass this opportunity: go and see a game at Olympique Lyonnais’ old Stade de Gerland. Olympique’s new out of town build is somewhat characterless and not a patch on this beauty, looking classy, surrounded by its faded whitewashed walls. It reminded me of Bordeaux’s old stadium. It’s also been the scene of some historic occasions, such as Euro ’84, the World Cup in ’98, various concerts by the likes of the Rolling Stones…and the on-pitch death of Marc-Vivien Foe 2003. Not all memories can be happy.

The exterior, by twilight.

Whilst the football team appears to have outgrown their former home, the rugby side LOU (Lyon Olympique Universitaire) have made full use of it. With a capacity of about 40,000, it’s much too big for the rugby side and the capacity has been cut accordingly to 25,000. Thankfully, not by knocking down stands and losing its appeal, but rather by judicious use of banners and tarpaulins to cover existing seats. With both upper tiers behind the goals out of bounds, this made for a cosy atmosphere within. And I presume they still have the ability to re-open said areas for bigger occasions?

Upper tier and most of lower tapered off.

As it was, a very decent 17,000 odd turned out to see LOU face local-ish Clermont, who I’d actually heard of, despite trying not to listen to anything about rugby on Radio 5. Turns out they’re lower down than the hosts in this midtable clash. They’d brought a fair few too, most of whom appeared to be in our end. This included a magnificent sixteen-drum ‘orchestra’ who were thankfully stood on the tryline, or whatever it’s called. Anyway, I’d say there was a good 1-2000 away fans, many resplendent with yellow flags.

Some of the drum crew at half-time.

The match wasn’t as bad as I’d feared, though I’d been told by my partner I wasn’t allowed to slag off the game whilst there. (I’d been to rugby once before, at Harlequins. 18 of us went and 12 stayed under the stand at half time. I even went for beers in an effort to miss some of the ‘action’, but was back in my seat within two minutes, such was their efficiency.) I digress. This match didn’t just have piles of big blokes lying on top of a ball at the other end of the ground. There was passing, kicking, attacking. What with an atmosphere too, I was almost enjoying myself (but I had a beautiful stadium to sit and stare at).

Rugby.  Big blokes pushing each other.  No ball to be seen.

Still, though, the match was decided by a couple of moments of extraordinary ineptitude in the first half. The Clermont left back (I know they’re not left backs in rugby, but god knows what they are called) trotted back to his line as a ball was launched his way, and while he dawdled and then messed up the ball control (these egg-shaped balls don't half bounce funny), the opposition pounced for a try. Then, not to be outdone, the Clermont right back (yeah, yeah) did exactly the same. 12-3 down at half time and that was with them playing well.

The view from behind the goal.

The game became a bit of a rout, but we stayed till the end. Did I say what a beautiful stadium it is? You’d better get yourself there. T1 tram to Debourg, then a 15 minute walk. Or even a metro direct to its own Stade de Gerland stop. Easy there, easy back. A far cry from the crawl back from the football stadium, which is closer to the airport than the city centre. And in true rugby fashion, they have a massive beer (and food) tent for all, while tickets are easily picked up at the door, €20 for a seat behind the goal, or €15 if you’re prepared to stand right at the front – next to the drummers!

The Damage (for 2):
€20 Ent (x2)
Free programme
= €40

Didn’t eat: had already victualled at the legendary Brasserie Georges!

Stade de Gerland panorama

A Lyon lion.

Behind, behind the goal.

A grand entrance in the twilight.

Fans enter the arena.

The teams line up.

Fans behind the goal.

Fencing...a remnant of the football?

Clermont fans and drummers.

What purports for half time entertainment.

Every drum needs tassles.

Capacity-reduction method, Lyon-style.

The view from behind the posts.

Welcome to the Thunderdome.

A crowd transfixed.

Olympique Lyonnais 3-1 Villarreal, Thursday 15th February 2018

Olympique Lyonnais 3-1 Villarreal (att. 46,846)

Welcome to ....

February half term and time for another city break centred around the Europa League draw. And with many of the cities already visited, or in the far east (Russia), it came down to Lyon or (AEK) Athens. Ancient Greek or Roman ruins? Well, Lyon was closer, so off we went. I still wonder whether the Parthenon is still covered in scaffolding, as it was 20+ years ago on my previous visit, but I’ll give them a bit longer to get it sorted…

The exterior of the Groupama Stadium.

Lyon’s new stadium was built for Euro 2016, though Olympique had long held ambitions to expand from their homely Stade de Gerland. I think I read the new stadium cost €500m, of which €180m was for transport infrastructure. So the least I would expect is an architecturally noted stadium and a certain ease of access. What I got was one of the ugliest stadia I’ve ever seen, and a return journey which took over two hours to get to our hotel, centrally located near the railway station at Perrache.

Like you, beautiful on the inside.

It’s difficult to describe what the Groupama Stadium looks like, other than an aberration. It’s a horror. It looks like a cross between an office block and a factory, with a roof that’s been dumped on it at crazy angles. It’s awful. (Thankfully, the inside is superb; two tiers of seats, all enclosed, great views.) Then there is the transport. Tonight was a midweek game with 46,000 spectators, and queues for the metro were reminiscent of the worst of the Boleyn Ground, or the Amex. Only here, trains threatened to stop running within 40 mins of full time. How we’d have got back otherwise, I’m not sure.

What it looks like in daylight.  On a postcard.

Naturally, they’ve built the new stadium miles out of town. Handy for the airport, for when Manchester United et al visit, and handy for those whose cars fill the myriad carparks between the nearby motorway and stadium. What about folk who support OL, live in Lyon and don’t own a car? Tough. It’s a far cry from their old Stade de Gerland, easily accessible from the city centre.  Still, at least match tickets were easily procured, upstairs in the club shop in town, next to Place Bellecour.

The concourse.  Cheerless.

Having made the trip out to the stadium, OL make the effort once you get there. Pre-match, the music goes up a notch, the lights go down and lazers criss-cross the stadium. Spectacular, and with a black sky, you almost feel like you’re indoors. It’s a tasty looking fixture too: Lyon, 3rd in the French league, against Villarreal, 5th in Spain. I am hoping for an entertaining match and it doesn’t disappoint. Both sides played an open game and looked to score. Half time could have seen it twos-apiece, the highlight being Villarreal having a thunderous volley direct from a corner parried away.

We arrived at half time goalless, but it didn’t remain that for long, as OL took the lead in the opening minute of the second half, a corner being headed back over the keeper for a simple nod in at the back post. Three minutes later, Villarreal had undone all of their good work of the opening half by going two down, the rebound being picked off after a great run and shot was saved.  A lightning re-start and reward for those not dawdling under the stands at half time.

The teams line up before kick-off.

I rather fancied Villarreal weren’t out of it yet though, and they pulled one back when Pablo Fornals was played in and he appeared to shoot THROUGH the keeper, the momentum of the shot just about carrying it over the line before a defender cleared just too late. However, the best was saved to last, as former £25m Man U misfit Memphis Depay came on, showboated, looked a class above anything else on the pitch, and duly ran onto a loose ball and despatched a 25 yard shot into the bottom corner without breaking stride. Pure class. And I would have over two hours to muse on it as I made my way home.

Villarreal get set for a corner.

The Damage (for 2): 
€20 Ent (x2) 
€3.50 coca-cola 
€2.50 water 
free programme/newspaper 
= €46

Groupama Stadium panorama.

The lights go down, ready for the gladiators' entrance.

A place for everything, and everything in its place.

The 'smaller' ultras.

Them widening gangways, like wot the Stade du France has.

A corner of emptiness.

Novel safety barriers.

The ultras hoist their scarves.

Home time.

The A4 match ticket.

Girondins de Bordeaux 1-0 Kairat, Thursday 20th August 2015

Bordeaux 1-0 Kairat, Europa League play-off, 2nd leg (att. 24,795)

Welcome to ....

It’s Wednesday, I’m in Germany, and I’m due to meet my partner in Biarritz, south-western France, on Friday.  How handy then that Bordeaux, a little way up the coast from Biarritz, have a home game in the Europa League on the Thursday night.  I’m there!  Even better, Bordeaux’s new stadium, the imaginatively named ‘Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux’ is due to be one of the stadia used at Euro 2016, so I get a sneak preview!

There it is!  My 1st view.

After interrailing from Germany (be careful: there’s limited tickets for high speed trains within France so they have to be booked in advance), I arrived in Bordeaux at a decent time.  Certainly, I had time to put my (blistered) feet up at my accommodation for an hour, before hitting the town.  Bordeaux is a glorious place. I can see why that Maths teacher ran away here with his (school) girl friend.  This reminds me of one of my favourite ever jokes, probably unprintable here.  Ask me if you ever meet me!

Exercise.  Not good for one's health.

But I’ve visited before, so am more interested in scoping out the new stadium.  And as befits these things, it’s built a lot further out than its predecessor.  Thankfully, regular tram services run up there, taking about 20 minutes.  Tram C, last stop, heading toward ‘Parc des Expositions/Stade’.  Once there, you meet a plethora of average victual stalls, all of whom were massively overpriced.  I bought my ticket to the match (a very reasonable €10) and headed back to town for food, ready to return closer to kick-off time.

Fanzone food stalls.  No thanks.

The stadium is STUNNING.  One of, if not THE most beautiful I’ve ever seen from the outside.  From the hundreds of ‘poles’ holding up the structure, to its brilliant white, gleaming in the evening summer sun, to the sleek art-deco curves of the staircases…it was fair to say I was impressed.  So what if it’s a journey to get here, it’s worth it.  Would I feel the same in winter, in the rain?  Would it become ‘weathered’?  And what about when it gets graffitied, or covered in the stickers of opposing fans?  Well, we’ll see.

Bootiful.  Really bootiful.

Girondins de Bordeaux’s opponents tonight were FC Kairat. No, me neither. But they’re from Almaty which is…..any idea……the biggest city in Kazakhstan.  I learnt that from Wikipedia.  (Astana is the capital).  So I wasn’t expecting too many away fans, but the authorities had dragged some Asiatic people up from somewhere and given them all flags to wave. It all looked too organised, too suspicious to me, but they added to the atmosphere.

The Kazakh invasion.

The capacity of the new stadium is over 41,000 and 25,000+ were here tonite, very reasonable considering the game, less so considering the reduced entry price.  I chose a place behind the goal, with the Girondins ultras.  Except I went upstairs, to get a better view and a sit down.  But the ultras were a lively bunch, and gave it their all.

Girondins.  Definitely not Jacobins.

The match itself wasn’t all that.  Bordeaux were obviously the better side, but were unable to transmit their superior ability into a rout.  They went ahead before the half hour mark to level the tie, but thereafter couldn’t force another.  Fortunately, the onus was on Kairat, who were otherwise out on away goals and so it proved.  A valiant effort from the far easterners, but it wasn’t to be.  They and their yellow flags would have to return from whence they came.  I headed back for an early night, ready for the Big Meet!

The ultras.

The Damage:
€10 ent
€4.50 hotdog
€8 beer (€2 deposit)
= €22.50

The Tunes:
St. Vincent (St. Vincent)
Souvlaki (Slowdive)
Sunshine Hit Me (The Bees)
Staring at the Sea: The Singles 1979-85 (The Cure)

Love it.

Looking down one side.

Everything about it is magnificent.

Perfection.

Check out the curves...and is that someone HUGGING the stadium?

More sexy curves.

On the concourse.

Exec boxes and wheelchair space above.

Makes you wonder why giant screens aren't 2-sided (yet).

The view from the upper tier.

Best seats in the house.

Sleekness personified.

Match action.

A sparsely populated rest of stadium.

Final score.

Stragglers leaving the stadium.

The stadium lit up.

Beautiful.