Stade Marcel Saupin

Stade Marcel-Saupin

Location	31 quai Malakoff 44000 Nantes
Coordinates	Coordinates: 47°12′45″N 1°32′18″W / 47.21250°N 1.53833°W / 47.21250; -1.53833
Owner	Ville de Nantes
Capacity	20,000 (1955) 33,000 (1969) 1,880 (2010)
Surface	grass
Construction
Opened	1937
Renovated	2006-2009
Architect	Camille Robida
Tenants
FC Nantes reserve team

The Stade Marcel-Saupin is a sports complex in the city of Nantes (Loire-Atlantique), France. It was opened in 1937 under the name Stade Malakoff, and was used primarily by the rugby union Stade nantais université club, then became the stadium of FC Nantes after World War II until the club moved to the Stade de la Beaujoire in 1984.

At first, the stadium did not have lights for night matches; these were not installed until 1957. There was room for 14,000 spectators, but there were only 1,200 seats. When FC Nantes was promoted to Ligue 1, the stadium was renovated and enlarged for 25,000 spectators. In May 1965, it was renamed Marcel-Saupin, after the recently deceased president and founding member of FC Nantes, despite his links to collaborators during World War II. The unfavourable location of the stadium, wedged between the Loire and the urban centre, limited its expansion to 29,500 spectators in the 1970s, despite the increasing popularity of the club.

For more than twenty years, "Saupin" was one of the legendary stadiums of French football, following the success of FC Nantes. From the fireworks of Philippe Gondet and Jacky Simon to the championship matches between Nantes and AS Saint-Etienne, and tough matches with old Atlantic rivals Girondins de Bordeaux, it was there the Canaries wrote the most glorious chapters of their history with six French championship titles, their first Coupe de France, and a European semi-final in 1980. The French national team also played there many times in the early 1970s before their resurgence in popularly forced them to play most of their matches at the Parc des Princes in Paris.

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