Stade Vélodrome
| Le Vel' | |
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| Full name | Orange Vélodrome |
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| Location | Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France |
| Coordinates | 43°16′11″N 5°23′45″E / 43.26972°N 5.39583°ECoordinates: 43°16′11″N 5°23′45″E / 43.26972°N 5.39583°E |
| Owner | City of Marseille |
| Operator | AREMA |
| Capacity | 67,394 |
| Surface | AirFibr hybrid grass |
| Construction | |
| Built | 1937 |
| Opened | 13 June 1937 |
| Renovated | 1984, 1998, 2014 |
| Architect | Henri Ploquin |
| Tenants | |
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Olympique de Marseille (1937–present) RC Toulon (occasional matches) |
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The Stade Vélodrome (French pronunciation: [stad velɔdʁom]), known for sponsorship reasons as the Orange Vélodrome, is a multi-purpose stadium in Marseille, France. It is home to the Olympique de Marseille football club of Ligue 1 since it opened in 1937, and was a venue in the 1998 FIFA World Cup and the 2007 Rugby World Cup. It occasionally hosts RC Toulon rugby club of the Top 14. It is the largest club football ground in France, with a capacity of 67,344 spectators. The stadium is also used regularly by the French rugby union team.
The record attendance for a club game before renovation at the Stade Vélodrome was of 58,897 (for a UEFA Cup semi-final against Newcastle United in 2004). Since expansion to 67,300, the record attendance at the ground now stands at 65 148 for the match vs rivals PSG on 5 April 2015. The stadium was also featured as a Football World Cup venue when the 1938 finals were held in France. The first-ever match to be played was between Marseille and Torino in 1937.
The French rugby union team began an impressive run of victories at the stadium in the early 2000s. They defeated the All Blacks 42–33 in November 2000, and in 2001 defeated Australia by one point. They beat the Springboks in 2002, followed by a win over England in 2003. However, their run of luck was broken in 2004 when they lost 14–24 to Argentina. The venue was used by France in November 2009 when the French played the New Zealand All Blacks.
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