The Stade de France won over fans of the national team, but so far no suitable club side has been found to play there. Philippe Broussard runs down the possible contenders
The Stade de France, venue of the most recent World Cup final, is now an institution, almost an historic monument. Les Bleus winning the World Cup means that, like Wembley, thousands of tourists visit the Stade. But it hasn’t always had such a positive image. A year ago, at the time of the official opening (January 28th, 1998), there was more criticism than praise. The press wondered what kind of future such a structure could have: was an 80,000-capacity stadium way too large for a country in which football draws many less people than in Italy or England? Was it not a risk to build it in a depressed suburb (Saint-Denis) where spectators would think twice about going? And, most importantly, who would use the ground once the World Cup was over?