Stade de la Beaujoire

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Stade de la Beaujoire - Louis Fonteneau
La Beaujoire
Location Route de Saint Joseph 44300, Nantes
Opened May 8 1984
Owner
Surface Grass (105m x 68m)
Tenants
FC Nantes
Capacity
38285

The Stade de La Beaujoire - Louis Fonteneau, better known as La Beaujoire, is a stadium in Nantes. It is the home of the FC Nantes Atlantique football club. In September 2007 it will host 3 pool matches of the 2007 Rugby World Cup - Wales vs Canada on September 9th, England vs Samoa on September 22 and Wales vs Fiji on September 29th.

The stadium opened for the first time on May 8, 1984 for a friendly game: FC Nantes - Romania. It was named after Louis Fonteneau who was President of FC Nantes between 1969 and 1986. It was renovated in 1998 for the World Cup. While its original capacity was 52,923, in 1998 it was converted to an all seater stadium and its current capacity is 38,285. Previously, the team played at Stade Marcel Saupin.

The stadium also hosts international rugby matches, including France against New Zealand (16-3) on November 15 1986.

La Beaujoire hosted matches during the 1984 European Football Championship, including a 5-0 victory for France over Belgium. Six matches were also played there during the 1998 FIFA World Cup, including the quarter-final between Brazil and Denmark.

The France national football team have played here on three occasions, most recently in a 2001 friendly against Denmark (1-0).

The stadium has also hosted musical concerts including:


Coordinates: 47°15′20.27″N, 1°31′31.35″W