Stade Lesdiguières is a multi-purpose stadium in

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The stadium holds 12,000 spectators (8,500 seated). It is the home of the FC Grenoble rugby union club. The name of the stadium was given in honor of

François de Bonne, Duke of Lesdiguières François de Bonne, duc de Lesdiguières (, 1 April 1543 – 21 September 1626) was a French soldier of the French Wars of Religion and Constable of France, and one of only six Marshals to have been promoted Marshal General of France. Early ...

, died in 1626. The Stadium is made up of 5 stands, the largest of which is the Tribune Présidentielle to the south. The Tribune Tennis is on the east side, so called because it is next to a tennis club, and is the only stand which is uncovered. On the north side there are the Tribune Nord and Tribune Alberto stands, which lie adjacent to each other.

History

France hosted the

1972 Rugby League World Cup The sixth Rugby League World Cup was held in France in October and November 1972. Australia started as the favourites to retain the trophy they had won just two years previously. New Zealand had beaten all three of the other nations in 1971 an ...

and Stade Lesdiguières was the venue for one match between the home team and

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

. When the stadium hosted football venues, from 1998 to 2008, the Tribune Alberto welcomed the away supporters, as well as some home fans and the last stand, the Tribune Finet, was home to the noisiest fans of

Grenoble Foot 38 Grenoble Foot 38, commonly referred to as simply Grenoble or GF38, is a French association football club based in Grenoble. The club plays its home matches at the Stade des Alpes, a sports complex based in the heart of the city, and wears whit ...

. From 2008, the football venues are hosted by the

Stade des Alpes The Stade des Alpes is a rugby and football stadium in Grenoble, France. The stadium seats 20,068 and hosts the home games of Grenoble Foot 38 and the FC Grenoble rugby club. Situated in Paul Mistral Park, it replaced their stadium Stade Lesdigu ...

and Lesdiguieres is today only used for Rugby union matches. It was at this stadium that

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

defeated

by 40–32 to win their first historical triumph in the 1995-1997 FIRA Trophy, which paved the way to their admission to the expanded

Six Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) is an annual international men's rugby union competition between the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The current champions ar ...

. It hosted a match between

and

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consis ...

at the

1991 Rugby World Cup The 1991 Rugby World Cup was the second edition of the Rugby World Cup, and was jointly hosted by England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France: at the time, the five European countries who participated in the Five Nations Championship. This was ...

. The

New Zealand national rugby union team The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 19 ...

also played a game on September 4, 1981, against a French Selection, which they lost 16 - 18, their only defeat of that 1981 tour in France.

References

Rugby union stadiums in France Rugby league stadiums in France Rugby World Cup stadiums Rugby League World Cup stadiums Sports venues in Grenoble Grenoble Foot 38 Multi-purpose stadiums in France Football venues in France Sports venues completed in 1921 1921 establishments in France {{France-sports-venue-stub