Stade Geoffroy-Guichard

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Stade Geoffroy-Guichard

Le Chaudron
Full name	Stade Geoffroy-Guichard
Location	14 rue Paul-et-Pierre-Guichard, Saint-Étienne, Loire, France
Coordinates	45°27′39″N 4°23′25″E / 45.46083°N 4.39028°E / 45.46083; 4.39028
Capacity	41,965[1]
Surface	AirFibr (hybrid grass)
Construction
Built	1930
Opened	13 September 1931
Renovated	1983–1984, 1996–1998, 2011–2014
Tenants
AS Saint-Étienne (1930–present)

Stade Geoffroy-Guichard is a multi-purpose stadium in Saint-Étienne, France. It is used primarily for football matches, and tournaments such as the UEFA Euro 1984 and 2016, the 1998 FIFA World Cup and the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. It is also used for rugby union, and was a venue at the 2007 Rugby World Cup. It is nicknamed "le Chaudron" (the Cauldron), or "l'enfer vert" (the Green Hell), an allusion to the colours worn by the local football team, AS Saint-Étienne, given during the team's heyday when it drew particularly large crowds (the record being set in 1985, with more than 47,000 spectators). More recently, its current capacity was 35,616 before the current renovations, which began in 2011, and temporarily reduced this figure to 26,747. Since the renovations finished, the stadium holds 42,000 seated spectators (42 being the number of the Loire department where Saint-Étienne is located).

The stadium opened on 13 September 1931, and AS Saint-Étienne's first match there took place on 17 September against FAC Nice. The stadium was named after Geoffroy Guichard, founder of the Casino retail group, who purchased the site on which it was built.