Stade Louis II
Stadium in Fontvieille, Monaco
The Stade Louis II (French pronunciation: [stad(ə) lwi dø], lit. 'Louis II Stadium'), or simply Louis II, is a stadium located in the Fontvieille district of Monaco, near the border with Cap-d'Ail commune of France. It serves primarily as a venue for Athletics and football, being the home of AS Monaco. The stadium is most notable for its distinctive nine arches at the away end of the ground. The arena is also used for the Herculis, a track and field meet of the Diamond League. The stadium hosted the 1986 and 1998-2012 UEFA Super Cup matches. Due to Monaco's small size, the stadium is the only football and athletics stadium in the country.
01History
The original Stade Louis II was opened in 1939 as the home of AS Monaco. The decision to build a new sports centre in Monaco dates back to 1979. Prince Rainier III decided to establish a sports area in the Fontvieille district. The prince brought in Parisian architects to build the complex. The work began in May 1981 and ended in 1984, and required 120,000 m³ of concrete, 9,000 tonnes of iron and 2,000 tonnes of steel structure on a median land reclaimed from the sea. The complex was inaugurated on 25 January 1985 by Rainier III.
The stadium has a current seating capacity of 16,360 (almost half of the country's population), and is named after Louis II, Prince of Monaco, who was the Sovereign Prince of Monaco when the original stadium was built. The vast majority of the stadium's facilities are located underground, including the Gaston-Médecin multi-sports centre, the Prince Albert II aquatic centre and a large car park directly under the pitch.
The stadium has hosted major professional boxing world title fights from time to time; those include the Julio César Chávez, Sr. versus Rocky Lockridge contest.
The stadium also hosts the cup finals of the Challenge Prince Rainier III, Monaco's main competition for Monegasque amateur company football teams.
The stadium hosted the athletics events in the 1987 and 2007 Games of the Small States of Europe, and is scheduled to host it again in the 2027 event.
02Facilities
The Salle Gaston Médecin indoor arena is located under the stands of the football stadium. Salle Gaston Médecin is able to host basketball, volleyball, and handball games, as well as judo and fencing matches, and weightlifting and gymnastics competitions. It has a seating capacity of 5,000 people for basketball games and concerts.
The stadium complex, besides the football stadium and athletics track and the Salle Gaston Médecin, also contains the aquatic centre Prince Albert II, a large office complex, and also houses the International University of Monaco (IUM), which specializes in business education.
03National team matches
Only rarely have national teams played at the stadium:
Switzerland v Austria| 5 February 1988 1988 Tournoi de France bronze final | Switzerland | 2-1 | Austria | Monaco |
| Koller 25' Sutter 65' |
Geiger 48' (o.g.) | Stadium: Stade Louis II Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Michel Girard (France) |
| 5 February 1988 1988 Tournoi de France final | France | 2-1 | Morocco | Monaco |
| Lamriss 9' (o.g.) Stopyra 49' |
Match Report | Lamriss 34' | Stadium: Stade Louis II Attendance: 10,000 Referee: Michel Vautrot (France) |
| 11 February 1997 1998 WCQ | Estonia | 0-0 | Scotland | Monaco |
| 20:00 UTC+1 | Stadium: Stade Louis II Attendance: 3,766 Referee: Saïd Ennjimi (France) |
| 3 March 2010 International friendly | Italy | 0-0 | Cameroon | Monaco |
| 20:45 UTC+1 | (Report) | Stadium: Stade Louis II Attendance: 10,752 Referee: Saïd Ennjimi (France) |
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Stade Louis II”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Panoramio - V&A Dudush - stade Louis II.jpg by V&A Dudush, CC BY 3.0
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