AS Saint-Etienne : a week of festivities for the 90th anniversary of the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium, alias the Chaudron | ASSE News

The Geoffroy-Guichard stadium, in Saint-Etienne, in the Loire, is almost a hundred years old. The mythical den of ASSE celebrates its 90th anniversary this Monday, September 13. And for good reason, the first match in Le Chaudron took place on September 13, 1931. At the time, ASSE was not yet called ASSE, but Amicale des Employees de la Société des Magasins Casino, and the club was not called ASSE. was not yet professional, he will become so two years later, in 1933.

To celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium, several festivities will be taking place throughout the week. They will end, in apogee, on Saturday September 18, in the Chaudron, during the reception of Bordeaux on behalf of the 6th day of Ligue 1. At the end of the match, a fireworks display will be fired around 11 p.m.

This Monday, September 13, the festivities will begin at the AS Saint-Etienne training center, in Etrat. A fresco will be unveiled in tribute to ASSE player and coach Robert Herbin, who died in April 2020 at the age of 81. The club wants ”honor the memory of the sphinx”.
The day will continue at the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium where several official photos will be taken and where the first stone of the future stadium brewery will be laid.

To remember the start of the stadium, an 8:58 minute film will be shown. He is silent and in black and white. It tells the story of the beginnings of the construction of the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium, in the Marais district of Saint-Etienne. It was produced in 1928 by Pierre Guichard, one of the sons of Geoffroy Guichard and first president of ASSE.
It was not until 1957 that ASSE won its first title of champion of France.

The Geoffroy-Guichard stadium … a whole story …

Construction began on the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium in 1930, on 40,000 m² of land purchased by Casino. It was inaugurated on September 13, 1931. At the time, it was multi-sport and accommodated 1,800 seats.
Two years later, the football club turned professional and played in the 2nd division.
In 1935, behind each goal, earthen mounds were built to create popular stands. The reception capacity climbs to 5,000 places.
The club entered the 1st division in 1938, when work was undertaken, such as the construction of counters, of a new covered stand … All of the work will then accommodate more than 15,000 people.

In 1950, ASSE became one of the flagship clubs of French football. The stadium is in the process of becoming legendary.
In 1957, the Greens won the first French title … and the first scorer is Jean Oleksiak, just turned professional. A midfielder from 1955 to 1963, he was also the father of Thierry Oleksiak, loyal assistant coach of Christophe Galtier (ASSE coach from 2008 to 2017).

A stadium that has remained popular despite several renovations

The Geoffroy-Guichard stadium has undergone several renovations, in 1984 for the Euro, in 1998 for the World Cup, in 2007 for the Rugby World Cup.

In 2013, the stadium and the club offered their museum … the first in France.

In 2016, in view of the Euro, the stadium is being renovated for an estimated budget of 58 million euros, but the final cost will amount to nearly 80 million euros. It has grown and now offers nearly 42,000 seats.
The same year, the descendants of Geoffroy Guichard, Jérémy and Mathieu Guichard announced their project to create a brewery in the cauldron. The great-grandchildren of the founder of the Casino group want to keep the popular spirit. The brasserie will be located in the southwest corner of the English stadium on a 750 m2 terrace above the Musée des Verts.

The leaders of ASSE, Roland Romeyer, chairman of the management board and Bernard Caïazzo, chairman of the supervisory board, want to buy the stadium from the City of Saint-Etienne, which has since become the owner. But the City does not want to sell because it wants to host various events there.

Without being able to own their stadium, the leaders of ASSE officially announced in December 2017 the sale of the club and entrusted the file to the Lazard bank and six months later the club ended up signing a partnership agreement with Saint -Etienne Métropole, who has managed the stadium since 2001.

All social classes come together in Geoffroy-Guichard

With nearly 172,000 inhabitants, Saint-Etienne is the 2nd Rhône-Alpes municipality after Lyon.It still has an image of a mining town, a working-class town and a passion for ASSE which has been passed down from generation to generation, beyond the Loire. .
The stadium is also home to the local economic fabric. More than 300 companies have bought the VIP formula from Geoffroy-Guichard to combine passion and business.
Two grandstands remain essential: the north (Magic Fan) and south (formerly Green Angels) Kops. The two bends maintain the popular spirit in a social mix, to the rhythm of the songs and the colors of the tifos;
Currently, the stadium accommodates an average of 30,000 spectators, many more during the big posters. More than 10,000 supporters have subscribed for this 2021-2022 season.
The attendance record at Geoffroy-Guichard was in 1985, in the Coupe de France, in the quarter-final against LOSC, with nearly 48,000 spectators.

BOARDING FOR A GUIDED TOUR: Alex Mahinc, historical ASSE cameraman, tells us the story of the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium. The visitor can put themselves in the shoes of different actors, a role that many have liked to take on ….