The Stade de Gerland is the principal sporting hub of the city of Lyon. Situated in the Gerland quarter, it is presently used by Olympique Lyonnais. It will host numerous 2007 Rugby World Cup matches.

Work began on the stadium, designed by Lyon resident Tony Garnier, in 1913. The construction soon halted because of World War I. After the war ended, construction restarted in 1919, with the assistance of a large number of German POWs. The stadium was fully functional by 1920,

Originally, the stadium had no sheltered seating areas, and hence needed to undergo vast amounts of rebuilding through its history. The cycling track that ran around the football pitch had to be sacrificed in 1960 in order to increase the seating capacity to over 50,000. In 1984, attendances reached 51,680 for certain European Football Championship matches.

Further renovations were needed to prepare the stadium for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, as by that time FIFA had mandated that all stadiums used for international matches, including the World Cup, had to be all-seated. The north and south stands were completely knocked down and rebuilt, and the athletics track that had remained even after the cycling track had been removed was taken out. The new incarnation of Gerland had a maximum capacity of 43,051.

The stadium currently consists of two stands: a north and a south one. It also has two side stands: The tribune Jean Jaures and the tribune Jean Bouin.

Since 1950 the stadium has been home to Olympique Lyonnais, which needed to find a new ground after splitting from the Lyon Olympique sport club which played at the Stade des Iris.

Since 1967 the stadium has been classed as a historic monument, especially its entrance archways.

The record attendance for a Ligue 1 match is 48,552 for a derby match between Olympique Lyonnais and AS Saint-Étienne in 1982.

[Source: Wikipedia]

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