OGC Nice - Stadium

Stadium

Nice plays its home matches at the Stade Municipal du Ray, usually shortened to simply the Stade du Ray. The stadium is, however, officially known as the Stade Léo-Lagrange, a French politician who had a stint in politics as the Assistant Secretary of State for Sport. The Stade du Ray has gone through many renovations, most recently being in 1997 and has a capacity of 17,415. The stadium is popular with supporters for being located in the center of the city, but suffers from its old structure and small capacity, as the Nice metropolitan area has over 1 million residents.

Nice began to attempt to build a new stadium in 2002. In its first attempt, the club was heavily criticized by local politicians who questioned the usefulness and format of the stadium. However, despite the critics, the club's proposition passed and excavation of the site in the plain of Var, at Nice-Lingostière, was set to begin in July 2006. The Tribunal administratif of Nice cancelled the project for irregularities committed concerning the fixation of the price of tickets. In October 2008, the new Deputy Mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi declared that Nice would have a new stadium "no later than 2013". The new stadium should be built at the same place as before, at Nice-Lingostière. On 22 September 2009, French newspaper L'Équipe reported that the Grand Stade Nice had been selected by the French Football Federation as one of the twelve stadiums to be used in the country's bidding for UEFA Euro 2016. The FFF officially made its selections on 11 November 2009 and the city of Nice was selected as a site to host matches during the tournament. The construction of the Allianz Riviera started in 2011 and will be completed in 2013.