The First Parc (1897-1932)
The Stade-vélodrome Parc des Princes was inaugurated on 18 July 1897. It was so quickly and badly built that spectators were denied access to the stands when it opened. There were fears that the stands would give way under the weight of spectators. The Parc de Princes was for so long the jewel in French sports grounds, boasting the biggest capacity and best facilities. It was originally opened in the late 19th century as a multi-purpose venue and hosted athletics, cycling (it has been used for the final stages of the Tour de France), football and rugby. The name Parc des Princes was given to the surrounding area during the 18th century, when it was a forest used by the royal family for hunting. The original enclosure had 3,200 seats and was surrounded by a velodrome of 666,66 meters in length. Henri Desgrange, then columnist of Le Vélo and director of L'Auto from 16 October 1900, was a prominent cyclist and owner with Victor Goddet of the velodrome at the Parc des Princes. Desgrange set up the Tour de France in 1903. The velodrome of the Parc des Princes was the finish line of the Tour de France until 1967. Track cycling was also the sport featured at Le Parc and the trail of the Porte de Saint-Cloud hosted the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in 1900. The trail of the Parc des Princes was also used for motorcycle races.
Rugby, called "football" or "football-rugby" at the time, made its debut on the lawn of the Parc des Princes on 14 November 1897 with an Anglo-French international poster: Union athlétique de 1er arrondissement against Swindon Rugby Football Club. In football, called "association" or "football association", the first match held at Le Parc was on 26 December 1897 in front of 500 spectators. The English Ramblers prevailed 3-1 against Club Français. The USFSA championship finals of 1903, 1905, 1907 and 1910 were also held in Le Parc, as well as the Coupe Sheriff Dewar in 1905. The concept of a resident club of the Parc des Princes was born during the beginning of the 20th century. Racing Club de France obtained exclusive use of the stadium for athletic sports such as athletics, rugby and football in particular. The newly re-founded Olympique briefly regained its resident club status for the athletic sports in 1902. Racing, however, absorbed Olympique and recovered Le Parc in September 1902. Le XV de France, the French rugby team, played its first official match against the All Blacks on the lawn of the Parc des Princes in front of over 3,000 spectators on 1 January 1906. The first official match played by the French football team on home soil was also held at Le Parc. Les Bleus defeated Switzerland 2-0 on 12 February 1905.
Following the success of the events presented at the Parc des Princes, the seating capacity was expanded to 10,000 spectators before World War I. The first match of American football was also played in the former Parc des Princes stadium in 1919 by American soldiers who remained on French territory after the war. The 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris allowed Le Parc to be further enlarged to 20,000 seats. The Parc des Princes, the Stade de Colombes and the Stade Pershing were candidates for the status of main Olympic stadium. After heated debate, the French government designated Le Parc as the main stadium of the Olympic Games in 1922, but the City of Paris refused to fund the work. For a while it was rumored that Lyon would take Paris's place as hosts of the Olympic Games. On behalf of the "Grand Paris" policy and with funding from Racing Club de France, Colombes stadium was finally appointed. Colombes took the opportunity to be equipped with 60,000 seats, making the Parc des Princes obsolete. For half a century, Colombes was a strong competitor for Le Parc. In the wake of the 1924 Games, during which the Parc des Princes did not host any Olympic event, the City of Paris, owner of the venue, signed a concession agreement for 40 years with sports newspaper L'Auto. The rental amount was 4% of the revenues.
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