It’s not likely that most football fans know Girondins de Bordeaux. The French side has a fair amount of history, though not much of it has been recent, with only a 2009 Ligue 1 win and 2013 Coupe de France triumph adding major trophies to their cabinet in recent years.
French soccer club says goodbye to their stadium with thousands of flares
Girondins de Bordeaux have played their last match in a stadium they’ve been in for almost 80 years, and sent it off in style.
They’ve been a solidly midtable club of late, currently standing at sixth in Ligue 1 after finishing seventh a year ago, and they play in a stadium with quite a bit of history -- or at least they did until this weekend.
The Stade Chaban-Delmas has seen its final Bordeaux home match, ending 77 years of history with the club. The stadium -- built in 1930 and renovated several times since then -- is being replaced by the aptly named Nouveau stade de Bordeaux, or New Bordeaux Stadium. The new stadium is larger and much more modern, which will be a big plus for Bordeaux, but it’s tough to replace the history of the old venue, which saw the club win six Ligue 1 titles and hosted eight World Cup matches during it’s lifetime.
Saturday saw Bordeaux send off their home in style, beating Nantes 2-1 before letting the fans give it a memorable farewell, lining the pitch and lighting flares in a display to honor the old ground.
bingo, un mur de fumis pic.twitter.com/TSpqAPq5e3
— philippe (@philousports) May 9, 2015 Even some of the players got in the action, with Marc Planus grabbing a flare himself and joining the celebration.
Planus fumi a la main pic.twitter.com/upWOym9ONq
— philippe (@philousports) May 9, 2015 Hopefully the new stadium brings Bordeaux more success and earns itself a sendoff even more memorable than this one was.
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