Chamois Niortais F.C. - Stadium

Stadium

When Chamois Niortais were founded, the club had no fixed home ground and played friendly matches at various venues in and around Niort. In 1926, when the team joined the Ligue du Charentes, the club adopted the small Stade de Genève as their first home. They continued to play at the Stade de Genève for the majority of the following 50 years until, in the early 1970s, it was announced that the side would move into a new stadium. On 3 August 1974, the Stade Venise Verte was opened, with the inaugural game being an exhibition match between Chamois Niortais and Dynamo Kyiv. Some time later, the stadium was renamed the Stade René Gaillard in honour of René Gaillard, the former mayor of Niort.

At present, the stadium has four stands: the Tribune d'Honneur, the Tribune Pasages, the Tribune Populaire Nord, and the Tribune Populaire Sud. The four stands currently have a combined capacity of 10,898, with 1,324 of these being standing places. The stadium is typical of many continental European grounds, with an athletics track between the pitch and the stands. Next to the stadium there is a small annexed ground where the club's reserve and youth teams play their matches. The first televised match at the ground took place on 18 August 1987, when AS Saint-Étienne were beaten 2–1. The record attendance at the stadium was set on 24 October 1987, when 16,715 people saw Chamois Niortais defeat Olympique de Marseille by two goals to one in a Division 1 encounter.