Stade Français : searching for a stadium...

Did you know that the words "Stadium" or "Stade" were litterally "re-invented" by the young sportsmen of Stade Français - students from Lycée St Louis in Paris, most of them being very well educated in ancient Greek... - when they were searching for a name for their newly formed sports club in 1883... ? Stade Toulousain, Stade Bordelais, Stade de France and all "stadiums" in France (in the world ?) owe something to the Stade Français...

That was just a foreword to discuss past and present stadiums of my favorite team...

Before "Jean Bouin" - our current stadium close to the Parc des Princes in Paris - , before "La Faisanderie" - headquarters of Stade Français omnisports club in Parc de St Cloud - , the ruggers of Stade Français struggled a lot to find a place "of their own" and wandered a lot among various areas in Western Paris : Paris (Parc des Princes... too expensive !), Bécon, Levallois, Bagatelle or Courbevoie... as in the picture dated 1897, showing part of a 1500 people crowd celebrating an easy victory over Stade Bordelais 5 tries to nil... (in Le Sport Universel Illustré, 13 nov. 1897 - article by Frantz Reichel from rival Racing Club de France...)

It looks a little like a Sunday picnic with all these bikes along the pitch... it sounds rudimentary, but there is a refreshment bar (cf the sign between the flags...)...

Here are the teams of the day posing... I recognize Louis Dedet and Henri Amand (sitting) in the middle of the picture... Two years later, Bordeaux will defeat Paris for a first championship title... opening a decade of undisputed domination over French rugby...





Identificateurs Technorati : rugby, stade français