Stade Buffalo
Paris (Montrouge), Île-de-France, France
Stade Buffalo, Paris (Montrouge), France — opened 1922 (as a velodrome/cycling venue; football/rugby use following from around January 1923), 10 rugby league games hosted, home of Served as the French national rugby league team's regular Paris home venue, roughly 1935-1939.
Sourcing caveat: Capacity is disputed between sources (see above) and reported as such rather than resolved. Floodlight status and playing surface could not be confirmed.
Ground facts
| Opened | 1922 (as a velodrome/cycling venue; football/rugby use following from around January 1923) (Demolished 1957. Located on rue Carves/avenue du Fort, Montrouge, near Porte d'Orleans; also known as "Velodrome-Stade Buffalo.") |
| Home club | Served as the French national rugby league team's regular Paris home venue, roughly 1935-1939 |
| Games hosted (rugby league, on record) | 10 |
| Top recorded crowd | 25,000 |
| Capacity | Disputed between sources: one gives 30,000 for football/rugby and 40,000 for boxing; another gives 20,000 for football/rugby and 50,000 for boxing. Both figures are reported here rather than one being silently picked. |
| Test matches hosted | 1 |
| Floodlights installed | Not confirmed (unlikely for this era, but not explicitly stated in sources checked) |
| Surface | Not confirmed |
| First rugby league match | 15 April 1934 — France 21-32 England, independently confirmed as France's first-ever home rugby league international, before a sold-out crowd of approximately 20,000 |
| Years used | 1934–1938 |
| Location | Paris (Montrouge), Île-de-France |
Name history
- Stade Buffalo (Velodrome Buffalo) — used throughout, 1922-1957
Rugby league history
A historic Paris multi-sport venue at the heart of the sport's earliest years in France, hosting the country's first-ever home rugby league international (v England, 1934) and the first-ever Australia v France Test (1938). Notably, the French rugby union federation banned its own clubs from using Stade Buffalo specifically because it hosted the rival, newly-established rugby league code — an episode in the 1930s French "war of the grounds" between the two codes.
Historic Test matches, Cup & Grand Finals hosted
- 2 Jan 1938 — Australia 35-6 France, the inaugural rugby league Test between the two nations
Pre-dates the site's structured match-by-match records for these competitions, so listed here as sourced facts rather than linked match pages.
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
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