Stade Marcel-Saupin
Nantes, Pays de la Loire, France
Stade Marcel-Saupin, Nantes, France — opened 28 November 1937, 5 rugby league games hosted, home of overwhelmingly a football ground — home of FC Nantes, 1943-1984; also used from close to its 1936 founding by the rugby league club Nantes XIII (originally Bretagne Nantes XIII), whose use of the ground may predate our recorded 1952 start given the club's 1936 founding, though wartime suspension (1941-mid-1940s) complicates this.
Sourcing caveat: Only 1 of our recorded 5 rugby league games here (the 1954 World Cup France v Australia fixture) could be confirmed; the other 4 were not found in sources checked, and may be Nantes XIII domestic fixtures not covered by readily available sources.
Ground facts
| Opened | 28 November 1937 (Construction began 1937 on Quai Malakoff; inaugurated by rugby union club SNUC on 3 October 1937, officially opened 28 November 1937.) |
| Home club | overwhelmingly a football ground — home of FC Nantes, 1943-1984; also used from close to its 1936 founding by the rugby league club Nantes XIII (originally Bretagne Nantes XIII), whose use of the ground may predate our recorded 1952 start given the club's 1936 founding, though wartime suspension (1941-mid-1940s) complicates this |
| Games hosted (rugby league, on record) | 5 |
| Top recorded crowd | 13,000 |
| Capacity | approximately 20,000 by the mid-1950s (varies across sources, expanding further to around 25,000-29,500 by the late 1960s-70s) |
| Test matches hosted | 1 |
| Floodlights installed | installed 1957, roughly midway through the venue's recorded rugby league window |
| Surface | grass |
| First rugby league match | not confirmed for rugby league specifically |
| Years used | 1952–1959 |
| Location | Nantes, Pays de la Loire |
Name history
- Stade Malakoff — 1937–1965, the name during the rugby league era described here
- Stade Marcel-Saupin — since 1965, honouring the FC Nantes club president who died in 1963
Rugby league history
Stade Marcel-Saupin is overwhelmingly known today as the historic home of FC Nantes football (1943-1984), a landmark of French football heritage. Its rugby league chapter is a genuinely obscure footnote by comparison, resting on the rugby league club Nantes XIII's long association with the ground from near its 1936 founding, and one clearly documented, high-profile occasion: hosting a group match of the inaugural 1954 Rugby League World Cup, a France win over Australia. Most easily-found heritage sources for this stadium cover its football and rugby union history almost exclusively, omitting the rugby league chapter entirely — it had to be corroborated via a specialist regional heritage blog.
The historic home of FC Nantes football, 1943-1984, and a landmark of French football heritage; also used earlier by the rugby union club SNUC.
Historic Test matches, Cup & Grand Finals hosted
- 11 November 1954 — France beat Australia, 1954 Rugby League World Cup group match (attendance reported as either 13,000 or 13,500 across sources; matches our recorded top crowd of 13,000 closely) — one of six official venues of the first-ever Rugby League World Cup, held in France
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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