The next stop in our 'Residence' series sees us arrive in the South of France, staring up at the one of the most gloriously impressive roof structures in world football. This is the phenomenal Stade Vélodrome, home of Olympique de Marseille.
As its name suggests, the Stade Vélodrome used to host cycling as well as football when it was first constructed in 1937, with Marseille fans using the sloped track as a slide to invade the pitch after games. A number of updates in the 80s, 90s, and most recently in 2014 have turned this land into a foundation for one of the most spectacularly modern stadiums in world sport. A cauldron of noise with a capacity of just over 67,000.
It wasn't until the most recent, and most significant update, that the Vélodrome achieved such status. Upon France wining the bid to host EURO 2016 worked started to put a roof on the stadium – and put a roof on it did they. All that noise, passion and atmosphere finally had a lid to bounce back the acoustics and establish it as the most memorable stadium of EURO 2016, hosting six games including a semi-final, one less game than it laid on for the 1998 World Cup.
There's a number of stadium features that get us going in this 'Residence' feature; massive old school floodlights are one, glimpses of residential areas between stands is another, but incredible roofing structures are right up there too, old, modern, or in this case damn right futuristic.
The Vélodrome notoriously hosted England's EURO 2016 opener against Russia and you can ask any fan there that night; if you're gonna be getting knocked flat on your back by a group of angry Russian henchmen then you may as well regain consciousness looking right up at this magnifique piece of architecture. Quite simply, a bucket list venue.
Photography by Alex Penfornis for SoccerBible.
