Auxerre

AJ AUXERRE – THE STADE DE L’ABBE-DESCHAMPS – CAPACITY: 22,000 ALL SEATER

About the Stade de L’Abbé-Deschamps
The Stade de L’Abbé-Deschamps is the only stadium in the top flight of French football that is actually owned by the club, having been originally constructed by Father Deschamps in the early part of the century.

The stadium is a simple affair. Four single tier covered stands, with a perimeter fence at the pitch edge offer excellent views of the action. The seats in the lower parts of the stadium are of the wooden bench variety and are not the best seats in the house.

Who plays there?
AJ Auxerre or Association de la Jeunesse Auxerroise to give them their full name were founded 1905. The club are famous throughout Europe as their success at the highest level being unprecedented for a club from such a small town (under 40,000 people and now with Nantes relegated last season the only French team who have never been relegated from the top flight. The club is also famous for having the longest serving manager in European football – Guy Roux was at the helm from 1961 until he retired at the end of the 2004/05 season. Roux saw the club rise through every division in French football culminating in promotion to Ligue 1 in 1980, and the French championship in 1996. Auxerre replaced Roux with Jacques Santini, a former France national team head coach and had a brief stint at Tottenham Hotspur. Santini was sacked after only one season after failing to guide Auxerre into Europe.

The club have one the Ligue 1 Championship on only one occasion, that being in 1996 when they also won the French Cup by beating Nimes 2-1. Since then they have won the cup on two more occasions, in 2003 and 2005. Whilst they can trace their beginnings back to 1908, it took over seventy years before they won any honours. Under Roux the club built a youth structure that delivered success at the lower levels, and eventually took the club into Europe in 1985 for the first time, losing 4-2 to Sporting Lisbon in the first round. Their best European campaign was in 1993 when they reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup, eventually losing on penalties to Borussia Dortmund after a 2-2 draw on aggregate. Since then the club have struggled to compete with the money of Olympique Lyonnais, and the loss of Guy Roux. Their best finish in the past ten seasons was in 2002 when they finished in 3rd place. Last season they managed an 8th place finish – not enough to bring UEFA cup football back to the town, or to save Santini.

How to get there
The stadium is located 2km south east of the city centre, and is therefore easy to reach on foot. Cross the river from the old town on Pont Paul Bert, and follow the main ring road as it bends first around to the left and then right. The third road on your left is Rue De Preuilly – follow this southwards and the stadium is 10 minutes walk on your left.

For a better overview of football in France, go to Footiemap.com to view their excellent and comprehensive graphical overview of French football.

Getting a ticket
Tickets can be purchased online from the club’s website at http://www.aja.francebillet.comor from the club shop at the stadium on +33 3 86 72 32 30. Average attendances still hover around the 14,000 mark so there are plenty of tickets available on the day of the game.

In fact the stadium has actually never sold out – the best ever attendance was for the Champions League tie versus Borussia Dortmund in 1997 when 21,304 crammed into the stadium. Tickets for the Honneur centrale are €30, whilst a seat in the goal stands are €12. A Honneur laterale ticket is a good value option for the first time visitor at €18.

Getting around
Auxerre is a small city and walking is definitely the best option. Buses run outwards from the main station to the areas around the town if you need to go further afield.

Nearest Airport – Paris Orly Airport (ORY)
Telephone: +33 1 49 75 15 15
Website: http://www.aeroportsdeparis.fr

Despite being some 50 miles to the north, the nearest major airport to Auxerre is Paris Orly. The easiest way to reach the town from the airport is to catch the metro into the centre of Paris, then travel to Paris Lyon where a hourly train runs to Auxerre via Laroche. Journey time is 90 minutes. The airport is served by Cityjet from London City. More routes are available to Paris CDG but you will need to add another hour onto the already long journey.