Stade de la Meinau

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Stade de la Meinau is a multi-use stadium in Strasbourg, France. Though it is mostly used for football matches and it is the home ground of professional side RC Strasbourg, it sometimes serves as a venue for concerts (U2 in 1993, for example). Its present capacity is 29,230.

[edit] History

On 1st April, 1914, as Strasbourg was still part of Germany following the Franco-Prussian War, RC Strasbourg, then called FC Neudorf, signed a 300 Deutsche Mark lease to use the Jardin Haemmerlé, essentially a pitch surrounded by the woods. This would eventually serve as the ground where the stadium was constructed. Between 1906 and 1914, the pitch had been used by another team, FC Frankonia, and several lawsuits were necessary to evict that team from the ground. Construction eventually proceeded and was completed in 1921 with a capacity of 30,000. The stadium was rebuilt from the ground up in 1984 for the European Championship and hosted a record 44,566 for the West Germany vs. Portugal match (0-0). In 1988, it also hosted the final of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup between KV Mechelen and Ajax Amsterdam (1-0). Capacity has since then been drastically reduced because of increasingly stringent safety regulations.