Petit-Bois Stadium

Stade du Petit-Bois

Stade du Petit-Bois
Address	Rue du Petit-Bois 08000 Charleville-Mézières
Coordinates	49°46′16″N 4°43′59″E / 49.771°N 4.733°E
Capacity	3000
Construction
Built	Opened July 15, 1927
Tenants
OFC Charleville

The Petit-Bois Stadium is a football stadium located at Charleville Mezieres in the region Champagne-Ardenne in France. It is currently the stadium for the resident team of OFC Charleville.

Historical

The stadium was inaugurated on July 15, 1927 during the 22^is stage of the Tour de France ranging from Metz to Charleville.^[1] In 1928, the architect Jean Grey^{[note 1]} installed the reliefs that decorate the stadium entrance.^[2]

From 1927 to 1937, a stage of the Tour de France takes place annually at the velodrome there.^[3]

The team of OFC Charleville play their home games in this stadium. The club has evolved notably during its boom years in Division 2 between 1992 and 1997. The date for its record crowd was October 2, 1993, with the entrance of CS Sedan-Ardennes into the Championship Division 2, 5,600 people attending^[4] in a derby with Ardennes won 3–0 by the visitors.^[5]

The Sedan-Charleville roadrace ended for several years at the stadium of Petit-Bois.^[6]

notes and references

Notes

1. Not to be confused with the Spanish painter Juan Gris.

References

1. "Etape 22 : Metz-Charleville", lagrandeboucle.com
2. Mellet, Philippe (July 21, 2008), "Les bas-reliefs du Petit-Bois ne sont pas de Juan Gris…", L'Union (journal français), retrieved October 1, 2013
3. Dardart, Gérald (June 2003), "Charleville-Mézières et le Tour de France 1927–2003" (PDF), Charleville-Mézières magazine (71), retrieved October 1, 2013
4. "Records de spectateurs Stade du Petit Bois", stades-spectateurs.com
5. "Olympique de Charleville 0–3 CS Sedan", lfp.fr
6. Dardart, Gérald (September 2006), "Charleville-Mézières et le Tour de France 1927–2003" (PDF), Charleville-Mézières magazine (102), retrieved October 1, 2013