On May 8, 2024, the Beaujoire-Louis-Fonteneau stadium will celebrate its 40th anniversary. For Berdje Agopyan, its architect, now 87 years old, it remains a very good memory, even if he faced rather unusual constraints and was only a little over sixteen months to make it happen. A real challenge, knowing that he had four and a half years for the construction of the Parc des Princes in which he had participated.
It all started at the end of the 1970s. The club’s president, Louis Fonteneau, had in mind the idea of a new stadium, because France’s candidacy to organize the 1984 European Championship was being considered. But he did not know where to place it, Beaujoire and Beaulieu Island being the only two sites considered. The president of the French Football Federation, Fernand Sastre, admitted to Michel Cordier, the sports assistant at the time, that it was not possible for Nantes to have the Euro in Saupin. It is ultimately the Beaujoire site which…
