Ligue 1 – With or without the balconies facing OM?

The year 2024 which saw the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium achieve numerous sellouts at the end of the season in Ligue 2 BKT, then on the occasion of the arrival of Racing Club de Lens more recently, will it end in apotheosis for the Forez club?

At the beginning of October, Didier Bigardformer journalist at Progress revealed that the balconies should be accessible again for the arrival of Marseille on December 8. The upper part of the two kops has been closed for several months. A decision which follows a security issue. The majority of people buying a seat in this part of the stadium sit in the Kop and not in the balcony. As a result, the maximum capacity of the Kop is exceeded, which poses security issues on the one hand but above all access for the emergency services who faced several problems at the end of the 2022/2023 season in providing assistance to supporters in difficulty, particularly during the meeting between ASSE and VAFC with a cardiac arrest in the Kop Nord.

For several months now, AS Saint-Étienne has been working with Saint-Étienne Métropole to find a lasting solution allowing the reopening of the balconies. As we revealed to you, on October 11, a solution is being tested to allow a full-scale experiment against the Marseille club. However, at the moment, doubt still remains regarding the opening of the entire stadium to the public, which would then allow a capacity close to 42,000 spectators. The balconies should not initially be offered for sale for this poster but the objective of opening them for this meeting remains intact.