Mac Rating: 5.00 | Votes: 1 | Date: 21/06/2026 00:03:00

Home to Olympique de Marseille, the Orange Velodrome is the largest club football stadium in France and one of the best known in the country. It stands on the Boulevard Michelet, south of the city centre, and has been the focus of football in Marseille since the 1930s. The stadium opened in 1937 and takes its name from the cycling track that originally ran around the pitch, a reminder that it was built as a multi-sport arena before football came to dominate. Over the decades it has been enlarged and rebuilt several times to keep pace with the growth of the club and the demands of major tournaments, gradually shedding its athletics and cycling features in favour of a dedicated football ground. For the 2016 European Championship the stadium underwent its most dramatic transformation, when a sweeping roof was added over all the stands, covering the spectators for the first time and giving the arena its modern, wave-like profile. The redevelopment lifted the capacity to around 67,000, and the steep, enclosed stands are known for generating a fierce atmosphere, with the home support among the most passionate in French football. Beyond club football it has hosted matches at two World Cups, in 1938 and 1998, several European Championships, and rugby internationals, making it one of the most-used major sports venues in the country. A naming-rights deal added the Orange brand to the historic Velodrome name in 2016, though locals still commonly refer to it simply as the Velodrome. The ground also stages concerts and other large events, and guided tours take visitors behind the scenes to the dressing rooms, the stands and pitchside on non-match days. The stadium is well connected to the city centre by metro, with its own station nearby, and on match days the surrounding streets fill with supporters heading to the ground.