Girondins de Bordeaux, the name alone makes it worth a visit. But the club offers more than that: It has a rich history in football, and the city is gorgeous and known as the French capital of wine. There's no reason not to go to Bordeaux.
Bordeaux has an imposing list of former players, like Jean Tigana, Alain Giresse, Sylvain Wiltord and Zinédine Zidane. Girondins de Bordeaux, with its characteristic marine blue and the white V on the chest, was especially in the 1980s a real superpower in French football. But the last league title dates already back to 2009, and nowadays the club is struggling on all levels. The move to the new stadium in 2015 hasn't been a great success yet. Nevertheless, the historical top club Bordeaux is always worth a visit.
The old Stade Chaban-Delmas was full of history, but couldn't fulfil all the demands of the current time. And so, Girondins de Bordeaux moved to a new, special for EURO 2016 built stadium on the northern outskirts of the city, not far from the Garonne River. Les Girondins are still struggling to make their new house a real home. But without any doubt, it's a real architectural masterpiece, with a roof held up by hundreds of pillars from the outside.
Stade Chaban-Delmas has been given a second life. The in-1924-opened Parc Lescure, as the locals call it, is currently the home of Union Bordeaux Bègles, a rugby team playing in the highest league in France. A real must-see for football fans, because besides it having been the home of Girondins de Bordeaux for many years, it also hosted FIFA World Cup matches of 1938 and 1998. The stadium is close to the city centre, behind Boulevard Maréchal Leclerc and can be found by the gigantic arch above the entrance. Sometimes, the football- and rugby teams play at home on the same weekend, so you can visit them both.
Just outside Bordeaux, in the small town of Le Haillan, Girondins de Bordeaux has got their remarkable headquarter on the Rue Joliot Curie. The offices, training ground and academy are located at the beautiful estate of the dazzling Château Bel Air. In the castle the board of the club is seated, in the basement you'll find the dressing rooms for the players and in another building, the youth players have their home. Wander around, enjoy the idyllic area and watch a match of Bordeaux's future stars.
Bordeaux has had a lot of success, and without exception, the titles were celebrated at Place des Quinconces: The biggest square in France. Nearby, at Cours du Maréchal Foch 19, you have the restaurant 'Nulle Part Ailleurs', once owned by close friends Christophe Dugarry and Zinédine Zidane. Elsewhere in the city centre - at Rue Kléber 1 - you'll find Café Populair, property of Lilian Laslandes: The top striker who played an essential role in 1999's league title with his brother-in-arms Sylvain Wiltord. During the evening there's live music, and when the night falls there's a DJ.
Girondins de Bordeaux might be the oldest club in the city, only decades after the foundation the omnisports club started a football team. At that time, the popularity of football in Bordeaux had been growing already, because Stade Bordelais already attracted thousands of visitors at the time. The second club of the city still exists to this day - for the lover of lower league football: They play at the Stade Sainte Germaine on Rue Ferdinand de Lesseps.
Matmut Atlantique is so big that it's quite easy to get your hand on tickets for matches of Bordeaux, even for top fixtures against PSG, Marseille and arch-rival Nantes. You can buy them at the official website of the club. Against other teams, you can easily buy a ticket on match day itself, at the ticket windows of the stadium or at the fan store in the city centre.
Matmut Atlantique is in the area of Bordeaux-Lac, close to Motorway A630. Take exit 4a or 4b and you're almost directly in front of the stadium. From the city centre, you can take the tram as well: tramline C stops right in front of Matmut Atlantique.
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