City of Auxerre and AJA aiming to fast-track expansion of Abbé Deschamps
Expanding Stade de l'Abbé Deschamps this year is a matter of importance to the city of Auxerre and its beloved club.
That is at the top of the agenda for AJ Auxerre executive chairman Baptiste Malherbe and Auxerre mayor Crescent Marault.
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Speaking to L'Équipe on Friday, Malherbe said: 'I was hoping to inaugurate the new stand in 2025. Now, it's in danger of being 2026. There's a real urgency. Those who say that we can do otherwise are mistaken, in terms of security, development… We need this tool: we have the 17th biggest budget in Ligue 1. We have overperformed for four years relative to our economic means. If we don't have that (stadium expansion), we're dead.'
The hope is that the stadium, which has been around since 1918, expands from its current capacity of 17,500 to 20,000 in time for next season. Auxerre finished the previous campaign in 11th place in their first season back in Ligue 1.
Marault, meanwhile, is pitching this project as 'essential for the territory.'
The club is expected to present the plan at Auxerre's council meeting on June 26 in hopes of receiving funding. The project is expected to cost around €15m for the club, which would not only allow more fans to attend AJA matches but also improve the accessibility of the stadium and its safety.
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The proposed expansion would be at the Leouault stand, one of the lateral stands of Abbé Deschamps. At the moment, Stade Abbé Deschamps is the third-smallest Ligue 1 stadium in terms of capacity, with only Stade Francis Le Blé, home to Stade Brestois (15,000) and AS Monaco's Stade Louis II (16,036) having a smaller capacity.
This past season, the average attendance for AJA's home matches in Ligue 1 was 16,600, meaning they were usually at 95% capacity. The population of the city of Auxerre is 35,000.
If the Loualt grandstand were to get the green light, the project would also include an expansion of the stadium shop, along with the construction of an 80-room hotel and a medical house or a brewery.
Stade Abbé Deschamps was last renovated in 1994 when it got its current name.
GFFN | Joel Lefevre
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