Brest

The Stade Francis-Le Ble is the characterful home of Stade Brestois 29, located at 26 route de Quimper in Brest, the principal port city of Finistere at the western tip of Brittany. The stadium holds 15,097 spectators and has been Brest's home since 1922, making it one of the oldest continuously used professional football grounds in France. Named after Francis Le Ble, a local sports administrator, the ground occupies a site close to the Penfeld river and has been progressively modernised while retaining much of its traditional character. The stadium's intimate dimensions bring supporters very close to the pitch and create an unusually intense matchday atmosphere.

Stade Brestois 29 experienced a remarkable rise under coach Olivier Dall'Oglio and subsequently Eric Roy, reaching Ligue 1 and producing their greatest-ever season in 2023-24 when they finished third and qualified for the UEFA Champions League group stage - an extraordinary achievement for a club from a city of 140,000 people at the far west of France. The Stade Francis-Le Ble hosted Atletico Madrid, PSV, and Leverkusen in the Champions League, creating scenes of extraordinary emotion in a stadium built for a much smaller audience. Brest's Champions League campaign captured the imagination of French football and drew international media attention to one of the competition's most unlikely participants.

The capacity constraints of the Stade Francis-Le Ble meant that Brest were required to play some Champions League matches at the larger Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes to meet UEFA requirements. Plans for a new or expanded stadium in Brest have been accelerated by the club's European success, with city authorities and the club working together on a project that would provide the facilities and capacity commensurate with Ligue 1 top-flight and European competition. Brest's Atlantic maritime identity - the city is home to major French naval facilities - gives the club a distinctive character, and the community pride generated by European football in the western Breton port has been remarkable.