Searching for Stade Louis II: AS Monaco

Words: Sam McArdle

Images: Sam McArdle

It’s no secret that Monaco is the playground of the rich and famous. A tiny patch of land that seems almost entirely designed to indulge every form of mid-life crisis.

Picture the town of Far Far Away in Shrek and you’re pretty close. It’s probably fitting then that a place with that level of panache would have a leisure centre with a global draw.

Introducing the Stade Louis II.

Because, this stadium is more than just a stadium. It’s pretty much everything. An office block, a police station, a university complex, a car showroom, a petrol station.

©Sam McArdle/ Terrace Edition. AS Monaco.

The pitch itself sits atop a multistorey car park, a basketball court, three huge subterranean swimming pools and fencing halls.

In fact, if you do embark on a tour, you are as likely to spend as much time wandering around an office full of confused admin staff as you are time spent pitch side.

Indeed, from the outside looking in, you might not guess there was a football stadium there at all. A hidden patch of magic.

The Stade Louis II is in fact the second home of AS Monaco. After they moved from the other Stade Louis II in the mid 80’s. It might be worth making a note at this point, rather than finding out as I did, that the Monegasque sense of humour does not extend to quips about the Royals.

I would say that if you happen to be a slightly overweight, sunburnt Brit abroad with no money, then jokes like ‘they should have maybe called it Stade Louis III’ should be left to one side. The silence can be as devastating as it is deafening.

Officially opened in 1985, our guide proudly proclaims the whole Fontvieille area was ‘reclaimed from the sea’, which must have pleased Poseidon.

Eventually the tour leads you into the changing rooms and up the steep, staired tunnel (a quirk I love), you’re greeted by what can only be described as one of the best stadiums in world football. Emerging onto the track that runs around the pitch, you instantly feel dwarfed by the arches to one end and the looming shadows of the mountains behind.

Angular roof sections all point off in different directions make it simply an architectural gem. Memories flood back to playing PES 6 as a 12-year-old and thinking, that can’t be a real stadium. It must be made up. But there I am. The stadium itself is not the biggest, but what is lacks in size it makes up for in it’s simple bloody handsomeness.

An iconic arena and surely the best leisure centre in the world. It must at least be the most beautiful place to have a verruca sock vending machine? Well, it is Monaco.

Some things to note. If you are expecting an organised stadium tour, then think again. There is no point Googling when the stadium tours are on. You will find 15 different results and most of those are wrong. The best way is to just ring. I did have to top up my phone to do that, but figured that was better than hurtling my way across southern France only to be greeted by a locked door.

There isn’t really any stadium tour office or anything and you will probably get through the main reception desk. Bearing in mind this is literally a leisure centre, that might mean you need to stumble through a conversation in French (unless you are lucky enough to speak it).

After all, I can’t imagine Ryan from my local swimming pool has a firm grasp on any other language if the shoe were on the other foot. But it will be well worth it just to see inside. When I visited, tours ran every couple of hours Monday to Friday, but this can change depending on time of year. So just give them (or the tourist office) a bell.

The entrance to stadium is below the glorious arches of the away section. There might have a flag indicating the tours are on, there might not. It is genuinely like no-one has told them a football team plays here.

Walking in, you are greeted by one man on a collapsible table like the kind you might see used at a school sports day or village tombola. That said, the tour costs a very competitive €5 which is swiftly rung up on a till from 1982 (although card is accepted).

Shot on Minolta X-300 with Kodak Gold film