"A great stadium with a terrible team."

RC Strasbourg now play in National, the third tier of French football, but they have a stadium good enough to grace any league in the world.

This impressive 29,000 seater concrete structure once housed European club competitions. It may also be unique as the only stadium on Earth to house matches for two separate major international tournaments in two different host nations. The Meinau hosted games in the 1938 World Cup as a part of Germany. It later hosted games during the 1984 European Championships as a part of France.

These days it hosts amateur teams from small French villages.

When I went to see Racing against Plebannec, the stadium was certainly the most interesting aspect of the evening.

The steep stands would make for a roaring atmosphere if the club ever managed to fill it. Though the stands are uneven, with a small terrace running along one touchline, the Meinau is aesthetically pleasing on the inside and out.

The spacious concourse and good catering facilities help a great deal if like me, you struggle to find your seat due to the confusing layout of the stadium.

The stands are all well protected from the rain by a roof, and the seats are pretty comfortable, even if leg-room can be a bit restricting.

I also found the ticket prices rather extortionate considering the poor standard of football on show. I paid 20€ for RC Strasbourg vs Plebannec. For a little bit more I could have hopped over the border to see a Bundesliga match between Freiburg and Hamburg.

On the whole, this stadium is well worth the visit, if only to see the impressive structure, and not the football on show.

Location

The Meinau's to the south-east of Strasbourg city centre, and is in a residential area, so parking may be a problem.

The easiest way of getting to the stadium is by tram. The stadium is a two minute walk from the Krimeni Stade de la Meinau tram stop. Trams come roughly every 6 minutes, and with low attendances the norm these days you won't be waiting long for a tram.

From the tram station walk past the McDonalds and the stadium is clearly visible.

View

Leg-room is very restrictive. Other than that the seats are very comfortable.

The view is very good from all areas of the stadium. There are no pillars and the steep stands mean you always feel close to the action.

Facilities

Toilets are basic, but pretty clean. They can be difficult to find, but they're there.

Food & Drink

Beer and food is reasonably priced with a great choice.

In order to get food you'll have to firstly queue up to make and order and pay, then walk to join another queue to pick up your food.

This system seems to work very effectively, though be aware, even with low attendances there's a queue at half time.

I'd recommend an "American"; half a baguette, filled with merguez sausage, french fries and salad for 5€!

Police & Stewards

Not many police as there were only 6 away fans. Stewards could be difficult to find, and weren't tremendously informed.

Atmosphere

When I went the attendance was little more than 1000.

However there is a "noisy corner" where the ultras congregate with their flags and drums, and fair play to them they didn't stop chanting from start to finish. They were loud, passionate and livened up a game that nearly sent me to sleep.

Other than the corner of ultras there was no chanting.

Fans were pretty friendly, though I wouldn't want to mess with some of the characters from the "noisy corner."

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