Parc des Sports

The Parc des Sports sits in a hollow, which is why locals call it "La Cuvette" .

There is a sense of the place having changed shape at the break, though not in a single day. The renovation that brought the capacity to 15,660 was done for Evian Thonon Gaillard FC. A banner for "Tribune Manpower" marks one section, a nod to the sponsorship that paid for its particular row of seats.

The surface is different now. It is a hybrid pitch, natural grass interwoven with synthetic fibres, installed to survive the winter months. The heating system under the turf keeps the surface true when the snow comes down from the mountains.

The atmosphere changes depending on who is playing. The last time the stadium was at full capacity for them was in May 2022, a match against Sedan that secured their promotion to Ligue 2.

It is a relic from when the stadium hosted athletics, including the World Junior Championships in 1998. The ground has hosted big names, including matches against Paris Saint-Germain, but the history between them adds an edge. The record crowd of 14,600 watched a goalless draw in 2015.