Stade Rennais open modernised Piverdière 2 training centre as François Pinault cuts ribbon | OneFootball

Stade Rennais inaugurated its modernised Piverdière 2 training base on Friday in Rennes, with the club’s sole shareholder François Pinault cutting the ribbon after two and a half years of work and €40m of funding.

In front of about 400 guests, among them French federation president Philippe Diallo, the Pinault family and Rennes mayor Nathalie Appéré, the club showcased the revamped site. As reported by L'Équipe, former mayor and minister Edmond Hervé also attended.

Conceived by NeM architectes, the campus has grown from 11.5 to 15 hectares and now features eight and a half hybrid-grass pitches plus 9,000 square metres of buildings clad in black charred timber and concrete. Crucially, the first team and academy are now connected on the same site, whereas academy players were previously housed near Roazhon Park.

A marquee had been readied in case of rain, though the fine weather made it unnecessary. François-Henri Pinault hailed a complex that unites the professional set-up and the red-and-black academy, describing a project that looks beyond sport, seeks long-term growth while staying true to club roots, and represents a major investment for the first team, youth development and future generations, with scope for the women’s game.

Attendees included former club executives Olivier Cloarec, Jacques Delanoë and René Ruello, plus past and present players such as Sylvain Wiltord, Steve Mandanda, Benoît Costil and Damien Da Silva.

Source: L'Équipe

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