Region: Rhone-Alpes
Population: 180,000; 400,000 in metropolitan area
City ambassador: Jeremie Janot (former AS Saint-Etienne goalkeeper, 1996-2012)

The green shirts of its famous football team, Les Verts; the renowned Biennale Internationale Design convention; and a proud history as a great industrial city of eastern France. Yet for all this tradition as both working and sporting centre of excellence, Saint-Etienne has even more to offer. A place of contrasts, it is one of those large cities that also boast the advantages of a closer-knit community. The sporting and cultural attributes are never more apparent than in AS Saint-Etienne's famous 'Chaudron' football stadium and the Musee d'Art Moderne et Contemporain, France's second-leading collection after the Centre Pompidou.

This big village is close to some fabulous countryside too: located some 500m above sea level, both the Pilat Regional Natural Park and the Loire gorges are situated on its doorstep. Today's Saint-Etienne is a city capable of reinvention, of redesigning itself. It does not forget its history; rather it takes inspiration from it. The creativity was once evident in its manufacturing past, now drives its efforts in the design sector – to the extent where Saint-Etienne is the only French city to have been made a UNESCO City of Design.

What to See

•  Musee d'Art Moderne de St-Etienne Metropole

This huge museum boasts one of the finest public collections of 20C modern and contemporary art in France, just behind that of the Pompidou Centre in Paris. Admire canvases by Pierre Soulages and Jean Dubuffet, works by American abstract artists, German art from the 1980s, examples from the new realism, narrative figuration, Arte Povera and Supports/Surfaces movements, as well as works by talented living artists from Central and Eastern Europe.

•  Saint-Etienne Planetarium

Distinguished by its semicircular dome, the planetarium uses cutting-edge technology to provide the most amazing and informative shows about the Universe. The central device is an astronomic simulator which can calculate and project the movements of the planets and some 3000 stars.

TRANSPORT

The nearest airport is Saint-Etienne - Boutheon Airport which is located in Andrezieux-Boutheon, 12 km north-northwest of Saint-Etienne. The main railway station is Gare de Saint-Etienne-Chateaucreux, which offers high speed services to Paris and Lyon (Saint-Etienne–Lyon railway) and several regional lines.

Saint-Etienne is also notable for its tramway (Saint-Etienne tramway) – which uniquely with Lille, it kept throughout the 20th century – and its trolleybus system (Saint-Etienne trolleybus system) – which is one of only three such systems currently operating in France.

Bus and tram transport is regulated and provided by the Societe de Transports de l'Agglomeration Stephanoise (STAS), a public transport executive organisation.

The bicycle sharing system Velivert with 280 short term renting bicycles is available since June 2010.

Distances to other UEFA EURO 2016 venues
Lyon – 65km
Marseille – 335km
Nice – 500km
Paris – 525km
Saint-Denis – 540km
Toulouse – 540km
Bordeaux – 540km
Lens – 735km
Lille – 750km

FOOTBALL

Association Sportive de Saint-Etienne Loire is a French association football club based in Saint-Etienne. The club was founded in 1919 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. Saint-Etienne plays its home matches at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard located within the city. The team is managed by Christophe Galtier and captained by Lo?c Perrin, who started his career at the club in 1996.

Saint-Etienne is, arguably, the most successful club in French football history having won ten Ligue 1 titles, six Coupe de France titles, a Coupe de la Ligue title and five Trophee des Champions (the French Super Cup). The club's ten league titles are the most professional league titles won by a French club, while the six cup victory places the club third among most Coupe de France titles. Saint-Etienne has also won the second division championship on three occasions. The club achieved most of its honours in the 1960s and 1970s when the club was led by managers Jean Snella, Albert Batteux, and Robert Herbin.

UEFA capacity: 42,000
Tenants: AS Saint-Etienne
Opened: September 1931

Stade Geoffroy-Guichard was built on a plot of land that was donated to the club by its founder Geoffroy Guichard (who also founded the retail group Casino). The president of the club, his son Pierre, in turn decided to name the stadium after his father.

During the 1998 World Cup, Stade Geoffroy-Guichard hosted a total of five group matches and the round of 16 match between Argentina and England (2-2).

Stade Geoffroy-Guichard has been selected as a playing venue for the Euro 2016 Championships, and as a result is currently undergoing major redevelopment works.

The project involves the rebuilding or renovation of all stands, which will result in a 41,500 all-seater arena. Works are currently in the final phase with three out of four stands completed and the remaining works scheduled to be completed before the start of the 2014/15 season.

UEFA EURO 2016 matches

Group stage
14/06/16, 21.00: Portugal v Iceland
17/06/16, 18.00: Czech Republic v Croatia
20/06/16, 21.00: Slovakia v England

Round of 16
25/06/16, 15.00: RA v RC