Under clear Rennes skies on Friday, Stade Rennais opened the gates on a project intended to shape far more than the next training session. La Piverdière 2, the club’s rebuilt training complex, was inaugurated before 400 guests after works running from December 2023 until this summer.
François Pinault, Stade Rennais’ sole shareholder, cut the ribbon shortly before noon. He has funded the development to the tune of €40 million, with the ceremony bringing together his son François-Henri Pinault and grandsons Pierre Tronson and Louis-Roger Boutbien, alongside Rennes mayor Nathalie Appéré and former mayor and minister Edmond Hervé.
French Football Federation president Philippe Diallo was among the guests, as were former Rennes officials Olivier Cloarec, Jacques Delanoë and René Ruello. Former players Sylvain Wiltord, Steve Mandanda, Benoît Costil and Damien Da Silva also returned for the occasion.
A single home for Rennes’ senior side and academy
The central change is the union of Rennes’ professional and academy operations at one site. Young players had previously been accommodated near Roazhon Park, but the club’s senior squad and its academy now share the expanded Piverdière base for the first time.
The site has grown from 11.5 to 15 hectares and includes eight and a half fibre-reinforced grass pitches. Its new buildings cover 9,000 square metres, combining concrete with black burnt-wood cladding in a design created by NeM architects.
The academy’s importance was repeatedly underlined during the ceremony. Seven players developed by Rennes’ youth system are represented in Zinédine Zidane’s France team, a reminder of the pathway the club hopes to strengthen through the new facilities.
François-Henri Pinault delivered the first address, followed by Appéré, Diallo, academy recruitment director Philippe Barraud, Rennes coach Franck Haise, training-centre director Denis Arnaud and captain Valentin Rongier. Chairman Nicolas de Tavernost and executive president Arnaud Pouille were also present.
François-Henri Pinault said the complex was a major investment matching Rennes’ ambitions for its first team, its academy and future generations. He paid tribute to his father and to Hervé for their roles in the club’s development, adding that the project was intended to look beyond football alone, help Rennes grow without losing its identity and provide a welcoming setting in which the women’s game can also develop.
For Rennes, La Piverdière 2 is not simply a new backdrop for Haise’s squad. It is the club’s long-term bet on the same ground: first-team progress, academy production and a future built closer together.
