Perpignan rugby: Aimé-Giral

Before you travel

Confirmed · Sankeo: Challenge USAP : les déplacements autrement - Sankéo - Perpignan · USAP: Venir Aux Matchs · USAP: PSH · Checked on 14 October 2026.

Aimé Giral and the champions remembered here

USAP publishes a capacity of 14,232 at Stade Aimé Giral, including 13,000 seats. Its stadium inventory also lists 130 places for disabled spectators and 1,800 VIP places. The professional side plays at this ground in Perpignan, whose name commemorates the fly-half who kicked the winning conversion in the club’s first French championship final.

That first title came in Toulouse on 3 May 1914, when AS Perpignan beat Tarbes 8–7. François Nauté and Félix Barbe scored Perpignan’s tries, and Aimé Giral converted Barbe’s late score. The current ground therefore carries the name of the player responsible for the decisive kick in one of the founding moments of Catalan rugby.

The club gave the stadium Aimé Giral’s name in 1940, honouring the player who died during the First World War. The LNR describes the ground’s nickname as La Cathédrale. It also records the 1933 merger of Union Sportive Perpignanaise and the Arlequins Perpignanais, from which the USAP name emerged.

The club’s seven French titles came in 1914, 1921, 1925, 1938, 1944, 1955 and 2009. Several names encountered around the stadium appear in those championship teams: Fernand Vaquer captained the 1921 winners, Jules Chevalier was president in 1925, and Jep Desclaux captained the sides that lifted the trophy in 1938 and 1944.

In the 2009 final, Perpignan defeated Clermont 22–13 after trailing 10–6 at half-time. David Marty scored the Catalans’ try, Jérôme Porical supplied a conversion and four penalties, and Gavin Hume kicked a drop goal. Jacques Brunel, Franck Azéma and Bernard Goutta formed the coaching team, with Nicolas Mas captaining the side.

Confirmed · USAP: Stade Aimé Giral · USAP: Il Était Une Fois L'USAP · LNR: The cathedral of Perpignan · Checked on 14 October 2026.

The Catalan songs and the Penyes

The LNR names Les Barretines, Les Trabucayres, Les Farfadets and Les Usapistes among the Penyes, the Catalan supporter groups. L’Estaca and Cantem més fort are part of the pre-match sound at Aimé Giral. The latter means “let’s sing louder”, a phrase closely associated with the ground’s collective singing and red-and-gold support.

USAP brought representatives of its Penyes together at Aimé Giral in October 2026, with Laurent Labit among those present. The club described the meeting as another opportunity for dialogue with its supporter groups. It linked that discussion to the support the Sang et Or had received at the ground since the beginning of the season.

The club’s entertainment map gives the Goutta area a karaoke game beneath the stand, along with wooden games for children. Beneath Desclaux it describes a Bodega environment with a band playing feria songs. These two stand areas therefore have different advertised activities, with communal singing present both in the seating bowl and around the concourse.

The players’ arrival at the stadium gate is an organised part of USAP’s match-day programme. The club describes flags, songs and drums as the team enters. Its entertainment page also lists a half-time kicking challenge in which three selected participants attempt to land a ball in a large Galeries Lafayette cup from thirty metres.

Our pick (opinion): Desclaux’s Bodega would be our first stop for the feria-band atmosphere; it adds another layer to the singing associated with Aimé Giral.

Confirmed · LNR: The cathedral of Perpignan · USAP: L'USAP et les Penyes réunies autour d'un même objectif · USAP: Animations · Checked on 14 October 2026.

September 2026 bus, bicycle and car-sharing arrangements

The club gives the ground’s full address as 11 allée Aimé Giral, 66000 Perpignan. Drivers arriving from the A9 are directed to the Perpignan Nord exit, then towards Perpignan Centre and finally the Aimé Giral signs from the main road. The named stadium approach leads to the USAP ground in the city.

USAP’s rail-arrival instructions use Perpignan’s Gare TGV stop. They direct passengers onto bus B or C towards the centre, changing at Catalogne (Point Chaud) for line A. That published journey uses the city bus network for the final approach from the railway station; the directions do not supply a station-to-ground walking time.

Sankéo’s September 2026 arrangement provides a free shuttle between the Parc des Expositions and Aimé Giral. The operator gives a journey of approximately five minutes and departures every five minutes, starting two hours before kick-off. Return shuttles begin ten minutes after the final whistle and continue for an hour and a half.

The club’s travel page, updated on 23 September 2026, identifies bicycle parking beside the ticket offices on allée Aimé Giral. It also names Casa Bicicleta as providing a bicycle storage service and free repairs and maintenance. Pony bicycles and scooters are another advertised option for reaching the stadium through the local shared-mobility system.

USAP now identifies a dedicated car-sharing car park opposite Lycée Maillol. Access can be reserved during online match-ticket purchase, with a minimum purchase of four places. This September 2026 instruction provides a specific location and booking condition for supporters sharing a vehicle to Aimé Giral.

For regular bus line A, Sankéo asks supporters to present a Pass Supporter downloaded from USAP’s ticketing site to obtain the advertised free journey. The operator also describes the MUV mobility challenge, which records walking, cycling, public transport and car-sharing journeys to the ground and awards points towards club-themed rewards.

Confirmed · USAP: Venir au stade · USAP: Animations & Infos pratiques · Sankeo: Challenge USAP : les déplacements autrement - Sankéo - Perpignan · USAP: Venir Aux Matchs · Checked on 14 October 2026.

Bodegas, Tincset and younger supporters

USAP lists fries, burgers, hot and cold sandwiches, pasta and pizza among Aimé Giral’s food choices. Its sweet options include churros, toffee apples and waffles. The club publishes a food-and-drink plan alongside that list, locating the refreshment provision within the stadium rather than referring visitors only to restaurants elsewhere in Perpignan.

The club’s match information describes Tincset as the payment function integrated into the supporter card. Credit can be added at the stadium’s Tincset banks or through USAP’s website. That named system is part of the ground’s bar and refreshment arrangements, and its online account is separate from simply possessing a ticket for the match.

Els Nin’s de l’USAP is the club’s supervised group for young season-ticket holders aged seven to fourteen. Volunteers accompany the children through home-match activities including face painting, songs, a guard of honour and photographs with players. The group is an organised membership programme with its own registration documents and parental authorisation.

Registration for Els Nin’s requires the completed forms, two identity photographs and a copy of civil-liability insurance documentation. The club supplies a postal destination at the stadium: Els Nin’s de l’USAP, Stade Aimé Giral, 11 allée Aimé Giral, 66000 Perpignan. Families can therefore contact a defined programme based at the ground.

For the La Rochelle match on 25 April 2026, Sankéo joined Perpignan Méditerranée Métropole, Pony and Casa Bicicleta inside Aimé Giral for a mobility event. The operator’s announcement brought the bus network, shared vehicles and bicycle association together at the stadium, connecting the transport services advertised to supporters with organisations present around the match.

Confirmed · USAP: Services · USAP: Animations & Infos pratiques · USAP: Els Nin's de l'USAP · Sankeo: Sankéo à votre rencontre au stade Aimé Giral ! · Checked on 14 October 2026.

Vaquer, Goutta, Chevalier and Desclaux

The players’ tunnel sits beneath the Vaquer stand behind the posts, facing Goutta at the opposite end. Chevalier and Desclaux occupy the long sides of the field. The LNR’s layout description places the changing-room exit behind an end rather than on a touchline, a useful feature when identifying the players’ entrance from a seat.

USAP’s hospitality inventory lists 24 boxes in the Chevalier stand, one panoramic box in Desclaux and three reception lounges. Around the pitch it records 220 metres of LED advertising boards, a television control room and two giant screens measuring 35 square metres each. The club also lists eight lighting structures providing 2,200 lux.

Specialist publication Gazon Sport Pro reports that the main pitch was completely rebuilt in summer 2024, the first full renewal for more than seventy years. Head groundsman Yann Pabbruwee, working for Parcs & Sports, led the transformation with his deputy Philippe Juanole. Pabbruwee had previously worked at England’s St George’s Park training centre.

L’Équipe’s stadium review dates Aimé Giral’s establishment to 1940, with enlargements in 1998 and 2008 and a further refresh in 2023. The sequence places the current stands within decades of development at the same Perpignan site. The newspaper’s review concentrates on the intensity of the support as a defining part of the match experience.

Our advice (opinion): For a view connected to the players’ entrance, start by comparing Vaquer tickets with the opposite Goutta end; the tunnel sits beneath Vaquer.

Confirmed · LNR: The cathedral of Perpignan · USAP: Stade Aimé Giral · Reported · Gazon Sport Pro: Perpignan : Le second souffle de la pelouse d’Aimé Giral · L’Équipe: L’Équipe stadium review · Checked on 14 October 2026.

Disabled places and community use

USAP’s dedicated PSH page says wheelchair places are offered subject to availability, with or without an accompanying person. They become available through the ticketing service in the stadium shop on the Monday of match week. The club requires a current disability card when collecting or buying the places and again at the stadium entrance.

The same page provides a reduction for disabled spectators purchasing a seat in a stand. Where the disability card specifies a need for an accompanying person, the companion receives the same reduction. Wheelchair allocations and reduced-price stand seating are therefore two separately described parts of Aimé Giral’s ticketing provision.

In May 2024 Aimé Giral welcomed around fifty participants from SOA, Oncoparcours, La Maison Entre Parenthèses and La Tête et les Jambes for a rugby programme away from their experience of illness. USAP Formation’s BPJEPS students led introductory activities on the synthetic pitch, bringing the stadium’s training space into use for community sport.

USAP’s Rugby Santé section has also trained on the stadium’s synthetic surface. A club account records a visit from Jacques Brunel, the former USAP and France coach, to meet the participants. This activity uses a different playing area from the main hybrid match pitch and forms part of the club’s health-related rugby provision.

Confirmed · USAP: PSH · USAP: Le rugby contre la maladie ! · USAP: Jacques Brunel auprès de la Section Rugby Santé ! · Checked on 14 October 2026.

A Perpignan visit beyond the turnstiles

O’Shannon is registered at 3 rue de l’Incendie, 66000 Perpignan, with a drinks-serving business activity. This supplies a precise city-centre bar address for a Perpignan visit. The establishment is separate from the stadium’s Bodega and from the ticketed food-and-drink spaces inside Aimé Giral.

ArrivalGuides identifies O’Shannon Perpi as an Irish pub at 3 rue de l’Incendie. Its listing places the venue in Perpignan’s bars-and-nightlife selection. The named city pub offers a different location for the evening from the stadium’s Desclaux concourse and the organised match-day entertainment underneath the stands.

Since 15 July 2025 USAP’s professional team has trained at the André-Sanac sports grounds in the Vernet district. The club describes a newly constructed performance building there. The first team’s daily training base is consequently a separate facility from its Aimé Giral match venue, although both are within Perpignan.

Confirmed · French Business Register: O’Shannon · USAP: Stade Aimé Giral · Reported · Arrival Guides: O'Shannon Perpi in Perpignan · Checked on 14 October 2026.

Recent events in the Cathédrale

In October 2026 USAP and the Pyrénées-Orientales department brought about thirty women from CIDFF, APEX, IDEA and AFFED to Aimé Giral. Their visit included a stadium tour, introductory rugby workshops, a shared meal and photographs with players. Luke McGrath, Jules Coulon and Cedate Gomes Sa were among the professionals involved in the day.

Storm Nils damaged parts of Aimé Giral in February 2026. USAP’s 13 February announcement confirmed that repairs allowed the following day’s Pau match to proceed. CAN USAP hospitality was temporarily closed, partners moved to the Desclaux Bodega, and supporters used a temporary bar in the same stand for that event.

The club arranged its first large blood-donation collection inside Aimé Giral in partnership with Perpignan’s Maison du Don and the French blood service. USAP described the event as taking the collection closer to the pitch after several years of cooperation with those organisations. The stadium therefore also serves as a venue for local public-health activity.

Referee Ludovic Cayre’s connection with Aimé Giral predates his later Top 14 appointments. USAP recalls that his high-level refereeing career began here in 2015, during a Pro D2 match against Mont-de-Marsan. His September 2026 appointment for the Bordeaux fixture brought him back to the stadium associated with that earlier career milestone.

Confirmed · USAP: Lancement des Missions d'Intérêt Général à Aimé-Giral. · USAP: COMMUNIQUÉ OFFICIEL - Maintien de la rencontre USAP – Section Paloise à Aimé Giral · USAP: Donnez votre sang à Aimé Giral ! · USAP: Ludovic Cayre désigné arbitre de la rencontre à Aimé Giral · Checked on 14 October 2026.

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