For several days, a grandiose project has been brewing in the ranks of the Girondins. The Ultramarines, a historic group of FCGB supporters, have decided to shake the foundations of the Bordeaux stadium. A major fight is looming, a real standoff against football business as we know it. The issues? Huge. The consequences? Potentially revolutionary.
The stadium must change its name, and it is not a brand that will decide.
Bordeaux: the Ultramarines want to rename the stadium
This is the request from the Ultramarines, submitted before the fateful deadline of October 31, 2025 at noon to the Bordeaux Metropolis. While the commercial giants are fighting to put their logo on the Stade Atlantique—and pay the 20 million euros of the naming contract over ten years—Bordeaux supporters have submitted their own application to impose a popular name, a real one, anchored in the identity of the club and the region.
The chosen name? René Gallice Stadium, in homage to a golden FCGB legend who alone sums up the values ​​of football of yesteryear. Gallice is the story of a man who came from Provence in 1938, became a pillar of the Girondins, who left everything in 1940 to join the Free French during the Second World War. Seriously injured, he returned in 1945, playing eight years for the club, winning the French championship title in 1950 alongside legend Adrien Swiatek. A man. A destiny. A pride.
A symbolic fight of fans against football business
The Ultramarines carried out a democratic consultation in 2015 during the inauguration of the stadium, and the popular vote of supporters had already favored “Stade René Gallice” with 49.5% of the votes. Since then, a calico has stood in the stands, accompanying the songs and tifos of a generation of enthusiasts refusing the commodification of their house.
Today, faced with the call for expressions of interest launched by Bordeaux Métropole, supporters are reactivating their battle. Not to oppose football business—they know it is necessary—but to impose a name that lasts, that enters into everyday language, as Lescure once did against Chaban-Delmas.
The battle of hearts against money continues. And this time, they are filing a real, official request.
