Teams, tales and tips – a guide to the local game
Its flagship club dressed in the alternating blues of Oxbridge, whose anthem carries the same melody as God Save the King, Le Havre is connected to England by far more than just the ferry that chugs its way over the Channel from Portsmouth.
Despite an apparent blue-chip heritage, red herrings abound where the history of Le Havre Athletic Club is concerned. While HAC (note the English influence in the name) give the impressive date of 1872 as the year of their foundation, a full decade before the great sporting institutions of Paris, it only marks a random event that September.
Visiting sailors from the British merchant ships Northumberland and The Sultan had been invited by the local Reverend George Washington, a former Cambridge man who ran a church on rue de Mexico, to play a game against his social circle of locals and expats.
The location was probably square Saint-Roch, a patch of urban greenery where avenue Foch meets boulevard François 1er today. What transpired was probably a game of ‘combination’, a rugby/soccer hybrid.
Association football closer to the rules of the modern game didn’t come to Le Havre until 1894, although that didn’t stop HAC publishing an 80-year history of the club in 1952. To further muddy the waters, a Havre Football Club involving Brits working around this busy port seem to have existed between then and 1882.
Certainly, in February 1873 a game took place at the Antelope Ground in Southampton between Portswood Park Football Club and ‘the Havre’, a first-ever international game between clubs – except that, again, the game wasn’t quite football but a bastardised version.
The locals, playing at a pitch that would host Southampton FC until 1897, won by a goal and 11 touchdowns and 11 conversions or ‘rouges’. After a slap-up meal at the Philharmonic Rooms, many speeches and toasts, the Havre XII limped back to the dock for the midnight crossing back to France.
(Many thanks to Andy Mitchell’s excellent Scottish Sport History for the granular detail about this momentous occasion.)
While the links between ‘the Havre’ and les HACmen aren’t crystal clear, what is likely is that expats involved in the maritime industry, keeping cross-Channel traffic and trade running smoothly, would have worked here for certain lengths of time. With language a barrier to entertainment, outdoor sport would have been a popular choice of pastime for homesick Brits and a few curious locals.
As the choice of location for these occasional games was near the homes of the British well-to-do in distant Sainte-Adresse, outside Le Havre, these activities petered by 1882 out due to logistical difficulties.
In addition, the good Reverend Washington had been replaced by a certain Jeffery Edward Orlebar, and it was this pastor who created HAC as the omnisports Havre Athletic Club in 1884. The club’s pitch on rue Louis Leprévost in Sanvic, alongside Le Havre, is the oldest rugby ground in France.
In 1925, it took the name of Stade Langstaff after the president of HAC’s rugby section from 1901 to his death 24 years later, William Ramsay Langstaff. A former Cambridge blue at rugby, it was he who introduced the storied ciel & marine colours to Le Havre.
Members of the former Havre fraternity who joined this new group were probably among those who firmly voted for playing the game of ‘combination’ rather than out-and-out soccer later that year. In any case, it wasn’t until 1894 that a football section was formed at HAC. It’s this date, therefore, rather than 1872, that should feature on the club’s badge today, just below the salamander signifying city founder, François I, the Renaissance king who brought the Mona Lisa to France.
This still makes Le Havre older than nearly every club in France today. Standard Athletic, for example, formed in 1890 by British engineers working on the Eiffel Tower and France’s first football champions, still exist, but as a pocket of expat activities in suburban Meudon outside Paris.
That same year of the four-team, all-Paris USFSA Football Championship, 1894, HAC played their first game, against the local combined schools team of Union Sportive du Lycée, at the rugby ground in Sanvic.
Significantly, there were four teams in and around Le Havre around this time, more than in any other city apart from Paris. In February 1895, HAC beat local rivals Blue Star 5-0, while Union Olympique also practised the round-ball game.
Down the Seine in Paris, the pioneering USFSA league was practically a closed shop, the association refusing HAC’s challenge to play its 1896 champions, Club Français. As a measure of the team’s strength, however, they did play 1895 title-winners Standard AC and thrashed them, 4-0. A thousand spectators witnessed the mauling at Sanvic.
By 1899, it was agreed to open up the competition to the provinces, and this is considered the first real French championship. Again, Club Français refused to play their maritime counterparts, so HAC won the title by default.
The following year, when Le Havre hosted the sailing competition of the 1900 Olympics, HAC at last played their Parisian counterparts and won, 1-0. As the solitary goalscorer was called Richards, whose thumping header won the day, we can safely assume that several expats numbered among the victorious provincial XI.
Though HAC waned with the creation of Le Havre Sports in 1902, they still dominated the regional championship in Haute-Normandie, soon establishing a fierce rivalry with Rouen. With help from British and Belgian troops stationed nearby, and, later, German POWs, HAC football club constructed its first purpose-built stadium during World War I.
On a wooded plot belonging to the eminent Dollfus family on rue de la Cavée Verte, the ground of the same name opened for the final final of the soon-to-be-defunct USFSA Football Championship, now referred to as the Coupe Nationale as competing leagues attracted key clubs away from it. HAC duly won the last title, beating Olympique Marseille at the Stade de la Cavée Verte in May 1919.
Though not used for the Olympic football tournament of 1924, the stadium did stage a friendly game between France and Hungary during it, both teams having been knocked out a few days before. In what was the Magyars’ 100th official international, the visitors won 1-0 in front of a significant crowd of 5,500.
Four years later, the great Uruguayan team soon to win a second Olympic gold (and then the World Cup), played two warm-up games against HAC here, whitewashes of 6-0 and 7-1 hinting and what was soon to follow in Amsterdam, then Montevideo.
In 1932, after HAC suffered a 6-1 defeat in the derby with Rouen, a mysterious fire destroyed the stadium that night, though it was quickly rebuilt for the hosts to make their debut in the inaugural national Ligue 2 of 1933-34. A massive 16,000 showed up for the HAC-Rouen clash on the anniversary of Armistice Day.
By then, the city had another stadium, ideal for showcase occasions such as a single World Cup game in 1938. In the east of town towards Harfleur, the Stade Municipal was opened in 1931 though was initially underused except for the 120 minutes on June 5 when 1934 runners-up Czechoslovakia needed extra-time to overcome a stubborn Dutch team. An archive photo shows more than the official 11,000 crowd watching, spectators gathered on the steep slopes overlooking the open terrace and high wall behind it.
Completely destroyed in the war, as was most of the city, the stadium reopened in 1950, though HAC continued to play at the Stade de la Cavée Verte, where they soon attracted record crowds of around 25,000.
Now called Stade Charles-Argentin, it continues to host HAC’s youth teams, representing an academy that has produced the likes of Paul Pogba, Riyad Mahrez and Dimitri Payet in modern times. The first team, surprise French Cup winners in 1959, moved to the former Municipal, now Stade Jules-Deschaseaux, in 1971, though it would be two decades before les HACmen spent any time in France’s top flight, bringing the Tribunes Kop and Harfleur to life.
With the stadium showing its age, its capacity reduced to 16,000, by the early 2000s talk turned to a new stadium. The site chosen was a former marshalling yard opposite, overseen and financed by the Le Havre urban area community, although construction was nearly halted by wall lizards, whose conservation raised concerns.
Eventually, on July 12, 2012, ostensibly 140 years since the formation of HAC, or at least, after a kickabout between British sailors, the French Minister of Sport and the president of the French FA joined the city mayor in unveiling the Stade Océane.
Six years later, even with les HACmen stuck firmly in Ligue 2, the 1872 Stadium Hotel opened here, the very first of its kind in France, although its operations have ceased since the pandemic. As for the somewhat faded Stade Jules-Deschaseaux, it has hosted HAC’s rugby team since 2018, the sleek, eco-friendly arena opposite a worthy addition to Le Havre’s impressive post-war cityscape.
Getting Around
Arriving in town and local transport
No scheduled services use Le Havre-Octeville Airport 5km from town, and few come into Deauville-Normandie 34km away.
Other airports, such as budget-friendly Beauvais, require a transfer to Paris first, before taking the hourly train from Paris St-Lazare to Le Havre (€40, cheapest advance €16-€19, 2hr 10-20min journey time).
Navette Paris aéroport offers direct transfers by minibus to Le Havre from the main airports in Paris.
If coming over from the UK by boat from Portsmouth (€75, 6hr journey time), please note that there are only four Brittany Ferries services a week, the return leg takes nearly 11hrs, and there is no direct train line from the nearest alternative port of entry, Caen.
Le Havre station is near the docks, the city centre nearby to the west, the Stade Océane a bit further away to the east 2.5km away. A two-line tramway serves the station and major points in town, but not the stadium, accessible by an extensive network of buses. LiA oversees trams, buses and the funicular.
Tickets are sold at machines at stations and stops. One journey (titre 1 heure, valid 1hr, returns possible) is €1.80, one day (titre journée) €4.50. There’s also an M-ticket app for Android and Apple phones.
Mika Taxi (+33 6 95 17 41 43) is as good a local firm as any.
Where to Drink
The best pubs and bars for football fans
Pubs and bars dot the contemporary centre of Le Havre, surrounding the twin landmarks of Le Volcan and the Monuments aux Morts. Irish pub O’Brother celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2024, a decade of screening sport (note the shirts on display) and pouring pints from the dozen taps lining the bar. Using barrels for bar tables means it avoids the clichéd furnishings of the genre and plentiful terrace space comes in handy in summer. Closed Sun-Mon.
Next door, Le Trappist concentrates on Belgian beers, €1 cheaper during happy hour, 5pm-9pm. Nearby, in the shadow of The Volcano, Le Vent Couvert offers Canadian brews, happy hours (6pm-8pm), live music and occasional TV sport. Just along main rue de Paris, the friendly News Bar stages live acts and DJs.
Bright, funky Craft The Place To Beer covers all bases close to the station on allée Aimé Césaire. From 4pm (not Sun-Mon), it offers a dozen artisanal brews on draught, several carrying the local Saint Joseph logo, broadcasts games on a big screen and welcomes DJs. Affordable prices, including for the selection of tasty platters, lend a constant buzz to the place.
Where to stay
The best hotels for the stadium and city centre
Le Havre Etretat Tourisme has a comprehensive database of hotels.
With what would be the only stadium hotel in France, 1872, out of commission, for HAC games you’re best situated around the station and the docks. Four-star Novotel Le Havre Centre Gare on quai Colbert overlooks a pretty garden and the waterfront beyond, handy for customers in the bar and restaurant. There’s room service, too.
Also close, the 106-room NOMAD Hotel Le Havre Gare occupies a distinctive building on rue Magellen, its co-working space appealing to urban travellers. Just the other side of cours de la République, Best Western Plus Le Havre Centre Gare was completely renovated in 2021, a big TV screen in its bar and space in the secure car park for cycles.
Nearer to town, ibis Styles Le Havre Centre Auguste Perret on rue de Paris owes its bright colours to a 1950s’ makeover in 2020, a handy and wallet-friendly mid-range choice. By The Volcano, the Best Western Art Hotel overlooks the landmarks of Le Havre from its surprisingly affordable top-floor terrace rooms. Even the shower-only small doubles provide tea- and coffee-making facilities. Entertainment consists of live jazza and tapas, but you’re a few minutes’ stroll from whatever Le Havre has to offer by way of nightlife and gastronomy.
