Rugby union
Toulon rugby: Stade Mayol
Mayol brings Toulon rugby to the harbour, with Pilou-Pilou and the surrounding quays woven into the occasion. Even the journey can feel different here, with boat-buses crossing the rade to the city.

By Does Your Duck Quack · Updated 14 October 2026
Stade Mayol at a glance
Sources: Confirmed · Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Tourism: Stade Mayol - Toulon · RC Toulon: Club Mayol directions · Toulon: City history of Stade Félix Mayol · Saint-François-de-Paule: Le Graal operator information · RC Toulon: Visite Campus RCT - RCT · Checked on 14 October 2026.
Plan your visit
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Confirmed · RC Toulon: Rugby Club Toulonnais - Site officiel
Before you travel
- Follow the club’s station route via boulevard de Strasbourg and avenue de la République.
- Consider boat-bus 8M, 18M or 28M across the rade to Toulon.
- Use Mayol à Vélo on quai des Pêcheurs for guarded bicycle parking.
- Create an RCT ticket account before applying for the PSH/PMR programme.
- For the guided visit, go to the RCT Campus at 53 rue Melpomene.
Confirmed · RC Toulon: Club Mayol directions · RC Toulon: Mayol à Vélo : venez au stade à vélo et stationnez en toute sécurité · RC Toulon: Accessible-ticket information · RC Toulon: Visite Campus RCT - RCT · Checked on 14 October 2026.
Mayol: a singer’s gift beside Toulon harbour
Stade Mayol opened on 28 March 1920 in central Toulon. The city’s account places it among the unusual French stadiums embedded in the urban centre. It remains the rugby home beside the harbour, with the stands and surrounding streets forming part of the same compact city setting.
The ground owes its name and creation to Toulon-born singer Félix Mayol. The city records that he financed a stadium for Rugby Club Toulonnais and assigned rights from his songs to help pay for the sporting installations. His contribution made a successful entertainment career part of the club’s permanent physical home.
Rugby Club Toulonnais was founded in 1908, drawing its first players from Stade Varois, Sélection Maritime and Sporting Club Télégraphique. Louis Gorlier became the first president and Marius Raymond the first secretary-general. The move into its own ground in 1920 came twelve years into the club’s development.
After transfer to the city, Mayol was renovated and inaugurated again in September 1965 with a match against the Welsh club Newbridge. That date belongs to the refurbished municipal stadium, while March 1920 marks the original opening. Both events form part of the story of the same Toulon ground.
The club’s honours list records French championships in 1931, 1987, 1992 and 2014, three consecutive European championships in 2013, 2014 and 2015, and the Challenge Cup in 2023. These titles belong to the team whose home is Mayol, although the decisive finals were played at their separate final venues.
Confirmed · Toulon: City history of Stade Félix Mayol · Toulon: City biography of Félix Mayol · RC Toulon: RCT – Histoire du Club · RC Toulon: Palmarès - RCT · Checked on 14 October 2026.
Pilou-Pilou, Coupo Santo and the supporters’ squares
The tourism office names Marcel Bodrero as the author of Pilou-Pilou, the chant associated with Mayol’s crowd. Its account places him in the club’s pantheon alongside players such as Jonny Wilkinson, André Herrero, Eric Champ, Joe van Niekerk and Tana Umaga. The chant links generations of home support before the rugby begins.
The club’s Mayol programme for Montpellier included Coupo Santo, performed by Groupe Occi Cant, before the players entered the field and the traditional Pilou-Pilou. This combination of a Provençal song and the club’s own chant is one of the specific musical features of a Toulon home occasion.
For 2026/27, RCT introduced Carrés Supporters in the quarter-corner area and the Delangre stand. Their programme includes drums, flags, coordinated chants and stand activities with the official supporters’ clubs. A season ticket in one of these spaces includes membership of one of the club’s six recognised supporter associations.
For the first home league match of 2026/27, against La Rochelle, the fan zone occupied quai Lafontan with four food trucks and bars. The club also highlighted the new Carrés Supporters in its match programme. These September 2026 arrangements show how the quay and the stands work together as parts of the event.
Olympic sevens champion Rayan Rebbadj brought his Paris 2024 gold medal to Mayol for the home match against Perpignan that year. The club announced his presentation to supporters and ceremonial kick-off. It was a particular homecoming for a Toulon player whose Olympic success had come in rugby’s seven-a-side format.
For Montpellier’s October 2024 visit, the group Occi Cant performed Coupo Santo before the traditional Pilou-Pilou. The same programme included a half-time penalty challenge for a team-signed ball and a breast-cancer-awareness stand run by the CPAM on the forecourt as part of Octobre Rose.
Our advice (opinion): Make room for the pre-match music and Pilou-Pilou in your arrival plan; these are the sounds we would most want to experience on a first Toulon visit.
Confirmed · Provence Med: Rugby at Stade Mayol · RC Toulon: RCT - MHR : les infos pratiques et animations pour la réception de Montpellier ! · RC Toulon: Saison 2026-2027 : Abonnez-Vous ! - RCT · RC Toulon: Les animations pour la réception de la Rochelle ! · RC Toulon: RCT – USAP : les infos pratiques avant votre arrivée à Mayol ! · Checked on 14 October 2026.
From Toulon station or across the harbour
RCT gives a ten-minute walk from Toulon railway station, following boulevard de Strasbourg towards the port and avenue de la République. The club identifies the stadium on quai Joseph Lafontan. Its published station distance is 1.5 kilometres, so the ten-minute figure is the club’s own stated walking time.
The club lists buses 3, 6, 23, 40 and U at Mayol. It also identifies three harbour crossings: 8M from La Seyne, 18M from Les Sablettes and 28M from Saint-Mandrier to Toulon. These boat-bus options make crossing the rade a real public-transport approach to a rugby ground beside the port.
The tourism office warns that streets around Mayol close to traffic on match days, affecting the usual bus stop beside the ground. Its ordinary bus list includes U, 3, 6, 15, 23, 40 and BN2. The distinction between the normal stop and match-day diversions matters when approaching the stadium by road-based public transport.
Mayol à Vélo provides a guarded cycle park on quai des Pêcheurs for up to three hundred bicycles. Announced in September 2026, the service opens three hours before kick-off and remains available until two hours after the match. It is free and has continuous opening across the match period.
At the cycle park, an attendant registers the bicycle with a photograph and the owner’s telephone number. Collection uses a code sent to that phone, and no app is required. Helmets or bags can be left with the bicycle, making this a specifically organised match-day service rather than an unsupervised street rack.
For drivers, the club lists Mayol, Lafayette, Facultés Porte d’Italie and Parking du Port among nearby parking options. Its driving directions use the A57 towards Toulon Centre, then signs for the port. RCT also links to the LNR’s car-sharing platform for home, away and relocated fixtures.
Our pick (opinion): If staying across the harbour, we would compare the 8M, 18M or 28M crossing with a road journey; arriving by water is an appealing part of a Mayol trip.
Confirmed · RC Toulon: Club Mayol directions · Provence Med: Rugby at Stade Mayol · RC Toulon: Mayol à Vélo : venez au stade à vélo et stationnez en toute sécurité · Checked on 14 October 2026.
Food trucks, the Guinguette and young supporters
The March 2026 programme for Stade Français included Maison Hubert for sweet food and Saveurs en Mêlées for sandwiches and preparations using Auvergne cheese. Those named businesses were part of the fan-zone offer on place Delangre for that match. Food-truck selections form part of individual Mayol match announcements.
The Guinguette de Mayol is behind the north aileron towards the Finale stand and is accessible to all ticket holders. The club’s Montpellier programme placed the Garlabanda there after its appearance at the players’ arrival. The named bar and band give the pre-match social programme a location beyond the seat itself.
The RCT Stade Mayol shop has two floors and covers 150 square metres. The club presents it as both a retail space and a place connected with red-and-black history. The ticket FAQ additionally identifies RCT Store Campus, RCT Store Delangre and RCT Store Mayol as physical ticket-purchase points.
The Minots de Mayol programme is aimed at supporters aged six to fourteen and is run with Kangourou Kids. RCT describes it as an experience designed for younger spectators, alongside its other youth ticket offers. It is a named club scheme, with its own booking information rather than a general family seating claim.
During 2025/26, Mayol hosted a half-time soft-toy collection that gathered more than 1,500 toys for children supported by Secours populaire français. A separate blanket collection brought in more than two hundred throws through the Union Diaconale du Var partnership. These stadium events connect the crowd with local charitable activity.
Confirmed · RC Toulon: Les animations pour la réception du Stade Français ! · RC Toulon: RCT - MHR : les infos pratiques et animations pour la réception de Montpellier ! · RC Toulon: Les offres jeunes : à chacun son expérience à Mayol ! - RCT · RC Toulon: Solidarité : retour sur une saison d'engagement pour le Fonds de Dotation Rugby Cœur Toulonnais · Checked on 14 October 2026.
Bonnus, Lafontan, Finale and Delangre
The four principal Mayol stand names are Bonnus, Lafontan, Finale and Delangre, each commemorating figures from the club’s history. The tourism office also records concerts by Bob Marley, Johnny Hallyday and Bernard Lavilliers at the ground. Mayol’s identity therefore includes both named rugby memorials and major music performances.
The presidential stand commemorates Joseph Lafontan, a Toulon player killed during the liberation of the city in August 1944. RCT’s biography also records the naming of quai Joseph Lafontan in April 1945. The stand and the surrounding quay preserve the same man’s memory in the rugby venue and the city.
The regional tourism listing describes Mayol as accommodating about seventeen thousand people. The stadium is listed as the home of Rugby Club Toulonnais, built through Félix Mayol’s generosity. That rounded visitor figure is appropriate to the ground as a whole; individual games use the ticket office’s available blocks and seats.
The club’s Les Halles Bronze hospitality offer combines pre-match reception space with Lafontan lateral seats in blocks A and D. Its description includes a buffet and player interviews. These are the particular inclusions of that package, which differs from buying an ordinary place elsewhere in the Lafontan stand.
RCT provides an interactive virtual view of Mayol seating. A visitor can enter the stand block, row and seat number to see the corresponding perspective on the field. The tool includes the stands, corners and ailerons.
Confirmed · Provence Med: Rugby at Stade Mayol · RC Toulon: PORTRAIT. Joseph Lafontan : martyr de la libération toulonnaise - RCT · Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Tourism: Stade Mayol - Toulon · RC Toulon: Nos offres VIP · RC Toulon: Club Mayol directions · Checked on 14 October 2026.
The PSH/PMR scheme and published facilities
RCT’s PSH/PMR programme requires a club ticketing account before an application can be made. The club says applications without an account are rejected and that programme registration does not itself guarantee a match place. Accessible admission therefore starts with a separate registration step rather than an ordinary seat purchase alone.
The regional tourism accessibility listing identifies wheelchair access, level circulation without obstacles, a lift measuring eighty by one hundred and thirty centimetres, and a doorway at least seventy-seven centimetres wide. It also lists an accessible toilet with a grab handle and space to manoeuvre. These are the physical facilities explicitly described for Mayol.
The same listing records a reserved parking space 330 centimetres wide within one hundred metres of the site. It can be raised with the ticket office alongside the spectator’s PSH/PMR booking.
The ticket office lists its customer-service telephone as 04 94 41 88 85 and email as billetterie@rctoulon.com. It also offers ticket purchase through the club’s online system and its named stores. These are direct RCT contact routes for resolving the requirements attached to a Mayol visit.
Confirmed · RC Toulon: Accessible-ticket information · Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Tourism: Stade Mayol - Toulon · RC Toulon: RCT spectator FAQ · Checked on 14 October 2026.
Le Graal and the separate RCT campus
Le Graal is an association-run pub at 377 avenue de la République, 83000 Toulon, adjoining Saint-François-de-Paule church. It opened in May 2015 and is operated by Les Amis du Pub Le Graal in connection with the parish. Its setting is close to the port and the Mayol part of the city.
The pub’s tenth-anniversary announcement describes a non-profit venue staffed by volunteers and linked to the Saint-François-de-Paule parish. It identifies the location as a short distance from both Toulon harbour and Stade Mayol.
The RCT guided visitor experience takes place at the separate performance and training campus, meeting at the Club House shop, 53 rue Melpomene, Toulon. The club gives a duration of an hour and forty-five minutes and provides visitor parking in car park one. It is a campus visit, with its own meeting address.
The campus route includes the players’ dining room, covered training pitch, changing room, gym and rest room, as well as the press room and media filming area. A five-minute film explores club history. The club states that reduced-mobility access is available throughout the visit, which is led by a guide employed by RCT.
Confirmed · Saint-François-de-Paule: Le Graal operator information · Fréjus-Toulon Diocese: Le Graal fête ses 10 ans ! · RC Toulon: Visite Campus RCT - RCT · Checked on 14 October 2026.
Which Toulon venue is on the ticket?
RCT’s 2026/27 season-ticket terms allow some home fixtures to move to other grounds, naming Marseille’s Vélodrome and Nice’s Allianz Riviera as possible locations. A ticket for the team therefore needs its venue read as carefully as the opposition. The Mayol walking route from Toulon station applies specifically to the harbour-side stadium.
Toulon’s first French championship in 1931 came against Lyon, while the 1987 title against Racing ended a fifty-six-year wait for a second Brennus Shield. The club’s history places André and Daniel Herrero in the coaching transition behind that later resurgence. Those generations remain part of the story told around Mayol’s stands and club culture.
Confirmed · RC Toulon: RCT 2026/27 venue terms · RC Toulon: RCT – Histoire du Club · Checked on 14 October 2026.
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