Free soccer in Paris: city courts and open fields
By the Poteau Team · updated
IN SHORT
Yes, you can play soccer for free in Paris, France. The city has more than 60 open-access sports fields, no booking needed: small fenced courts called city stades, and school fields called TEP. Some city stadiums also open to the public at set hours, like Suzanne-Lenglen in the 15th. And on Poteau, nearly 9 in 10 player-run games on public fields are free.
City stade or TEP
A city stade is the small fenced multi-sport court. Handball goals, basketball hoops. Great for 4v4 or 5v5.
A TEP (terrain d'éducation physique) is a school sports field. A bit bigger, often artificial turf.
The city says they are open to individuals, free and unsupervised. No booking. First come, first served.
Where to play in Paris
11th: the local town hall lists four TEP open for soccer. Charrière (13 rue Charrière), Émile-Lepeu (40 rue Émile-Lepeu), Jardiniers (2 passage Dumas) and Roquette (143 rue de la Roquette).
10th: TEP Agnès-Tirop, 17 rue Boy-Zelenski.
Paris Centre: TEP Neuve-Saint-Pierre, 5 rue Neuve-Saint-Pierre.
15th: Suzanne-Lenglen sports center, 2 rue Louis-Armand. Open access at set hours. Schools and clubs get priority.
For everything else, paris.fr has a map of every open-access field. Outside Paris, look up your town on Data ES (equipements.sports.gouv.fr), France's official sports facility database.
Full-size fields, where players organize
To play with more than ten, you need a real field.
On Poteau, 1 in 5 player-run games is on a public field: a city stadium or a sports park. Nearly 9 in 10 of those are free. Inside Paris itself, more than 3 in 4.
Where players set up the most free games: Suzanne-Lenglen (15th), Bertrand-Dauvin (18th), Déjerine (20th), Charles-Moureu (13th), Charles-Rigoulot (15th) and Paul-Faber (17th). Just outside Paris: the Tremblay sports park in Champigny, the Choisy sports park in Créteil, and Yves-du-Manoir in Colombes.
Bigger and longer
This isn't 5v5. On these fields, 8 games in 10 are 7v7 or bigger. And almost two in three last 2 hours or more.
Bring water. And a light and a dark shirt, to split the teams.
Shoes: molded studs on turf, sneakers on asphalt. Leave the screw-in studs at home.
Sunday is the day
Nearly 1 in 3 games on public fields is on a Sunday. On weekends, mornings are the big slot.
On weekdays, it's evenings after work. Lunchtime games are rarer.
When it isn't free
Sometimes the organizer asks for a small fee. Usually €4.
For comparison, indoor 5v5 in France usually costs €10 per player.
Finding people
An empty city stade is free. But two people can only do so much.
On Poteau, games on public fields show up like any other. You see the price (often €0), open spots, the expected level and who's signed up. You can join without knowing anyone.
The Poteau Team