The Constant Vanden Stock Stadium (french: Stade Constant Vanden Stock, nl, Constant Vanden Stockstadion), also known as the Lotto Park for sponsorship reasons, is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

in the municipality of

Anderlecht Anderlecht (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and Saint-Gilles, as well as the ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, Belgium. It is home to

R.S.C. Anderlecht ; french: Les Mauves et Blancs) , short name = R.S.C.A. , founded = , ground = Constant Vanden Stock Stadium , capacity = 22,500 , owntitle = Chairman , owner = Wouter Vandenhaute , manager = Brian Riemer , ...

. It also hosted the

UEFA Euro 1972 The 1972 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in Belgium. This was the fourth UEFA European Championship, held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. The final tournament took place between 14 and 18 June 1972. Only four ...

semi-final between

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

and the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, as well as several games of the

Belgium national football team The Belgium national football teamfrench: Équipe nationale belge de footballgerman: Belgische Fußballnationalmannschaft officially represents Belgium in men's international football since their maiden match in 1904. The squad is under the ...

History

Early history

In 1917,

installed, on the border of the Meir Park (later renamed

Astrid Park Astrid Park (french: Parc Astrid, nl, Astridpark) is an urban public park in the municipality of Anderlecht in Brussels, Belgium. The park was inaugurated on 13 August 1911 and was named the / ("Meir Park") until 1935, when the mayor of Ander ...

), a new stadium with only one wooden stand. It was originally called the Émile Versé Stadium (french: Stade Émile Versé, link=no, nl, Émile Verséstadion, link=no), after the industrialist Émile Versé, a generous patron of the club. Later, concrete stands were set up. Between 1983 and 1991, the stadium was completely rebuilt and renamed the Constant Vanden Stock Stadium (french: Stade Constant Vanden Stock, link=no, nl, Constant Vanden Stockstadion, link=no), after the club's then-chairman,

Constant Vanden Stock Constant Vanden Stock (; 13 June 1914 – 19 April 2008) was the president and a player of Belgian football club R.S.C. Anderlecht. The stadium of this club was named after him. Constant Vanden Stock also served as coach of the Belgium national ...

21st century

In 2010, the son of Constant Vanden Stock,

Roger Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ( ...

, announced together with RSC Anderlecht's manager Herman Van Holsbeeck that the club was going to build a third ring above the two existing ones in order to increase the stadium's capacity to 30,000 places. As of 2022, these works have not started, and it is doubtful they will, as in 2014 Anderlecht agreed to become anchor tenant of the planned 60,000+ new national stadium, thus sealing the fate of their spiritual home. In the summer of 2012, R.S.C. Anderlecht carried out work to bring the stadium up to

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

standards. Its capacity was thus decreased to 21,500 seats but it offers more comfort, more security, as well as new VIP areas and a brand new press room. All seats in the stadium are now equipped with a backrest. The aisles have been widened by for safety reasons, rail seats for

safe standing Safe standing is a measure of design in stadia to ensure that spectators are able to stand safely during events. It is important in the context of association football in the United Kingdom, where a series of fatal incidents led to legislation r ...

were fitted on the terracing behind each goal, while stand 1 is now equipped with 651 outdoor VIP seats. During European competitions, the stadium is all-seated, which decreases even more its capacity. In 2019, the stadium was officially rebranded as the Lotto Park, for sponsorship reasons.

Location and features

The stadium is located at 2, Avenue Théo Verbeeck/Théo Verbeecklaan, near

Saint-Guidon/Sint-Guido metro station Saint-Guidon ( French) or Sint Guido (Dutch) is a Brussels Metro station on the western branch of line 5. It is located in the municipality of Anderlecht, in the western part of Brussels, Belgium. The station opened on 6 October 1982 as par ...

. Rival supporters must stop at

Aumale metro station Aumale is a Brussels Metro station on the western branch of line 5. It is located in the municipality of Anderlecht, in the western part of Brussels, Belgium. It takes its name from /, the street above ground. The station opened on 6 Octobe ...

for

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

matches due to security measures. The stadium hosts a former one-star restaurant (''Le Saint-Guidon'') and a cafeteria, as well as the official club fanshop and ticketing booths.

References

Notes

External links

Stadium Guide Article

Stadium Database Article

Images of the expansion of the stadium at Jaspers-Eyers Architects
{{UEFA Euro 1972 stadiums Sports venues completed in 1917 UEFA Euro 1972 stadiums Football venues in Brussels Anderlecht R.S.C. Anderlecht