The Joseph Marien Stadium (french: Stade Joseph Marien, nl, Joseph Marienstadion) is a multi-use stadium located within
Duden Park
Duden Park (french: Parc Duden, nl, Dudenpark) is a public park located in the municipality of Forest in Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic ...
in the municipality of
Forest
A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...
in
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 currently used mostly for
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 ...
matches and is the home ground of
Royale Union Saint-Gilloise
Royale Union Saint-Gilloise , abbreviated to Union SG or USG, unofficially simply called Union, is a Belgian football club originally located in the municipality of Saint-Gilles, in Brussels, although since the 1920s it has been based at the Jos ...
. The stadium holds 9,400 since 2018 and was opened in 1919. Its entrance is at one end of the Rue du Stade/Stadionstraat.
History
Early construction
In 1909,
Royale Union Saint-Gilloise
Royale Union Saint-Gilloise , abbreviated to Union SG or USG, unofficially simply called Union, is a Belgian football club originally located in the municipality of Saint-Gilles, in Brussels, although since the 1920s it has been based at the Jos ...
was offered a site in Duden Park in
Forest
A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...
, Brussels. Construction started in 1915, during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, and ended in 1919. On 14 September 1919, the stadium opened with a friendly game between Royale Union Saint-Gilloise and
A.C. Milan
Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional Association football, football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 ...
.
1920 Summer Olympics
The stadium hosted some of the
football events for the
1920 Summer Olympics
The 1920 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1920; nl, Olympische Zomerspelen van 1920; german: Olympische Sommerspiele 1920), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIe olympiade; nl, Spelen van ...
.
1926 renovation
![Union Saint-Gilles stadium 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Union_Saint-Gilles_stadium_2.jpg)
In 1926, the stadium was renovated after a design by architect Albert Callewaert. On this occasion, it was given an
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
facade that holds
bas-relief
Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...
s by Oscar De Clercq.
References
Notes
External links
Sports-reference.com 1920 Summer Olympics football.
{{Belgian First Division A venues
Sports venues completed in 1919
Venues of the 1920 Summer Olympics
Olympic football venues
Multi-purpose stadiums in Belgium
Football venues in Brussels
Forest, Belgium
Royale Union Saint-Gilloise