The Stade Bollaert-Delelis () is the main

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 ...

stadium in

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, that was built in 1933. It is the home of

RC Lens Racing Club de Lens (, commonly referred to as RC Lens or simply Lens) is a French professional football club based in the northern city of Lens in the Pas-de-Calais department. Its nickname, ''les sang et or'' (''the blood and gold''), co ...

. The stadium's capacity is 38,223 – about 7,000 more than the city's population. The stadium was originally named after Félix Bollaert, a director of Compagnie des Mines de Lens, who was anxious to promote the development of sports clubs in the city. Construction began in 1931, though Bollaert died shortly before the stadium's inauguration. It was renamed Stade Bollaert-Delelis in 2012 after the death of

André Delelis André Delelis (23 May 1924 – 4 September 2012L'ancien ministre An ...

, former mayor of the city and politician who served as the Minister of Commerce under President

François Mitterrand François Marie Adrien Maurice Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was President of France, serving under that position from 1981 to 1995, the longest time in office in the history of France. As First Secretary of the Socialist Party, he ...

History

The stadium has hosted matches in the following major international tournaments: * 1984 European Championship *

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...

1999 Rugby World Cup The 1999 Rugby World Cup was the fourth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial international rugby union championship. It was principally hosted by Wales, and was won by Australia. This was the first Rugby World Cup to be held in the sport's professi ...

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 2 ...

* 2016 European Championship

Architecture

The stadium is constructed in the English style with four separate stands dedicated respectively to: *Henri Trannin, native of

Bully-les-Mines Bully-les-Mines () is a Communes of France, commune in the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, département in northern France. It forms part of the Communauté d'agglomération de Lens – Liévin, Lens-Liévin agglomeration community, which enc ...

Goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

at the club for 18 years, sports director for Lens from 1952 to 1956, passing away in July 1974; it was dedicated on 4 December 1976 *

Tony Marek Anton Marek (9 February 1913 – 6 February 1963) was an Austrian association football, football player and manager who played as a Defender (association football), defender for Nord-Wien, VfB Admira Wacker Mödling, Wacker Vienna, Club Français ...

, former player and coach, international in the 1950s (lower part) and Xercès Louis, former player, first French international player from the Antilles (upper part); *Élie Delacourt, former fans' group president; *Max Lepagnot, former president of the district of Artois. Until 15 September 2018, all parts of the stadium contained seating. However, most supporters in the Marek, being a side stand, used to keep standing during the games as it is considered the kop and are considered as the most fervent supporters in the stadium, which makes the stadium different from most of the other stadiums, as the most fervent fans tend to usually sit behind the nets. Since 15 September 2018, the Marek contains a standing area again, as well as the lower parts of the Trannin and Delacourt stands since the start of the 2022–2023 season. The stadium's capacity is now 38,223.Official RC Lens web site
. ''rclens.fr''.

Events

UEFA Euro 1984 The 1984 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in France from 12 to 27 June 1984. It was the seventh UEFA European Championship, a competition held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. At the time, only eight countries ...

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...

The stadium was one of the venues of the

, and held the following matches:

1999 Rugby World Cup The 1999 Rugby World Cup was the fourth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial international rugby union championship. It was principally hosted by Wales, and was won by Australia. This was the first Rugby World Cup to be held in the sport's professi ...

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 2 ...

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe o ...

In May 2011, the stadium was designated to host the 2016 European Football Championship. To be renovated, the stadium was closed during the 2014-2015 season.

Other uses

The France national team has played eight matches at the stadium without defeat.

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

played two

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 ...

campaigns there when their own stadium was deemed inadequate, in ( 2001–02 and 2006–07). It hosted the

Johnny Hallyday Jean-Philippe Léo Smet (; 15 June 1943 – 5 December 2017), better known by his stage name Johnny Hallyday, was a French rock and roll and pop singer and actor, credited for having brought rock and roll to France. During a career spanning 57 ...

concert in 2009 and a

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...

gathering in 2006, which created controversy. The stadium is the setting for a scene in the movie

Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis ''Welcome to the Sticks'' (french: Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis, ) is a 2008 French comedy film directed and co-written by Dany Boon and starring Kad Merad and Boon himself. The film was the highest-grossing French film of all time at the box offic ...

, shot during a match between Lens and

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

in April 2007. We hear "

Les corons "Les Corons" is a famous French song by Pierre Bachelet and was written by Jean-Pierre Lang and music composed by Bachelet himself. "Les corons" is a regional hymn for the Northern miners of France. The iconic song describes the pride of France' ...

" sung by the public at the end of halftime break. In 2012 the Stadium held a rugby League match between

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

as part of an Autumn International Series match. 11,278 fans came to watch the game.

References

External links

Stade Félix-Bollaert on www.sitercl.com
{{UEFA Euro 2016 stadiums Lens, Pas-de-Calais RC Lens Football venues in France 1998 FIFA World Cup stadiums UEFA Euro 2016 stadiums Rugby World Cup stadiums Rugby union stadiums in France Sports venues in Pas-de-Calais Multi-purpose stadiums in France UEFA Euro 1984 stadiums Sports venues completed in 1933 1933 establishments in France