The Stade Bollaert-Delelis () is the main football 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 regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

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

History

The stadium has hosted matches in the following major international tournaments: * 1984 European Championship * 1998 FIFA World Cup * 1999 Rugby World Cup * 2007 Rugby World Cup * 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 commune in the Pas-de-Calais département in northern France. It forms part of the Lens-Liévin agglomeration community, which encompasses 36 French communes and 250,000 inhabitants. For many years it was a major coal mini ...

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, 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 stadium was one of the venues of the 1998 FIFA World Cup, and held the following matches:

1999 Rugby World Cup

2007 Rugby World Cup

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 ...

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 region, the prefecture of the N ...

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 competi ...

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 gathering in 2006, which created controversy. The stadium is the setting for a scene in the movie Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis, shot during a match between Lens and

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...

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 country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

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