King Baudouin Stadium

Koning Boudewijnstadion
Stade Roi Baudouin

Former names	Stade du Jubilé or Jubelstadion (1930–1946) Heizelstadion or Stade du Heysel (1946–1985)
Location	Brussels, Belgium
Opened	23 August 1930
Renovated	1995 (€37 million)
Surface	Grass
Capacity	50,122
Field dimensions	106 x 66m
Tenants
Belgium national football team Belgium national rugby union team Royal Excelsior Sports Club de Bruxelles (Athletics)

See also Heysel Stadium Disaster and Heysel

The King Baudouin Stadium (French: Stade Roi Baudouin, Dutch: Koning Boudewijnstadion) is a sports ground in north-west Brussels, Belgium. It was inaugurated on 23 August 1930 (days after Belgium's 100th anniversary) as the Stade du Jubilé or Jubelstadion (Jubilee Stadium) in the presence of Prince Leopold. It was built to embellish the Heysel plateau in view of the Brussels International Exposition (1935). The stadium hosted 70,000 at the time. A wooden track for cycling races was later added around the pitch.

In 1946, it was renamed Heysel Stadium. It hosted European Cup finals in 1958, 1966, 1974, and 1985 and Cup Winners' Cup finals in 1964, 1976, 1980 and 1996. The highest attendance at a European game was over 66,000 in 1958.

Despite its status as Belgium's national stadium, Heysel was not well maintained. By the time of the 1985 European Cup Final, it was literally crumbling. For example, the outer wall had been made of cinder block, and fans who didn't have tickets were seen kicking holes in it to get in.^[1] Following the Heysel Stadium disaster, the ground was only used for athletics and it still hosts the Memorial Van Damme every year.

A decade after the disaster the ground was rebuilt and renamed King Baudouin Stadium at a cost of BEF 1,500 million (around $50 million in 1995). It was named after King Baudouin I. All that remains of the old stadium is a renovated gateway near the main entrance. The new structure combined the football ground with a running track and facilities for field events. It was re-opened on 23 August 1995 as the home of the national football team and is the largest stadium in Belgium; it can seat 50,024 spectators. It hosted the opening game for Euro 2000.

King Baudouin Stadium viewed from the Atomium

On 26 May 2006 the Belgian Football Association decided not to use King Baudouin Stadium anymore for the national team home matches and for the Cup final, because the gates of stand one were too narrow and the stadium was deemed unsafe. The next match of the national team was thus held at the Constant Vanden Stock Stadium. Because of this, the city of Brussels issued a complaint that the stadium was safe in contrary to the reports and this complaint was ruled to be correct in court. On 6 October 2006, the KBVB/URBSFA met with representatives of the city of Brussels and together they agreed to renew the contract and extend it to 30 June 2008. Since 15 November 2006 the Belgian national football team again uses the King Baudouin Stadium.

The stadium will witness a rugby union milestone on 19 December 2009, when the Parisian club Stade Français take their Heineken Cup home match against Irish club Ulster to the stadium. It will be the first Heineken Cup match to be held in Belgium.

Heysel Stadium Silver Coin

75 years of Heysel Stadium commemorative coin

To celebrate the 75th anniversary of the stadium (and the 100th anniversary of Derby's team) the Belgian state released a commemorative coin: the 10 euro 75 years of Heysel Stadium commemorative coin. The obverse depicts an image of a footballer with the stadium in the background. The flags of Belgium and the Netherlands can be seen on top of the stadium as well as the year that the stadium was built.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Koning Boudewijnstadion (Heizelstadion)

• (French) Belgian FA official website - history
• (Dutch) Belgian FA official website - history

References

Coordinates: 50°53′44.54″N 4°20′2.70″E / 50.8957056°N 4.334083°E / 50.8957056; 4.334083