Bollaert, a passion writ in blood and gold

The Racing Club Lens’ football stadium is one of the most electrifying in France. And it’s not the arrival of rugby in 2007 that will change the tradition.

Bollaert is first and foremost a stadium for fans: the Lens Racing Club supporters are considered the most loyal in France, although it’s a title the St Etienne fans dispute. The same passion for football, the same feeling of belonging, the same pride in supporting the club of their hearts drives these two old refuges of French industry. It was in 1931 that the commercial director of the Lens coal mining company decided to build a stadium to allow company workers to get some exercise. So 180 out-of-work miners set to work on a disused piece of land between the No 1 and No 9 pits to build a stadium that was to take the name of the commercial director, Félix Bollaert, on his death in 1936. Two years earlier the RCL has set up home in what was to become the theatre of their dreams.

Record crowd for Bollaert

In 1977, the Blood and Gold, so-named after the colours of their jersey, pulled off their first European coup in beating Lazio Rome 6-0 after extra-time. Europe discovered the Bollaert stadium, which had been renovated several years earlier after one of the stands collapsed, without anyone hurt. When Lens was named a host city for Euro 1984 the stadium was reconfigured along the lines of a traditional English ground with four separate stands: Trannin, Marek, Delacourt and Lepagnot. Its 50,000 capacity made the Bollaert the biggest ground in France and saw a French record crowd of 48,912 pack the ground in 1992 for the Lens-Marseille league match. One singularity, the Lens kop is not behind one of the goals but along one of the by-lines.

Paraguay 1998, England and South Africa 2007

1998 marked a turning point. In a gleaming new Bollaert, three of the four stands had been rebuilt to reduce the capacity to 41,500, Lens won their first French championship title a few months before France qualified for the World Cup quarter-finals with a golden goal from Laurent Blanc against Paraguay in the most breath-taking of the six World Cup matches played at the ground.
Rugby’s history at Lens has yet to be written. Two chapters have been opened: Ireland-Argentina (24-28) in the 1999 Rugby World Cup and France-Romania (56-8) in 2003. But the rest of the story is set to be told in 2007 when Bollaert will prove its fans love sport, never mind the shape of the ball, and that Northern France loves rugby. The many England fans who will cross the Channel to support their team will not feel out of place.

Useful information

Address
Avenue Alfred Maës
62300 Lens

Access
By train: TER or TGV (5 min from the stadium)
By plane : Aéroport de Lille-Lesquin (30km) or Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle (180km)
By car: Autoroute A21

Key figures
Capacity: 41,400
Lighting: 2,242 lux