Lotto Park – stadium description

Established in 1917, the district club of Anderlecht in Brussels moved into their new stadium that same year. Not an impressive one at that moment, the stadium was a field cut out of the Meir Park (now Astrid Park) with wooden terraces.

As the club grew to achieve first domestic championship in 1940s, the stadium grew as well. By 1980s it was able to hold under 40,000 people at peak. This is also when Anderlecht was one of the strongest clubs in Europe, prompting plans for a major overhaul to the aging stadium.

In 1983 all stands were built anew, this time with double tiers and cover. Upon opening this was one of the world’s best stadiums, though already then proved too large for its location: the north-western corner had to be cut out to accommodate Theo Verbeeck Avenue.

The stadium was named after Constant Vanden Stock at that point, honouring the legendary player and coach. As regulations changed towards individual seats and corporate sections consumed a lot of space, capacity began decreasing. Especially after the last major renovation in 2012, when replacement of all seats was done.

Despite several attempts, the club failed to push through an expansion plan for the stadium. It was envisaged it would get a third ring of seating and grow to over 30,000 seats. However already without that addition the stadium consumed nearly half of the initial park and dwarfed nearby residential buildings, causing protests over further growth.

In 2014 Anderlecht agreed to become anchor tenant of the planned 60,000+ new national stadium, sealing the fate of their spiritual home.