Since their return to the Pro League in 2021, Union has been reliving its glory days of old and their successful national and European campaigns bring new and loyal supporters together to share their passion for football and strengthen social ties between Brussels residents. The Joseph Marien Stadium on Chaussée de Bruxelles in Forest still exudes atmosphere, conviviality, and history during every Union match but unfortunately the stands and infrastructure no longer meet the standards of a modern football club at the highest level in Belgium, as well as in Europe. The stadium and part of the surrounding Duden Park are listed, making much-needed adjustments impossible.
The Unionists deserve a new football temple, and the opportunity presents itself to write a new chapter in the club's history, with a brand-new stadium designed to shine on the European football scene. For Secretary of State for Urban Planning Ans Persoons and Minister-President Rudi Vervoort, this is an exemplary case and a signal that major sports projects must have their place in the Brussels Capital Region. Ans Persoons is hereby continuing the work of her predecessor Pascal Smet, collaborating with the club and the municipality to find a solution for a possible move to the Bempt site, where the new stadium would be part of a wider development of a green sporting park.
But time is running out and, despite the necessary studies and recommendations regarding a qualitative implantation of the project in its surroundings, we must now dare to all point our noses in the same direction and continue to write the future story of this Brussels football club.
A new chapter in a rich Brussels history
Royale Union Saint-Gilloise holds a special place in the hearts of Brussels residents. A historic and popular football club founded in 1897, the club plays an important social, cultural, and economic role. The club unites a large community of supporters from different origins, ages, and socio-economic backgrounds. Royale Union Saint-Gilloise's matches offer Brussels residents an opportunity to come together, share their passion for football and strengthen social ties.
Royale Union Saint-Gilloise currently plays in the historic Joseph Marien stadium in Forest, but the capacity of this stadium is limited (9,512 or 7,621 without visitors) and the difficult security conditions for hosting matches limit the club's growth. The Joseph Marien stadium does not meet UEFA standards and there is a risk that it will not meet Belgian Pro League standards in the near future.
Financially, the stadium's capacity also limits the club's growth and threatens its revival within national and European competitions. The club could welcome many more supporters. Moreover, the current stadium has no VIP area, no business seats, no high-quality press room, and no fan shop. The financial imbalance is significant: although the stadium sells out almost every fortnight, the club receives only a very limited share of stadium-related revenue compared to other clubs in the same category.
Sporting park the Bempt
To look for solutions, our Secretary of State for Urban Planning and Heritage Ans Persoons took the lead in bringing the various representatives of Royale Union Saint-Gilloise, the government (Brussels Capital Region) and the municipalities of Forest and Saint-Gilles around the table to work out a plan for the future.
Urban.brussels' analysis considered several options, the possibility of enlarging the current stadium to 15,000 seats by extending it into Duden Park was one of them. But given (a) the protection as a landscape of Duden Park, (b) the protection as a monument of part of the Joseph Marienstadion and (c) the overflow of the stadium into a park zone according to the Regional Zoning Plan - where sports infrastructure is not legally allowed - an expansion of the Marien stadium is not possible.
Secretary of State Persoons considers this search an excellent opportunity to anchor the local history of the Unionists and, together with members of the Brussels government, write a success story around a major stadium project in the Brussels Region. To this end, we are backing the municipality of Forest in their negotiations with the club for the purchase of a site at the Bempt site.
The chosen site, strategically located between the Brussels Ring, the current Audi site and the sports complexes of Forest and Neerstalle, meets a number of requirements, including a strong local anchoring of the club in the Brussels municipalities of Forest and Saint-Gilles, and offers sufficient opportunities to ensure the integration of such a sports infrastructure in a qualitative manner. To this end, the club drew up a comprehensive mobility and environmental impact study on its own initiative and these recommendations, together with additional advice and requirements from the municipality and from the regional administrations Brussels Environment and Brussels Mobility, form the basis for the further elaboration and realisation of a generally endorsed construction project.
But this is not only a building project; the stadium must also be an asset to the neighbourhood outside match days, reflect the club's identity and integrate harmoniously into Forest's urban fabric. The move can only go hand in hand with a more general redevelopment of the Bempt sports site, in which the new stadium is just one of the elements: an upgrading of the public space around the stadium, the extension of the Green Walk with a public park that in addition to offering sports and games infrastructure, also manages access to the stadium, an improvement of car access around the traffic intersection and the Audi site, a better accessibility to the Bempt park by public transport and active means of transport, and an optimisation of the infrastructure for local sports clubs. These are the necessary ingredients of a successful project and Vooruit is taking the initiative in this to ensure this comprehensive approach.
Competition Brussels Master Builder
Together with the Brussels master builder (BMA), we have therefore launched an architectural competition so that the incorporation of a future, sustainable football stadium into its surroundings on the Bempt site and the redevelopment of the public space around the stadium can be achieved in a qualitative manner. A first, as it is the first time a public design competition has been launched in Belgium regarding the development of a private football stadium. Besides the aesthetic aspect, the main task of the chosen designer is to fit the future stadium seamlessly into its urban environment. It is the express wish of the club and the municipality of Forest to preserve the scenic qualities of the Bempt park and not to damage them, even when crowd flows can reach 16,000 at peak times. The stadium should also be an added value and upgrade for local residents and the wider area beside the match days.
"With this architectural competition for a football stadium, we are fully opting for quality. That is also what a club like Union, playing at the highest level, deserves. When all noses are pointed in the right direction, we can indeed achieve major projects in Brussels. My predecessor Pascal Smet took on the stadium project and I am continuing his work as a facilitator between the club and the municipality. We want the stadium to be not only a new warm home to the fans, but also a good neighbour in the neighbourhood,” says Ans Persoons, Secretary of State for Urban Planning and Heritage.
"We want our stadium to provide added value and be a catalyst in beautifying the neighbourhood. The launch of this design competition to fit the stadium into its urban environment is therefore an important step. It shows that the Brussels Region and the Brussels Master Builder are putting their backs into Union's stadium project. Together with the municipality of Forest, we are continuing our constructive dialogue in the last straight line of negotiations," explained Philippe Bormans, CEO of Royale Union Saint-Gilloise.
Football for all
With the extension of the Green Walk and the upgrading of the current Bempt park, a whole new dynamic is being created : on match days, the park in front of the stadium fills up with enthusiastic supporters and a public infrastructure ensures a good flow to the stadium, but even outside match days, the park is all about sports: the Union Foundation works with some 10 integration projects to create a social community next to the stadium pitch, and the Bempt is an important sports and recreation area, housing not only 4 local football clubs (Maccabi (450 members), Renaissance Forestoise (450 members), FC Forest (450 members) and Olympic Forestois (200 members)) but also a rugby club, petanque activities and the youth clubs from St-Gilles occasionally occupy the football field on the Neerstalle side. This dynamic must be maintained and all initiatives to strengthen it can count on the necessary support of, among others, the Flemish Community Commission, for which Ans Persoons is competent.
We are therefore at a turning point, the club is in a final straight line in its negotiations for the purchase of the site, the regional authorities are willing to put their backs into the overall development of the Bempt site and offer the necessary guarantees to the club and the municipality that the sports project will also remain scenically and socially compatible.
Finally, the winning competition design will soon be chosen, and we hope to present an inspiring project that fulfils the above ambitions.
With Vooruit, we choose to move forward, with the necessary guarantees but also decisiveness so this does not become another ambitious stadium project bogged down in impossible contradictions and the fear of change. Union must not come to a standstill; we will play an open and offensive final.