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In Italy it is reported that Lazio
and AS Roma are interested in purchasing the Foro Italico sport complex
which includes the Stadio Olympico, the Stadio Dei Marmi, 2 tennis
stadiums and a swimming pool. The
site is to be sold off by the Government before the end of 2000 and will cost an
estimated £310 million. In Serie B
Pistoia have opened a new away stand with a capacity of 2,028.
Last season saw Reggio Calabria celebrate their first ever season
in Serie A. They play at the Stadio
Oreste Granillo which was built in 1925 but has been completely redeveloped
in the last two years and now has a capacity of nearly 28,000
(See photo below – Fabrizio Pugi).
Another ground that has been redeveloped recently is the Stadio
Bruno Recchioni home of Serie B side Fermo.
The ground was originally constructed in 1930 but was substantially
altered last year and now has a capacity of 8,480.
The record attendance for the re-built ground was set earlier this year
when 8,236 saw the home club beat Napoli 3-2.
In Holland where new grounds are
springing up all over the place, Den Bosch are talking of building a new
20-25 million guilder ground in 'S-Hertogenbosch on the east side of town by the
Snelweg A2 (See picture below). Also, RBC Roosendaal have a new stadium well under construction which should be in use by 2001. Fortuna Sittard,
who moved into their new stadium in November, have recently named the ground
after their main sponsors Wagner & Partners.
Very similar to Breda & Heerenveen's new grounds with the
now-familiar moat between seats and pitch in which are housed the spectator
catering and toilet facilities, so that when fans are queuing etc, they have no
view of the pitch and are not standing in the way of seated fans. Dressing rooms
are below ground level along with underground parking facilities available to
corporate visitors. In
Belgium the Jules Ottenstadion of KAA Gent will
undergo a transformation during the summer with both terraces behind the goals
being upgraded with seating decks. The redevelopment has been brought about due
the club’s qualification for the UEFA Cup.
Terraces are not permitted in the competition and the current 7,000 seats
is also below requirement for the competition. The seating decks are only given
a three-year life span and one assumes that they will be benches bolted onto the
current terracing. Cover will also
be provided. Other Belgian clubs
building are GBA and Lierse who are both working on new stadiums.
After
having ruined the chance of a merger with Eendracht Aalst
over the
last 14 months, KSC Lokeren have persuaded the Div 3 club Sint Niklaas
SK Excelsior to merge with them instead. Therefore Sint Niklaas's Puyenbeke
ground will next season only be used for both clubs youth set-ups. The
cost of a completely new stadium has been put at BF 600m (£9m), but initial
plans are to stay at Daknam and hopefully attract around 9,000 fans to
the new club. Daknam is very dilapidated and small and Lokeren currently average
attendance's of around 5,000. Lokeren hope that despite the town of 30,000
inhabitants being very poor, the 'Bourgmestre' (effectively, the Mayor) will
agree in the short term to help finance some renovation. Meanwhile, the 'Bourgemestre'
of Sint Niklaas, 3 times bigger than the town of Lokeren, is all for the move! In
France, work has begun on Sedan's new stadium adjacent to the
current ground. The 17,000 capacity Louis Duguaguez Stadium will be a
replica of Caen's stadium and will be ready by September 2000. After
celebrating their first year in the Luxembourg top flight, Mondercange
moved into their new purpose built ground ready for the start of the 1999/2000
season. It’s further out of town in the same road, Rue de Limpach, as
their previous ground (which is still there) on the north side of town. The old
ground had but one small covered area with no terracing, but the new stadium has
a good-sized stand on the near side and an uncovered terrace on the far side.
This season, the club have had to fight for their survival in the relegation
play-offs which were being played through May. MINOR
BELGIAN CLUB NEWS by
Peter Abbott
Diksmuide
(Belgian - West Vlaanderen Prov 1)
say they have started work on
another site in the same street, Wouwenweg, to where they are now.
Montegnee
(Belgian Div 4) appear
to have already moved from their lovely old ground 'La Branche' into
the 'Buraufosse' ground in Liege, vacated this season by Royal
Tilleur Football Club Liege (RTFCL) who themselves have moved on to Stade
de Pairay, Rue de la Boverie, in Seraing. FCS
Saint Josse (Brabant Prov
1) will be promoted to Div 4 if they win their league - they have been top
most of the season - or battle their way successfully through various
play-offs, but the bad news is that the Stade Petré ground may not be
up to standard. Saint Josse have had talks with Atlas who play at
the Heysel Annex ground - of Racing Jet Brussels fame - but they,
Atlas, refused to do a deal.
Royal Olympic Club
Charleroi (Div 3) will
merge with RAS Marchiennoise (Div 4) playing at Stade de la Neuville,
a superb ground in the district of Montignies in Charleroi and not very far to
the east of the railway station. This ground also gets a good write up
in Arènes Oubliées and can be checked out whilst visiting Stade Mambour,
home of Sporting Charleroi, for games in Euro 2000.
KFC Rita Berlaar
(Div 4) will fold during the summer despite only moving into their brand new
ground at the Pallieterlandstadion in Welvaarstraat in October 1995.
Last season they finished rock bottom of the league having fielded a youth
side throughout and next season will reform as VK Berlaar or FC
Berlaar, but in the Antwerpen Provincial 4th level!
Berchem Sport
(Div 4) who only 13 years ago were playing top flight football at Stade
Ludo Coeck (again, see Arènes Oubliées) will soon be relegated to the
Antwerpen Provincial 1 league, due to irregularities when going into
administration earlier this season.
Entente Sambreville
(Div 4) are in deep trouble with enormous debts following their ground
renovation at Rue Sous-La-Ville a couple of years ago. This also
followed a merger between Entente Tamines and Falisolle at that
time and now there is talk of a merger with Moignelée Sports who
themselves have this season won promotion from the Namur Provincial Div 2.
The other Namur Provincial 1 club from Tamines, Jeunesse, have said
they would like to be part of a merger also.
KHO Merchtem-Brussegem (Div 3 not so long ago, but now in
Brabant Prov 2) failed to show for at least one game this season and after
grand talks of a new stadium, look like being relegated to Brabant Prov 4th
level. They only merged with Brussegem a couple of years ago and
there is talk of Brussegem founding their own club again.
KFC Strombeek
(Div 2 next season) are to be given BF 5,000,000 to upgrade De Singel
prior to their promotion. Sad news
about one of the oldest clubs in Belgium RCS Verviétois, relegated
from Div. 3, will merge with lowly R. Dison Sport from the Liège Prov.
2. As CS are relegated, the new club will be playing in Promotion/Div. 4 next
season. They won't be playing at the ancient Panorama |