It feels like you’ve travelled back in time when wandering the streets of Astridpark, the home ground of one of Belgium’s biggest clubs: RSC Anderlecht. A historic stadium in a neighbourhood where football is the driving force.
Anderlecht is a club of majestic grandeur. The beautiful and recognisable purple shirts, the so-called ‘champagne football’ with Paul van Himst and Jan Mulder, and the many titles. However, if you’re looking at the stadium, it will tell you a completely different story. The stadium, with a capacity of 21,000, has been too small for the club from Brussels for many years because RSCA is widely supported nationwide. Football is rapidly growing and changing, but it seems like Anderlecht is still stuck in the past.
The name ‘Lotto Park’ is too trendy for the appearance of the stadium. Most football fans will know the stadium as the Constant Vanden Stockstadion, named after the former illustrious chairman, or simply as Astridpark, named after the park adjacent to the ground. It’s been Anderlecht’s home for more than 100 years, in the heart of the Anderlecht neighbourhood. The club wants something bigger, but there’s no space to extend. The stadium is already so close to the neighbouring houses that one of the corners has been cut diagonally. A pain in the ass for the club, but if it were up to us, RSCA should never play somewhere else.
If you’re driving through Anderlecht on a regular weekday, you wouldn’t even know that one of Belgium’s biggest clubs plays here. Only the names of the many cafes, such as Le Penalty, La Tribune and Le Transfert, will tell you that football's being played here. On match days, it’s a completely different story though when the streets are filled with a sea of fans who eat fries or drink a pint. On the Théo Verbeecklaan or on the Lindeplein, you will find many pubs and stands that will fill your appetite.
Constant Vanden Stock was a former player of Anderlecht, manager of the Belgian national football team and later became the illustrious president of RSCA. He left more than a mark in Belgian football, hence why Anderlecht's stadium is named after him. However, he did not just leave a mark in football. He also expanded his father’s brewery Belle-Vue. The bar of the brewery, Le Belle-Vue, still exists in the heart of Anderlecht, only a few minutes from Astridpark on the Paul Jansonlaan 2. Drink a beer and gaze outside. Sir Constant sadly passed away a while ago, but it feels like he will step inside any second.
On the Théo Verbeecklaan 35, you will find the pub Green Park, opposite the entrance of the main stand. It’s a pub with a special history. For years, it was the pub of Henri Meert, legendary goalkeeper of Anderlecht in the 1940s and 1950s. It was a hotspot for the Dutch former footballer Jan Mulder. But even in recent years, the pub has been popular among players, as proven by the photos of Mbark Boussoufa, Lucas Biglia and Romelu Lukaku on the walls.
Near the stadium, you will find a mural of one of the biggest talents to have emerged from the youth academy this century. On the crossroad of the Itterbeekselaan and the Mededingingstraat is a massive painting of Youri Tielemans, who already was a key player of Anderlecht when he was only sixteen. The mural portrays multiple stages of Tielemans’ career.
Every pub in Anderlecht has its own story. Michou has been running La Coupe for almost 40 years and has basically been the mother of the Anderlecht players. She even took the Belgian-Brazilian Luis Oliveira (who would later in his career make a feared duo with Batistuta at Fiorentina) in her house above the café, when he was struggling to adapt to life in Belgium. The pub, which is filled with Anderlecht memorabilia on the walls, still exists and is located on the Théo Verbeecklaan 55. La Coupe even has its own Anderlecht spirit: the P’tit Mauve.
Tickets can easily be ordered on the club’s official website. Be aware of the stadium’s small capacity though and the fact that the stadium can easily get sold out, especially against the bigger teams. So don’t wait too long with ordering your ticket.
If you’re driving by car, you have to take the exit Anderlecht on the ring road of Brussels. On match days it’s best to park your car near the exit road as a large part of the neighbourhood is closed off for traffic.
The nearest metro station is Sint-Guido/Saint-Guidon, which is easily accessible by metro 5 from the centre of Brussels. From here it will only take you a few minutes on foot before you have reached the stadium.
Images: Marco Magielse, SANTOS
