Stade Pierre-Mauroy Stadium

The Stade Pierre-Mauroy is a multi-use retractable roof stadium in Villeneuve-d'Ascq (Metropole Europeenne de Lille), France, that opened in August 2012. It has a seating capacity of 50,186 and is the home stadium of LOSC Lille. Initially named Grand Stade Lille Metropole, the stadium was renamed on 21 June 2013, just after the death of the former Mayor of Lille and former Prime Minister of France Pierre Mauroy.

History

Before the Grand Stade

In 1975, LOSC Lille began playing at the Stade Grimonprez-Jooris, a 21,128-seat facility. When the club began to play European Competitions, the venue did not match UEFA standards, prompting the club to play its UEFA Champions League games at the Stade Felix-Bollaert, home of rival RC Lens, in 2001. Plans were soon made to build a new stadium which would match UEFA demands, but the project was postponed and finally cancelled due to struggle with preservationists who stated that the location chosen for the new stadium was too close to the 17th Century Citadel.

The club, left without a place to play, moved to the Stadium Nord which was smaller than Grimonprez-Jooris (18,154 seats) and did not fulfill UEFA demands. This situation forced the team, who had qualified for 2005–06 UEFA Champions League, to play at the Stade de France for its European matches. This solution was abandoned after two young LOSC fans lost their lives when they got hit by an incoming train after a game against Olympique Lyonnais.

New administration, new project

While LOSC was struggling with its stadium problems, the administrative landscape of the Lille area changed. The city was now included in a vast association with its enclosed neighbours, forming the Urban Community of Lille Metropole. The new administration, now in charge of the whole area, decided to launch a new stadium project. On 5 December 2006, an industrial bid for a 50,000-seat multi-purpose stadium, able to receive sport competitions, cultural shows a

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