Whereas only two months ago Nancy had to pass on the chance to become a host city at Euro 2016, more positive news has now come out of Lens, where the parties involved came to an agreement on the redevelopment of Stade Felix-Bollaert.
The stadium, which is owned by the city of Lens, has been shortlisted to become one of the 2016 playing venues, however the proposed project was plagued by the same financial problems that earlier made Nancy (and Strasbourg) pull out.
After all parties were invited to a meeting with French minister of sports David Douillet the other night, realisation of the €78 million redevelopment seems now more likely than ever though.
Stade Felix-Bollaert has a rich history, and previously hosted matches during Euro 1984 and the 1998 World Cup, however local club RC Lens has recently fallen to the bottom of Ligue 2. The expected redevelopment will increase the stadium’s capacity to 44,000 seats. Earlier plans for a retractable roof were scrapped due to the extra costs involved.
© Photo: Flickr user gtanicko