The original structure was opened in 1946 to celebrate Belgium’s one hundredth anniversary. Within a year, it was renamed Stade du Heysel, or Heysel Stadium.
Owing to Brussels’ strategic location, the stadium became a favourite choice for UEFA to stage its European finals. It was also home to the Belgian national football team and held many prestigious athletics events. The majority of Belgian Cup Finals, Coupe de Belgique, were also held at Stade du Heysel from its reintroduction in 1954.
Over 66,000 spectators attended Heysel’s first European Cup final in 1958 as Real Madrid defeated Milan after extra time. The European Cup Winners' Cup final was the next major final to be held in the stadium.
The 3-3 draw between Sporting CP and MTK Budapest led to a replay being staged at Antwerp’s Bosuilstadion. In 1966, Real Madrid lifted the European Cup once again with victory against Partizan at Heysel.
In 1974 Bayern München defeated Atletico Madrid in a replay, with both games being held in the stadium as the Germans became champions of Europe. Brussels club RSC Anderlecht defeated West Ham United in the final of the Cup Winners Cup in 1976 in their home city.
CF Valencia won the same competition in the stadium after a penalty shoot-out out defeated Arsenal in 1980. Another English club would reach the last European club final to be held at the old stadium in five years.
Liverpool faced Juventus on May 29th 1985, with Heysel, a stadium well past its best. It had received very little investment throughout the preceding years. Some of the perimeter walls were made of cinder block, while plenty of the terracing was crumbling.
Hooliganism was rife in the mid-1980s. Throughout the day, the fans had been drinking, and many managed to gain access to the wrong areas of the stadium or without tickets. Segregation was poor between the set of supporters, with simple wire fences expected to do the job.
A disturbance took place on the west end terrace an hour before kick-off. Missiles were thrown between fans of both clubs across a small, sterile area. Fans in the Liverpool section charged at the Italian section, leading to a terrible disaster.
Thirty-nine Italians were killed in the crush against the side wall of the section, and then when it collapsed. Despite the events and the UEFA representatives knowing of deaths, the game went ahead after an hour's delay, which Juve went on to win 1-0.
Fourteen Liverpool fans were found guilty of manslaughter, while all English clubs were banned from competing in European competition until the ban was lifted for the 1990-91 season.
Heysel continued to hold the final of the Coupe de Belgique until 1991, with Club Brugge defeating KV Mechelen to lift the trophy for the final time at the old stadium. Discussions had been held for several years as to what should happen to the stadium. Eventually, it was rebuilt with only a renovated gateway near the main entrance remaining from the old structure.
The new stadium was named after the Belgian monarch who had died two years previously. The King Baudouin Stadium opened on August 23rd 1995, as home to the national football team. The final of Coupe de Belgique returned in 1996 as Club Brugge defeated Cercle Brugge.
The European Cup Winners' Cup final returned to the site in 1996 as Paris Saint-Germain defeated Rapid Wien in the fourth and last ever holding of the competition.
Stade Roi Baudouin staged the opening game of Euro 2000 as joint hosts, Belgium defeated Sweden 2-1. The stadium hosted another two group games, as well as a quarter-final and the semi-final between France and Portugal.
In the subsequent years, the stadium followed the pattern of many other modern arenas by staging huge pop concerts with the likes of U2, The Rolling Stones, Robbie Williams, Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen and Coldplay entertaining large crowds.
A dispute over the safety and width of entrances led to the Belgium national team moving out for a few games in 2006 before the dispute was sorted in court. The national rugby union side played Argentina in the stadium in 2007.
English rugby side Saracens moved their home Heineken Cup game against Racing Métro 92 in October 2012 to the Stade Roi Baudouin in front of an attendance of 18,212. The Brussels football club Royale Union Saint-Gilloise moved into the stadium as tenants from the 2016-17 season, as their historic Stade Joseph Marien required upgrading.
They continued to use the stadium in UEFA competitions after returning home for domestic matches. Pope Francis held mass at Stade Roi Baudouin in 2024.
My visits
Thursday 20th October 2016
My stay in Brussels was to be all too brief, but I was determined to fill every second. I’d arrived the previous evening to enjoy some city centre sightseeing and enjoy the local beers in a few choice establishments.
The following morning gave me a window of opportunity to visit a few stadiums and football clubs that had been on my radar for some time. As ever, my pre-planning had formulated some kind of plan. I’d taken the Metro to Heysel with the intention of taking a look at both the Stade Roi Baudouin and its little sister, Heysel II.
I also wanted to pay my respects to the victims of the 1985 tragedy. The walk around from the station was none too promising. The stadium entrances were fully locked. I couldn’t even get near the structure because of the plentiful fencing. They’d obviously taken a lesson from the past.
After a brief look at Heysel II from the outside, I tried to work out how to gain access to the grounds of the complex. There were cars inside, but no entrance was open. Eventually, I worked out that access was from Avenue de Bouchout and then along Avenue de Marathon.
However, there seemed to be strict security at the end of the road.
I figured out that access would be very difficult, even if I overcame the language barrier. It was at this point that I had an inspiration and a stroke of luck. I’d heard cheering and noises coming from inside the stadium. Perhaps it was a recording to accompany a stadium tour? It continued, and it was too loud for that.
I noted that lots of schoolkids were setting out various sporting activities at the small facility on the approach. I watched and saw that some were preparing to walk up to the stadium. A gate was open by the changing block where they were getting sorted. I also noted that there was a direct open gate from there to the main complex.
Never one to turn down such opportunities, I decided to keep my head down and walk along and through the gate. Several teachers and parents were around. As I neared the stadium, it was apparent that it was a school sports day, and events were taking place. This meant that the gate between the main stand and the curve of the stadium was open.
This allowed the competitors, teachers, parents and stadium workers access. Best of all, it appeared that nobody seemed to know who was who. I’d never done any real acting in my life, but for ten the next thirty minutes or so I took on the role of a Belgian who was either a teacher, parent or stadium worker. I just walked confidently and smiled.
While I wasn’t doing anything criminal, I don’t suppose that they’d have been particularly amused to find that their security had been breached so easily. I was also wary of what the teachers may have thought that I was up to. Nevertheless, I took my photos from inside the stadium before walking around the back of the main stand to take a look at the memorial plaque to remember those who lost their lives in the 1985 disaster.
While I was winning, I also wandered across to the gates to Heysel II, where, lo and behold, I found access in one corner so I could take a look and grab some snaps of that excellent little old school arena. While happy with myself, I still had to get out the same way I’d entered. I noticed I got a few looks as I walked past the changing block.
They seem to display the signs of questions going through their minds like “where’s he going?” but I kept my head down and returned out onto the main drag to catch a tram and train towards the Edmond Machtens Stadion.
Union Saint-Gilloise 3 KVC Westerlo 0 (Saturday 19th August 2017) Belgian First Division B (att: c1,300)
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