Lens Tickets

Racing Club de Lens history

Origin of the Club

It was founded in 1906 by students in Lens who used to play football at the Place Verte now known as Place de la République. The name “Racing Club de Lens” was inspired by Racing Club de Roubaix and Racing Club de France since they were fashionable clubs of the time.

The first board of directors of the club was constituted by the parents of the said students. The club initially dressed in green and black to signify the original location; they wore green to symbolize the home pitch’s name, “Verte” meaning green in French, and black for the omnipresent coal mining industry in the vicinity.

From 1907 to 1912, the players were compelled to alter their home grounds twice before they took up residence at the Parc des Glissieres that was located between Avian and Lens.

Thus, like all French sports clubs, the team’s activity was suspended during the First World War and resumed only in 1919. By this time, Lens had switched their playing colors to sky blue.

Of Blood and Gold

The red and gold colors were however first introduced in the year 1924. According to one story, the president of the club from 1923 to 1930, Pierre Moglia, chose the colors of the Spanish flag since a partner of the latter one day said, as both were walking past the ruins of the Saint-Léger church one evening, that these ruins were the last visible reminder of the Spanish domination in the city in 1648. Some people also say that the colors were derived as a reference to the local coal mines: the red for the blood of the miners and the gold for the coal which was useful at that period.

It was also in 1924 that the club was authorized to play at the newly built municipal stadium Raoul Briquet (nowadays Léo Lagrange). The first match in the new colors was played for the stadium inauguration of the club.

The first star that played for Lens was British footballer Kid Fenton in 1926. He played for eight seasons and formed a good rapport with the club’s fans. This was also the year where the first supporter group was created and also the first time Lens won the Championnat d’Artois.

The first North championship was in 1929, and Lens got the promotion to the Division d’Honneur of the Ligue du Nord along with the clubs like Olympique Lillois, RC Roubaix, Excelsior Athlétic Club de Roubaix, and AC Amiens.

Within the Artois League, the club established a solid reputation and in 1932 the club began the Stade Félix Bollaert.

The First Victories

In the year 1937 the Lens team got an opportunity to play in the first division after it had emerged the winner in the second division which had players like Stefan Dembicki and Spechtl. Lens even got to the quarter finals of the Coupe de France and the team was knocked out by the Red Star, 3–2.

Lens thus became the first division of the Northern Zone in 1943, and Dembicki scored 43 goals in 30 games. He had scored 17 goals in a Coupe de France match in a year and it still stands as the record of goals scored by a single player in a single competitive match.

Lens had almost immediately after World War II finished in sixth place during the season of 1945/1946 but in the next year they were relegated. The club first competed in the Coupe de France in 1948 and played its first cup final in the same year though they were defeated 3–2 by Lille. A year later, Lens was promoted to the first division for the next year, and in the following year, Maryan Wisnieski was recruited. But problems with the board made him leave the club; he joined Italian club UC Sampdoria Genoa but did not succeed much.

In 1962 Lens’ mines closed down and the future of the club was on the edge since most of them were miners by occupation. The survival between the years 1956 and 1968 was a very tough endeavor. However, in 1964 Lens came in third place, Ahmed Oudjani was the highest goal scorer with 30 goals. Another famous player, Georges Lech, played for Lens; however, the club was relegated in 1968. The following year the mine’s administrators withdrew them from Lens which effectively meant the end of professional football at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis. Lens was now again an amateur club, one year after the relegation, and the long term prospect did not look good at all.

I would also like to stress on the fact that in The Good Years and The Fall, the author presents two different stages of the heroine’s life.

But the better days came in 1960 when the town council began to show interest in Racing Club de Lens. The mayor of Lens, André Delelis, was loyal to the club and he knew that a successful football club is crucial for boosting the morale of the city. He mobilized volunteers and subscriptions with the future president of the Republic Jean Bondoux to ensure the club’s survival. Also, the city regained possession of the stadium from the shut down mine industry.

The next twenty years were characterized by gradual but progressive progress of the club. In 1972 Lens came up to the semi-finals of the Coupe de France and with the addition of two Polish players the club was promoted to the first division. In 1975, Lens made it again to the final of the Coupe de France and this time faced a strong team in Saint-Étienne, but lost the match 0–2.

As a finalist of the Coupe de France, Lens was to play in its first UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup but quickly was eliminated by the Dutch club ADO Den Haag.

Lens continued to make progress; after getting second in the league to Nantes, they were able to make it to the UEFA Cup. They eliminated a Swedish club Malmö FF and even defeated a rather powerful Italian club Lazio. They won 6–0 at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis after extra-time following an away defeat (2–0). However, following this occasional foreign adventure for a French club, they were knocked out by an East German side 1. FC Magdeburg. Worse still the club was relegated back to the second division in 1978.

The step backwards was very brief and they were promoted back to the French elite level as soon as the following year in 1979 with Roger Lemerre as the team’s coach. After that, Gérard Houllier and Joachim Marx took over during the 1980s. These were good gains to the team, despite the fact that the club had been losing key players; Didier Sénac, Gaëtan Huard, and Philippe Vercruysse.

Martel's Takeover

In August 1988, Serge Doré with the assistance of a local tycoon Gervais Martel took over the control of the club. The same year Arnaud Dos Santos was appointed the club’s head coach and managed to take the club back to the first division in 1991.

In 1993/1994, Lens had its most competitive team to that point and was fighting for the title in the upper part of the league, and consecutively qualified for the UEFA Cup. Lens also got to the semi-final of the Coupe de France having defeated Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc des Princes but lost to Montpellier.

In 1998, les Sang et Or wrote the best page of their history under Daniel Leclercq ("the Druid"): French league winners, cup competition semi-finalists and cup final losers to PSG, a 2-1 defeat. As a symbol, one can mention Yohan Lachor, who played for Lens initially and scored the only goal in Auxerre which awarded Lens the title ahead of Metz. In the “Druid”, Lens was the winner of the second major trophy in 1999 Coupe de la Ligue against Metz and with the goal of Daniel Moreira. In the same year in UEFA champions league Lens was the only club which defeated the English club Arsenal at the Wembley stadium (1-0 goal from Mickaël Debève) but Lens was knocked at aggregate score in two leg matches.

The next season saw Leclercq dismissed from the team, although Lens managed to perform quite creditably to qualify to the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup. François Brisson’s men were knocked out by Arsenal after they had beaten 1. FC Kaiserslautern 4–1 in Germany, Atlético de Madrid, and Celta de Vigo.

During the season 2001/2002 the Belgian Joël Muller was appointed as the new head coach of the team. Lens came second that season and was therefore allowed its second season in the champions league. The club, however, ended the following two years in the eighth position. Muller left the club after his fourth season at the helm and Gillot succeeded him, and the latter was able to steer Lens to the UEFA Intertoto Cup which Lens won and they qualified for the UEFA Cup.

Ticket Price & Options for RC Lens

• Lens Single Match Tickets: These tickets are relatively cheap and are charged according to the section where they are to be used, for fans who attend single matches. They are aimed at catering for all classes of supporters.
• Lens Season Tickets: Season tickets are suitable for the audience who wants to watch all home games in a season and are cheaper than buying match tickets. This option is ideal for those who would want to support RC Lens up to the end of the season that the Ligue 1 competes in.
• Lens Hospitality Packages: These packages provide the customers comfortable and exclusive seating, meals and use of lounges during the matches, giving the customers the feel of the game in the comfort of luxury.
• Lens Family Tickets: These packages are more cheap and families can be able to afford and thus be able to have a day out at the stadium.

Stadium/Venue Information

Stade Bollaert-Delelis

• Stadium: Stade Bollaert-Delelis
• Address: Lens, France
• Location: Lens is the city in the Hauts-de-France region of France
• Coordinates: 50. 4328°N 2. 8150°E
• Capacity: 38,223 after renovation
• Field Size: It is 105 meters long and 68 meters wide (about 344 and 223 feet)
• Surface: Desso GrassMaster
• Opened: June 18 1933
• Renovated: 2014–2015
• Tenants: Currently the club is known as RC Lens (1933-present).

Construction and History

• Opened: 18 June 1933
• Renovated: 2014–2015
• Tenants: Stade Bollaert-Delelis was constructed and RC Lens became the main tenant of this stadium.

Major Sporting Events Hosted

• Ligue 1 matches
• Coupe de France games
• Various European competitions
• Any friendly match, any qualification match

Cheap Lens Tickets

To obtain cheap Lens tickets from the 1BoxOffice website to attend football live at Stade Bollaert-Delelis, it is easy. The tickets are fairly affordable, thus allowing the football lovers to watch Ligue 1 football in France. This way, fans at the stadium will be thrilled when you support your team, thereby making your team’s game at Stade Bollaert-Delelis fulfilling.

By using the 1BoxOffice, people can book tickets for the standard and important matches and be always ready to watch the RC Lens football match.

Stade Bollaert-Delelis

The Stade Bollaert-Delelis (French pronunciation: [stad bɔlaʁt dələlis] is the main football stadium in Lens, France. Constructed in 1933, it is the stadium of RC Lens. The stadium has a seating capacity of 38,223; this is slightly over the city’s population by 7,000 people. First known as Stade Félix Bollaert and initiated in 1931, the latter is in honor of Félix Bollaert a director of Compagnie des Mines de Lens; however, Bollaert died before the stadium’s launch. It was later renamed Stade Bollaert-Delelis in 2012 after the former mayor of Lens and politician who was the Minister of Commerce under François Mitterrand.

History

The stadium has hosted matches in several major international tournaments:The stadium has hosted matches in several major international tournaments:

• 1984 European Championship
• 1998, FIFA World Cup
• Rugby World Cup of 1999
• Rugby World Cup of the year 2007
• 2016 European Championship

Architecture

The stadium is constructed in the English style with four separate stands dedicated respectively to:The stadium is constructed in the English style with four separate stands dedicated respectively to:

• Henri Trannin: Born in Bully-les-Mines, the player of the club for 18 years and the sports director for Lens during 1952-1956. The stand was dedicated on December 4, 1976.
• Élie Delacourt: Ex president of the fans’ group.
• Max Lepagnot: Former president of the district of Artois.

Hitherto September 15, 2018, all the parts of the stadium had been enclosed by seating. However, most supporters in the Marek stand used to stand during games as it is considered the cup and houses the most enthusiastic supporters. Since September 15, 2018, the Marek contains a standing area again, and the lower parts of the Trannin and Delacourt stands since the beginning of the 2022/2023 season. The new seating capacity of the stadium is 38, 223.

Transportation and Accessibility

The stadium is easily accessible via multiple transportation options:The stadium is easily accessible via multiple transportation options:

• Public Transit: Transportation facilities in public domain are improved during matches and the public is advised to avail it.
• Car: There is sufficient parking space available for the people and proper traffic regulation and control make the way to the stadium easy.

Lens Team Information

Lens Football Club Trophies

How to Buy Cheap Lens Tickets

Follow these procedures to obtain your tickets and watch the exciting Lens football club matches at Stade Bollaert-Delelis.

Ticket Options for Lens Matches at Stade Bollaert-Delelis

With these ticket options, fans can choose the best way to enjoy Lens football club matches at Stade Bollaert-Delelis, whether seeking standard seating, premium experiences, or family-friendly packages.

Lens Ticket Price Information 2023/24 Season

Lens ticket prices for the 2023/24 season may vary based on factors such as the opponent, seating category, and match significance. Prices for high-profile games could be subject to increase. It is advisable to purchase tickets early to secure favorable prices and ensure attendance at Stade Bollaert-Delelis for an exciting live football experience.

Essential FAQs About Lens Tickets: Your One-Stop Reference

Memorable Matches of RC Lens

These matches highlight Lens' significant moments and achievements, reflecting their progress and memorable experiences in recent seasons.

RC Lens: French Football Season Review 2023/2024 Ligue 1

The 2023/24 Ligue 1 season demonstrated Lens' ability to compete at the highest level and their desire to succeed in French football, setting the stage for further improvement in subsequent seasons.