On Thursday afternoon, Union Saint-Gilloise will be looking to clinch their second trophy in as many years when the team takes on city rivals Anderlecht in the Belgian Cup final.
Fans of the Belgian champions will be in familiar surroundings at the King Baudouin Stadium. The 50,000-seater in Heysel hosted their matches while the Stade Joseph-Marien, their home of over a century, underwent renovations between 2016 and 2018.
The Unionistes also played their Europa League home fixtures at the national team stadium last season, with their home ground not compliant with UEFA stadium regulations. This season, the club has played all of its Champions League matches away from home, making the short trip to Anderlecht's Lotto Park stadium when European opponents came to town.
Since 2019, the club has been looking to build a new stadium that would notably allow them to host their own European matches. The Parc du Bempt, located in the south of the municipality of Forest, was identified as the potential location for a new 16,000-seater stadium.
To get permission to start work, though, the club has faced a number of hurdles. A construction permit is yet to be granted, while the plans to build on the park have prompted several legal challenges from environmental organisations.
The project nevertheless took another step forward last Monday, however, with the opening of a public enquiry, as BX1 initially reported.
Union's Stade Joseph Marien (inside the Parc Duden) during a match against Genk, Saturday 03 May 2025 in Brussels. Credit: Belga
'Full support' from new Brussels government
In its 2026-2029 Regional Policy Declaration (DPR), the new regional Brussels Government expressed its "full support to Royale Union Saint-Gilloise in their plans to build a new stadium on the Bempt site in Forest."
Two weeks ago, the newly-appointed Brussels State Secretary, Audrey Henry (MR), posted a video on her social media channels in which she reiterated the authorities' support for the project. "Union Saint-Gilloise deserves a stadium worthy of its achievements," she declared, reacting to the approval of the project by Urban Brussels.
The government agency's go-ahead means that the club can now move forward with its application for a construction permit. Once both the construction and environmental permits are awarded, the public enquiry is complete, and an agreement is reached over the sale over the land, construction can begin on the Bempt site.
"We feel as though we've done a good job."
An Union Saint-Gilloise official told The Brussels Times that the club was "confident" over the outcome of the public enquiry. "We have stepped up dialogue with the authorities as well as with professionals from all subjects this project covers."
"We really feel as though we've done a good job. We've taken into account all of the issues which were expressed to us by a wide variety of stakeholders, including local clubs, local authorities, and experts on water management, mobility, and sound pollution."
Environmental permit remains a sticking point
Earlier this year, an appeal over the club's application for an environmental exemption (the initial stage towards getting an environmental permit) was rejected by the city authorities.
As part of the exemption granted by Bruxelles Environnement, the Unionistes were notably told to include nesting boxes and hedgehog shelters in their stadium plans in order to maintain the area's biodiversity.
The club's battle for an environmental permit is not settled, though. The organisations who contested the application still have the possibility of filing an appeal to Belgium's Council of State, BX1 has pointed out.
One of these organisations, We Are Nature, notably claimed that the project would lead to the "destruction of species and their habitat" within the park. Responding to The Brussels Times, We Are Nature confirmed that they were now considering their next steps in order to file another appeal "in the most efficient way possible."
Union Saint-Gilloise, meanwhile, indicated that they were focusing on the public enquiry rather than anticipating further appeals. "The permit hasn't been granted yet. If it is granted and there are appeals, the we will see how things shape up at that point, but in any case we are confident."
"We're taking it one match at a time. We'll see what comments come out of the public enquiry first, and we'll respond to those."
