After more than 20 years of waiting, the Pride of West Flanders has obtained definitive and enforceable planning permission for the construction of its new stadium. The Flemish Council for Planning Appeals has rejected objections raised by a number of local residents against planning permission for a 40,116-capacity stadium at Olympia Park in Bruges, capital of West Flanders.
Club Brugge, one of the leading Belgian football clubs, expects to start construction before the end of this year and hopes to kick off the 2028–2029 season at its new football Valhalla.
Thursday morning, news broke that the Council for Planning Appeals had rejected the appeal against the granting of planning permission for the construction and operation of Club Brugge’s new football stadium.
Plans for a new stadium date back to the start of this millennium. The topflight club’s existing stadium, Jan Breydel, has long been reaching its limits with regard to spectator capacity (29,062 seats), safety of its ageing infrastructure, accessibility, sustainability and available facilities.
A hard slog
Over the past decades, however, Club Brugge has faced various objections from local residents and stakeholders.
The current plan was unveiled in early 2020. The club aims to build a new, modern football stadium with a capacity for 40,116 West Flemish fans to the south-west of the current Jan Breydel Stadium, set within the Olympia Park.
On non-match days, the park will serve as a haunt for neighbourhood residents living in the local Sint-Andries district of Bruges, whilst on match days it will be a safe meeting place for members of the Blue Army, the name Club Brugge fans proudly bear.