BELGIUM: SR Namur Sports (1931-1941) / UR Namur (1941-1989, 1996-2001) / RFC Namur (1989-1996)

Stade Michel Soulier "Stade des Champs-Elysées", Namur = Namen (formerly Namur Sports / Union Royale Namur / Royal Football Club Namur)

Belgium, province: Namur = Namen

July 2011 & April 2022 / no match visited

Note 1: Namur Sports, founded in 1920 as a merger between Red Star Namur, Excelsior Sporting Club, and Union Sportive Jamboise, was attributed matricule 156 when the Belgian Football Association introduced the matricule system in 1926. The club played its football in Jambes, but moved to the northern banks of the Meuse in 1931, where its new Stade des Champs-Elysées was inaugurated in August 1931. In 1933, the club obtained the royal epithet, thus becoming Société Royale (SR) Namur Sports. SR Namur Sports concluded a merger with R Wallonia Association (RWA) Namur in 1941, becoming Union Royale (UR) Namur; all activities moved to the Stade des Champs-Elysées, while at RWA Namur's Stade Communal des Bas-Prés, a new club, confusingly also called Wallonia Association Namur, saw the daylight. In 1977, UR Namur's ground was renamed Stade Michel Soulier following the sudden death (due to a heart-attack) of Namur player Michel Soulier in a cup match against RSC Anderlecht that year. In 1989, UR Namur merged with RES Jamboise, forming RFC Namur - with first team football being played at the Stade Soulier; after seven years, in 1996, the old name UR Namur was reinstated. Finally, in 2001, the club was forced to abandon the stadium due to the local hospital, situated right next to the ground, needing the premises for their car park. Subsequently, UR Namur played at Jambes' Stade ADEPS for one season (2001-02) before absorbing WA Namur's successor club Racing Wallonia Saint-Servais and moving into a modernised Stade Communal des Bas-Prés in Salzinnes. Even though the Stade Michel Soulier was replaced by a parking lot, the stadium (capacity 5,000) was not demolished completely; the terracing opposite the main stand has survived until the present day.

Note 2: Below, a compilation of photos of two different visits, both after the demolition of the ground in 2001: pictures 1-6 = July 2011 (ticket booths still present, terracing not yet overgrown) / pictures 7-10 = April 2022. Also note that the Friterie du Stade at the entrance of the ground (photo 1) has been replaced by a café called Champs-Elysées (photo 10).

All photos: (c) W.B. Tukker / www.extremefootballtourism.blogspot.com. Publication of any of these images only after permission of author