Early history Until shortly after the
First World War, the home games of
Royal Sporting Club Anderlecht were played on a football pitch in the /. In 1917, R.S.C. Anderlecht installed, on the border of Meir Park (later renamed
Astrid Park), a new stadium with only one wooden stand. In 1918, the complex was named the
Émile Versé Stadium (, ), after the industrialist Émile Versé, who was also the club's first president. On September 20, 1980, 38,349 viewers attended a game against
Standard Liège at the Versé Stadium, the largest number of spectators to attend a match at the stadium ever. The 1980s were marked by several phases of modernisation. Between 1983 and 1991, the stadium was completely rebuilt and renamed the
Constant Vanden Stock Stadium (, ), after the club's then-chairman,
Constant Vanden Stock.
21st century In the summer of 2012, R.S.C. Anderlecht carried out work to bring the stadium up to
UEFA standards. Its capacity was thus decreased to 21,500 seats but it offers more comfort, more security, as well as new VIP areas and a brand new press room. All seats in the stadium are now equipped with a backrest. The aisles have been widened by for safety reasons, rail seats for
safe standing were fitted on the terracing behind each goal, while stand 1 is now equipped with 651 outdoor VIP seats. During European competitions, the stadium is all-seated, which decreases its capacity even more. In 2010, the son of Constant Vanden Stock,
Roger, announced together with RSC Anderlecht's manager Herman Van Holsbeeck that the club was going to build a third ring above the two existing ones in order to increase the stadium's capacity to accommodate 30,000 spectators. The plans were put on hold when in 2014, Anderlecht agreed to become anchor tenant of the planned 60,000+
new national stadium in Brussels. After Anderlecht withdrew from the project, the plans for an expansion of its own stadium were eventually also shelved in 2022, due to financial and political reasons. In 2019, the stadium was officially rebranded as the
Lotto Park, for sponsorship reasons. ==Location and features==