RSC ANDERLECHT
UEFA Europa Conference League Group B, Lotto Park, Thursday 6 October 2022, 6.45pm CEST (5.45pm BST)
West Ham United head to Belgium for the second successive European campaign this week.
Last November, David Moyes’ side scored a 2-2 draw at Belgian Cup winners Genk on Matchday Four of UEFA Europa League Group H, with Saïd Benrahma scoring two fine goals.
Fast forward eleven months and the Hammers are returning to the land of delicious waffles and chocolate, animated adventurer Tintin and cycling legend Eddie Merckx to face Belgium’s most-successful club, RSC Anderlecht.
Based in the eponymous municipality in the south-western part of the capital city, Brussels, RSCA have won a record 34 titles, nine Belgian Cups and, perhaps more relevantly, a UEFA Cup, two European Cup Winners’ Cups and one UEFA Super Cup.
However, Anderlecht are not the force they once were and qualified for the UEFA Europa Conference League after finishing third in First Division A last season behind champions Club Brugge and a resurgent Union SG, whose manager Felice Mazzù has since moved to Thursday’s opponents and hoping to lead them back to the top of the Belgian game.
Anderlecht play at the 22,500-capacity Constant Vanden Stock Stadium – renamed in honour of the club’s long-time former owner in 2019.
Tickets…
West Ham United's allocation of 1,132 Standard Tickets for this match sold out to Bondholders and Season Ticket Holders with 40+ points.
Accessibility Tickets are available priced at £31 in all age bands. For both Wheelchair Viewing Spaces and Accessible (AEA), tickets are charged at the relevant price band. Please call our Ticket Office team on 0333 030 0174 or email [email protected].
How to get there…
The Eurostar train is the quickest and easiest way to travel between London and Brussels, with services departing St Pancras International station every couple of hours throughout the day on Thursday, arriving at Brussels Midi two hours later.
On Friday, return services in the middle of the day are already close to being sold-out, but you can still secure a place on trains leaving approximately every three hours from Midi, starting with the 08.52.
If you’d rather fly, flights are available leaving London Heathrow on Brussels Airlines (of course!) at 06.50 and 11.05, landing in the Belgian capital at 09.00 and 13.15 respectively. There is also a British Airways option leaving Heathrow at 12.40, landing at 14.55.
For those who would like to take things slowly, ferries cross the English Channel from Dover to Calais (two hours and 20 minutes’ drive to Brussels) and Dunkirk (one hour and 50 minutes’ drive) on the north French coast.
Where to stay…
Unlike Viborg and Silkeborg, the two Danish towns we have visited so far in this season’s UECL, Brussels is a huge city with hundreds of hotels and a myriad of accommodation options.
Just jump online and select the location and budget of your choice.
Area-wise, the city centre offers the most in terms of access to bars, restaurants and tourist attractions centred around the historic La Grand Place.
If you want something a bit different, Ixelles is a diverse and welcoming area with lively late-night bars.
What to do…
As mentioned, La Grand Place (The Large Square) has been Brussels’ market place for over 1,000 and is considered one of the most beautiful historic squares in all of Europe.
Brussels is also home to many notable museums and galleries, including the Musee des Beaux-Arts d'Ixelles, MIM, Musee Constantin Meunier and the wonderfully named Train World!
With plenty of picturesque parks to take a walk in, too, Brussels is a city to enjoy at your own pace, despite its reputation as a busy commercial and political capital.
What’s happened there before…
Our first meeting with Anderlecht was also by far our most high-profile – the 1976 European Cup Winners’ Cup final.
Played in RSCA’s home city of Brussels, but at the then-Heysel Stadium, rather than Anderlecht’s home ground, the Belgian Cup winners proved too strong for the FA Cup holders, running out 4-2 winners in front of a 51,296-strong crowd.
We have faced Anderlecht on two occasions since, but all in friendly matches.
The first was in Gent in August 1982 in the pre-season La Gantoise Cup, where Geoff Pike scored the only goal in a 1-0 win.
The second was at the Boleyn Ground in July 2004, when the two clubs played out a thrilling 4-4 draw in the Out Performance Cup, which the Belgians secured with a 5-4 penalty shootout victory.
