Recently we did a tour in Charleroi and we expected to see a match in the Stade Communal de Marchienne - a game of the B team of ROC de Charleroi-Marchienne. But when we arrived we were surprised to see no-one at all. Fortunately for us we could access the stadium and we found a groundkeeper.
He was kind enough to explain to us that the B team of ROC de Charleroi-Marchienne is actually playing their games in the Complexe Sportif de Marchienne, just a few hunderd meters away from this stadium. We visited the game as well, but it seems it only consists of a synthetic pitch without any grandstands or terraces. We were a bit puzzled who was playing in this stadium then, but it seems it's mostly being used as a training ground for the B team of Olympic Charleroi and a few games of the youth teams.
Doing a tour in Charleroi is very unique. We visited a couple of stadiums and we went from picturesque stadiums and neighbourhoods in the midst of the green to pure industrial decay, representing a generation without hope and a bright future, but still struggling to get out of the grey area. It's in the latter we find this stadium. There is very little information to be found. It looks like it was built in the 70s or 80s, but we could be mistaking here. The grandstand is an eyecatcher on itself, but the real treasures are the overly big terracing and the wonderful Elascon stand, covered in decay. Only a few meters behind the terracing and the Elascon stand the river Samber is flowing and an industrial railway track is passing the stadium.
Definitely worth a visit, but groundhoppers attempting to visit here: don't let yourself be fooled. The Rue Georges Tourneur address is the synthetic pitch and not this lovely stadium. Anyone that has any more information, we are more than interested!
