RC Lens launches this Tuesday a crowdfunding operation addressed to all. The artesian club had been thinking for several months about the development of popular shareholding. Before allowing, why not, in the near future, his supporters to integrate a tiny percentage of the capital of the stadium under emphyteutic lease until 2052, he proposes a commemorative formula to celebrate the 90 years of Bollaert-Delelis, which will have take place on June 18.
This Tuesday, the general public (excluding legal persons and companies) is invited to buy one or more plaques (8 cm high by 22 cm wide) affixed to the grids of each stand (Lepagnot, Marek-Xercès, Delacourt , Trannin) within the limits of available quantities. Each numbered plaque can be physically read by spectators. It will include the name and first name of the donor, but also a personal message of 62 characters (department number) in connection with the enclosure or the club, as well as a date which is also unique.
This operation was carried out after consultation with blood and gold supporters. It is titled “In the names of Bollaert” and aims to materialize club membership. It will last the next three months before a possible new campaign, in ten years, for the hundred years of the stadium.
Two formulas are proposed: a plate designed in an ultra-resistant material with a duration of ten years at 90 euros; or a second, for life, for 190.60 euros, a nod to RC Lens founded in 1906. These plates will be listed in order of order, behind the first two, numbered 1 and 2, the only ones reserved and free .
The money raised must be used to develop a festive area
The first will be called “Felix Bollaert”, named after the director of the Compagnie des Mines (1855-1936) which gave its name to the stadium. The second will bear the name of the former Deputy-Mayor of Lens (1966-1998) André Delelis, former Minister of Trade and Crafts (1981-1983), whose surname was added to that of Bollaert on his death, at the age of 88, in September 2012.
The plate of a player or a leader can therefore be found next to that of a lambda supporter. The money collected thanks to this crowdfunding must be used to develop a festive area on the interior squares of the various stands, pending other future projects (giant screens).
The club imagines places to eat, refreshments or other activities. The idea is to allow its public to find its way there several hours before the meetings. The plaques will be installed during the summer of 2023 and will be visible during the first game of the 2023-2024 season.