History
The club's original stadium Stade Henri Jooris had been demolished in 1975 in order to allow the enlargement of the Canal de la Deûle, a navigable waterway which passes through the city of Lille, and the design for a new stadium was made by Lille architect Pierre-François Delannoyla. Although the club wanted the new stadium to retain the old name Stade Henri Jooris (named after Henri Jooris, former Lille OSC manager), the mayor proposed it to be called Stade Félix Grimonprez after Félix Grimonprez, a former field hockey player who competed in the 1928 Summer Olympics and the 1936 Summer Olympics. This resulted in a compromise solution in which the stadium was hence named Stade Grimonprez-Jooris.
The stadium's original capacity was 25,000 at the time it was opened, but this was reduced to around 17,000 by 2000 due to the evolution of safety standards. In 2000 the stadium was renovated and the capacity was increased to 21,128 (14,534 seated). However, the stadium still failed to meet FIFA licensing regulations and Lille had to play their 2001–02 UEFA Champions League matches at the Stade Félix-Bollaert.
Read more about this topic: Stade Grimonprez-Jooris
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