Alors les dirigeants avaient pensé agrandir le stade situé à l'ombre de saint guidon. Mais feu le bourgmestre n'était pas trop chaud! Une autre solution avait été avancée: faire jouer le club dans le stade qui devrait un jour à terme s'ériger à Schaerbeek et où l'équipe nationale devrait jouer. Mais voilà, chez les Mauves, la patience n'est pas une vertu! En effet, le projet ne verrait le jour seulement qu'en 2016 or le club bruxellois a besoin de nouvelles infrastructures le plus vite possible (le président VDS a déclaré pour 2012).

Et donc les dirigeants anderlechtois sont retournés voir le bourgmestre de la ville (qui a changé depuis la première fois). Et cette fois, c'est une réponse positive qui aurait été donné de la part des instances communales! Donc la solution serait de rajouter un étage à ce stade et y rajouter 20000 places!

Déjà que je trouvais ce stade moche de l'intérieur, un peu trop à l'étroit mais là... bon mister Roger a aussi déclaré lors de cette conférence: "Si on arrive à celà, je crois qu'il ne faudra pas chercher d'autre solution avant plusieurs années...". Quoi ça veut dire que le stade ne serait même pas définitif???

Ouais ouais... la Coupe du monde en Belgique en 2018 vous dites? Hum espèrons qu'on ait des stades conformes vu que le Roi Baudoin serait aussi désuet...

His life story makes a long and fascinating read (try Purple Dynamite here and UEFA here for starters) and, while he was succeeded as Anderlecht president by his son Roger in 1996, he remained an influential figure behind the scenes at the club.

He will be greatly missed, nowhere more so than at the home of his beloved Anderlecht – the Constant Vanden Stock in Brussels.

We send our deepest sympathy to his family and all our friends at RSC Anderlecht.

Mikke Van Hool is eagerly awaiting the opportunity to expand his operation into the Superleague Formula championship: “I have been very excited about the Superleague Formula concept right from the start and I actually had my first meeting with Robin and Alex nearly two years ago,” Van Hool said.

“When we were asked what clubs we would prefer to work with it was only natural that we would enquire about Anderlecht. Astromega is a Belgian race team and we would be thrilled to run a Belgian football club.

“The Superleague Formula car is going to be tremendously quick. Good horsepower, loads of downforce – it is going to take a driver with a lot of experience and skill to get the most out of this car.

“While we woud love to have a Belgian driver, we will be looking for the best man for the job, whatever his nationality.

“But it is not just the driver aspect, Astromega will be looking to attract the best engineering talent we can to ensure we get the utmost from the Superleague Formula car – we have to – there will be a lot of pressure to perform from the Anderlecht fans and we want to deliver for them.”

By the way, click here to view all the films from our trip to Anderlecht.

Club President, Roger Vanden Stock, General Manager, Herman van Holsbeeck and Superleague Formula President and CEO Alex Andreu (above) did the honours by releasing 1,500 helium balloons into the night sky...

Thanks to all the Anderlecht fans for making us feel so welcome over the last few days... and great to see all your ideas and contributions on the 'driver debate' on your club page.

Next up, FC Basel!!!

By the way, you can read the Anderlecht website's report here, and see all our photos from yesterday here.

Then, next Thursday, we make it a hat trick (following our trips to Rio and Brussels) as we head for Switzerland where we'll be holding a press conference and unveiling of the FC Basel car on Friday at St. Jakob-Park stadium.

That will be followed by us taking the FCB SF car around Basel to see the sights on Sunday morning and later, most importantly, reveal the car to the fans before their home game on Sunday afternoon.

Finally, on Monday week, we'll also be visiting Europa Park (just over the border in Rust, Germany), for a Christmas party organised by FCB, where their sponsors and VIP guests will be present...

Pass the mulled wine!

“We are all excited about the idea [of Superleague Formula],” said RSC Anderlecht General Manager, Herman van Holsbeeck, “and after a long period of preparation, we have now started the countdown to the first race. The unveiling of the Anderlecht car in our stadium to the Belgian press, our sponsors and our fans is a momentous occasion for our club.”

2008 is set to be a very special year to remember for Anderlecht who – in addition to joining the SF championship – will also have another massive reason to celebrate.

“[Next year, we will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the club,” explained President, Roger Vanden Stock (below, right). "We are ambitious in everything we do. The Anderlecht car will be a worthy representative for the Anderlecht fans and the Belgian public.”

Superleague Formula’s Alex Andreu (above left): “Anderlecht will be a very important club for Superleague Formula. With a race on our calendar at Zolder less than 100km away from the club’s home ground, and we are expecting to see a sea of purple and silver fans when the championship comes to Belgium.

“We are looking forward to giving the fans a taste of what to expect on Friday – but when their car is on track with 20 of the other leading clubs from around the world – they will really have something to cheer for.”

Click here for all the photos (so far) of today's Anderlecht SF launch

Club manager, Herman Van Holsbeeck, and captain Olivier Deschacht did the honours (above), with star players including forward Nicolas Frutos, midfielder Lucas Biglia (who was quick to jump in, see below) and goalkeeper Daniel Zitka all on hand to lend their support.

In addition to the unveiling of the club’s Superleague Formula car, the reigning Belgian champions also revealed the identity of the race team that will represent them in the Championship, which begins in August 2008.

Fellow countrymen Team Astromega, run by ex-driver Mikke Van Hool (above with the - very frozen - RSCA Superleague Formula girls) will work with the club to launch a home-grown assault on the SF crown.

Overall, the press conference went really well. There were lots of media in attendance and the unveiling was live on two national TV stations!

More pics and quotes on these exciting development later today…