Standard de Liège, the stadium project in Marche-en-Famenne, the progress of the club’s facilities, the synthetic at Parc des Roches: the president of the Union Rochefortoise addresses all the issues.
Nicolas Lhoist, we read and hear a lot of things about a possible takeover of Standard de Liège by you, what exactly is it?
I was surprised to read this article (Editor’s note: an article on the RTBF website) on Friday evening. We talk about the prospects of the Union Rochefortoise and, at the same time, we talk about our family at the Standard. Our last name is associated with every movement at the shareholder level at the Standard. This is because it is a project that we love. I have been a supporter of the Standard since I was six years old, I subscribed to it. Today, unfortunately, I have to disappoint the Standard supporters. The Lhoist family project is in Rochefort, more than ever. We are looking to the future. I would like to officially deny this: no, the Lhoist family will not become a shareholder of Standard, our focus will remain on Rochefort, even if the situation of Standard strongly affects us. I sincerely hope that Standard will find the right solution in the coming weeks.
Are you ever in contact with the directors or former directors of the Standard?
Personally, I have known Bruno Venanzi for several years. I already knew him before he arrived at Standard. Inevitably, at some point, there will be contacts. But between making contacts and positioning yourself on a project like that of Standard, there is a world of difference. Unfortunately, many journalists like this type of rumor, it makes headlines. It’s sad, I didn’t have a very good weekend. Some people in Rochefort feared that we were going to abandon the club, and others in Liège believed that our family was becoming one of the shareholders of Standard.
“A stadium in Marche? It’s the supporters who will decide!”
Let’s come to Union Rochefortoise, a young club, but which will soon have to make an important choice for its first team: either be content to stabilize in Nationale 1 at Parc des Roches in Rochefort, or aim for the professional world in a stadium in Marche-en-Famenne…
We must put the church back in the middle of the village. We will continue to develop the youth center. The academy project in the zoning is underway, the results concerning the impact of this project on bats will be known this summer, we are working hard with the volunteers to submit the request for subsidies to Infrasports. In addition, the indoor court next to the padel is now functional at the Horeca level. Finally, significant amounts will be invested in Parc des Roches, to renovate the business seats and changing rooms, using family money, with a long-term vision. I want to reassure young people and their parents, all this will stay in Rochefort, whatever happens.
Besides that, regarding the first team, we certainly have questions! We have reached a ceiling, it is the D1 ACFF. At Parc des Roches, there are two hundred-year-old trees that cannot be moved. We cannot widen the pitch and we cannot do better in the stands. So, either we keep the club where it is and we are very happy to stay in Rochefort, or we study the possibility of relocating the first team’s field with a view to going as high as possible, in the Challenger Pro League and, why not, in the Pro League, by creating a bigger club in the region. We are therefore faced with this choice today. We want to get supporters, parents and volunteers to vote very soon, during an assembly (Editor’s note: probably at the Rochefort cultural center, by the end of June). We will present the two projects there, people will vote and we will follow the vote! If people prefer to see the project remain only in Rochefort, with no prospect of going higher than D1 ACFF, they will have to understand that we will perhaps revise our sporting ambitions downward. Let’s call a spade a spade: financing a first team costs money! And financing a first team without having any real perspective will make us perhaps wonder whether it is not better to go down a level. So we will present this five-year plan to the supporters and they will have the opportunity to make a choice.
Can you tell us more about this professional stadium project in Marche-en-Famenne, on the karting website, which you purchased?
We are today in an exploratory phase. We met the town of Marche-en-Famenne and the delegated official. As a family, we acquired five hectares along the Nationale 4 where we could develop a multifunctional stadium, which would mean that the first team would be relocated. If this stadium project does not see the light of day, we will develop other hobbies with our family, for example we are active in padel. But I repeat: it is the supporters who will decide!
“A professional stadium in Rochefort is impossible!”
Leaving 100% of the decision to the supporters is rather unusual and rare…
What makes the soul of a club are the supporters. We took over the club in 2018, there were a few dozen supporters at the edge of the pitch. During the D3 title match in 2023 against Habay and during the clash this season against Mons, we welcomed close to 2,000 people. This demonstrates that enthusiasm exists around the project, we must therefore take into account the voice of supporters for the future project of the Union Rochefortoise.
Is it not possible to envisage the construction of a stadium of this scale in the territory of the municipality of Rochefort?
It’s simply impossible. We are of good will, we have met several times with the commune of Rochefort, the Mayor Julien Defaux, the Sports Alderman Christophe Davin, in order to explore the possibilities. A Challenger Pro League stadium must offer a certain capacity. It also includes mobility issues, with the arrival of opposing supporters. Taking this into account, Marche-en-Famenne stands out. In addition, if we want to move up to the Challenger Pro League and, why not, to the Pro League, we must realize that the economic center of the region remains Marche-en-Famenne, there are ten industrial and economic zones in Marche-en -Famenne. But I remind you that, even if we relocate the first team, the B team, the women’s team and the young people will remain on Rochefort territory.
“We hope to open the academy in the zoning in 2026”
Where are we in the synthetic pitch project at Parc des Roches?
We will go to the end! First of all, we should have met with the heritage department of the Walloon Region last May, but the person responsible was ill. The meeting is postponed until the end of June. Before the municipality issues a permit, heritage consent is required. We will not have a synthetic pitch at Parc des Roches for the resumption next August, our first team will play the entire 2024-2025 season in D1 ACFF on the grass pitch at Parc des Roches. We can envisage the start of work in May 2025. We will complete the project. We are convinced that in the medium or long term, benefiting from a synthetic pitch at Parc des Roches, seven days a week, is ideal.
When will the youth academy emerge?
We’ve been working on it for six years. We must stop creating a divide between the club and politics. We work hand in hand with the municipality. It’s not easy every day, it’s a long and energy-consuming procedure. There are permits, criteria to respect, this is the procedure to follow, it takes time, the impact for the bats is being measured. But to answer your question, we hope in 2026 to be able to officially open the academy in the zoning.
