We have seen it before (in a video), but since it's so beautiful - here it is again. The forgotten third ring of the Stade du Pays de Charleroi has all of a sudden received more visitors the past few weeks. For a minute it thought it was back in the old glory days of the European Championship 2000 in Belgium and The Netherlands.
Once glorious, but now in serious decay. The stand had received a second life next to the velodrome of Charleroi. That was built brand new in the same year of the European Championship. Cyclists and cycle fans couldn't have dreamt for a better stand to use. But it seemed the love for cycling isn't as it used to be in Charleroi. Throughout the years less and less people came by and less and less events were organised. The past few years there was no activity at all and the stand is now the only witness of the beautiful view over the valley.
And it gets worse. The stand is being taunted. On the backside there is a football stadium, which has recently been foreseen with an artificial pitch. Right now it's still the official B stadium of the football team of Gilly, but there seem to be plans to switch around the A and B stadium. That would mean the small terraced stand of RFC Gilly would receive more visitors than the great one of Charleroi. Wouldn't it almost be better to turn the stand to the other side?
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