Den Dreef, also known as
King Power
The King Power International Group () is a Thai travel retail group, based in Bangkok. The chairman and CEO was Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha until his death in October 2018. He was succeeded as chairman by his son, Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha.
King P ...
at Den Dreef for sponsorship reasons, is a
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
stadium
A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...
situated on Kardinaal Mercierlaan in the
Heverlee
Heverlee () is a sub-municipality of the city of Leuven located in the province of Flemish Brabant, Flemish Region, Belgium. It was a separate municipality until 1977. On 1 January 1977, it was merged into Leuven. According to the official websit ...
suburb of
Leuven
Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipalit ...
in
Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
. It is home to
Jupiler Pro League
The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023� ...
football team
Oud-Heverlee Leuven
Oud-Heverlee Leuven (), also called OH Leuven or OHL, is a Belgian professional football club from the city of Leuven. It was created in 2002 from the merger of three clubs, '' F.C. Zwarte Duivels Oud-Heverlee'', whose registration number it i ...
and hosts the home matches of the
Belgium women's national football team
The Belgium women's national football team, nicknamed the Belgian Red Flames, represents Belgium in international women's football. It is controlled by the Royal Belgian Football Association, the governing body for football in Belgium. Their home ...
and the
Belgium national under-21 football team
The Belgium national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Belgium and is controlled by the Belgian Football Association. The team competes in the European Under-21 Football Championship, held every two years. Their ...
. The entrance for visiting spectators is on Tervuursevest.
Extensions
With the establishment of
Oud-Heverlee Leuven
Oud-Heverlee Leuven (), also called OH Leuven or OHL, is a Belgian professional football club from the city of Leuven. It was created in 2002 from the merger of three clubs, '' F.C. Zwarte Duivels Oud-Heverlee'', whose registration number it i ...
in 2002, the stadium changed its name from Leuvens Sportcentrum to Den Dreef. At that point the stadium had a
track and field
Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...
layout, with the pitch surrounded by
tartan track
Tartan track is a trademarked all-weather synthetic track surfacing made of polyurethane used for track and field competitions, manufactured by 3M. The original production was in 1967, and the product was later reformulated to eliminate the u ...
running lanes. There was one main stand with seats approximately two-thirds of the length of the pitch and a smaller stand with covered standing terracing on the opposite side. Both of these were covered, whereas in both curves the standing places were not covered. The initial layout was such that visiting teams used the north curve and received a part of the smaller stand.
A first extension came when the curves were demolished and new covered single tier stands were built on top of the track behind both goals, which allowed the supporters to sit much closer to the field. The one behind the goal to the west is normally reserved for visiting supporters.
In the summer of 2011 the lower tier of the main stand was extended to run the whole length of the pitch, increasing the capacity of the stadium to 8,519 in preparation for the larger attendances expected following Oud-Heverlee Leuven's promotion to the Belgian Pro League in season 2010-11. In the summer of 2012 the upper tier of the main stand was also extended, further increasing the stadium capacity to 9,493 and adding extra space to its corporate entertainment and conference facilities.
In December 2015 the stand opposite the main stand was demolished and replaced with a similar stand as the main stand. This new stand has been in use since the 2016-17 season and contains skyboxes, media facilities and the dressing rooms which were previously located in a separate building some 20 meters outside of the stadium. The capacity has increased further to 10,020. At this point the stadium no longer had places reserved for standing, but both smaller stands behind the goals are typically used by supporters that stand rather than sit.
OH Leuven has announced further plans to expand the stadium, stating that the expansion in 2016 was just phase one of a three phase expansion plan.
Phase two will involve expanding the smaller stand behind the west side goal and connecting it to the main stand, increasing the capacity to 11,000. During the third phase the smaller stand on the east side will be expanded by adding again 1,000 places for standing and connecting the stand to the two stands along the long sides of the pitch. The total capacity will increase to somewhere between 12,000 and 13,000.
Belgium national football team matches
Statistics
Top-scorers:
Michy Batshuayi
Michy Batshuayi-Atunga (born 2 October 1993) is a Belgian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt and the Belgium national football team, Belgium ...
&
Romelu Lukaku
Romelu Lukaku Bolingoli (; born 13 May 1993) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for club SSC Napoli, Napoli and the Belgium national football team, Belgium national team.
Lukaku began h ...
(3 goals each)
References
External links
Stadion info and images Ohleuven.com club website. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
{{Belgian First Division A venues
Football venues in Flanders
Buildings and structures in Flemish Brabant
Sport in Flemish Brabant
Buildings and structures in Leuven
Oud-Heverlee Leuven