RC Lens v West Ham United
Pre-Season Match, Stade Bollaert-Delelis, Saturday 30 July, 6.15pm CEST (5.15pm BST)
West Ham United complete pre-season preparations for another summer with a trip across the English Channel to northern France on Saturday evening.
There, David Moyes' Hammers will take on a Lens side who enjoyed a fine 2021/22 season, finishing seventh in Ligue 1 above the likes of champions Lille and West Ham’s UEFA Europa League quarter-final opponents Olympique Lyonnais.
The 38,000-capacity Stade Bollaert-Delelis will play host to the fixture, which will kick-off at 6.15pm local time (5.15pm in the UK), with around 1,000 West Ham fans officially expected to be in attendance.
The game will be streamed live for Hammers supporters who do not make the trip to the city known best for being a hub of France's coal mining industry.
Tickets…
West Ham United have been allocated 1,000 unreserved seating tickets for Saturday’s game, priced at £20 each. These are on general sale now. To secure your ticket, click here or call 0333 030 1966.
Wheelchair and Accessible (AEA) tickets are available priced at £20 each. Please call our Ticket Office team on 0333 030 0174 or email [email protected]. Personal Assistants are issued free of charge.
Supporters will receive an email with information of where and when to collect tickets on matchday.
How To Follow…
Saturday's match will be streamed live on whufc.com and our Official App (UK and Ireland only). You can follow the action via our live blog on whufc.com and our app and across our social media channels. We will also have highlights and reaction for you after the final whistle.
Travel...
There are a number of ways to get to northern France from England.
The easiest way via public transport would usually be to take the Eurostar. However, all Eurostar trains heading from London St Pancras to Lille Europe on Friday and Saturday have sold out.
The same is true of Eurotunnel services from Folkstone to Calais, so your only remaining option would be to go by ferry from one of the south coast ports. Check online with the various ferry companies to see what is still available.
If you have already sourced your travel to France and are driving, the stadium address for your sat nav is Avenue Alfred Maës, 62300 Lens.
Stade Bollaert-Delelis is located in a residential area just north-west of Lens’ small city centre, about 15 minutes' walk from the central railway station (Gare de Lens). Come out of the station, turn left along Urbain Cassan, cross Avenue Alfred Maes, then turn right onto Rue Maurice Carton through the car park and the stadium will appear on your left.
If you are travelling by Eurostar to Lille, Lens is situated south west of the city and the train journey takes around 45 minutes.
Matchday Information...
Away supporters will be situated in the Trannin stand.
Click here to read our detailed Over Land and Sea guide for travelling supporters.
Team News...
New signing Gianluca Scamacca could make his West Ham United 'debut' at RC Lens after completing his move to east London on Tuesday evening. However, it remains to be seen if the Italian will be involved.
David Moyes will definitely be without summer signing Nayef Aguerd, who suffered an ankle injury in the pre-season match at Rangers.
Opposition…
RC Lens were formed in 1906. They were crowned champions of France in 1997/98, have finished as runners-up in Ligue 1 on four other occasions, reached three French Cup finals and won the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 2005 and 2007.
Coached by former Rouen, Laval and Anger midfielder Franck Haise, Lens won promotion back to Ligue 1 in 2020 and enjoyed a fine 2021/22 season, finishing seventh in the table ahead of the likes of Olympique Lyonnais, Nantes and defending champions Lille and only missing out on European qualification by four points.
Haise has made a number of summer signings, including Nottingham Forest's EFL Championship Play-Off penalty shootout hero goalkeeper Brice Samba, Belgium international striker Loïs Openda, who has enjoyed two productive seasons with Dutch club Vitesse, and Poland forward Adam Buksa, who has done likewise at MLS side New England Revolution.
Lens' home ground, Stade Bollaert-Delelis, was used for UEFA Euro 1984, the 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2016, as well as the 1999 and 2007 Rugby World Cups.
Previous Meetings...
We have been to Lens once previously - in May 1936.
The friendly match was played at the end of a post-season tour of Switzerland and France and ended in a 3-2 win for the French club.
West Ham's squad visited First World War cemeteries at Cabaret Rouge (British casualties), Notre Dame de Lorette (French) and Vimy Ridge (Canadian) and toured the memorial trenches at the latter. The players also toured a colliery, but declined an invitation to go down the pit.
The players headed from their tour to Lens and the original Stade Bollaert-Delelis, where they were beaten despite two goals scored by Scottish striker Peter Simpson.
