Who are yer? LOSC Lille

LOSC Lille, or Lille Olympique Sporting Cub should you want to impress somebody with deep interest in full French football club names, are one of France's Ligue One clubs.

Formed in 1944 through a merger, they won the league back in 1946 and 1954, and the French cup five times.

But from 1955 success has eluded them, and they yo-yoed between first and second division until a resurgence in the 21st Century.

Back in the top flight since 2000, an initial appearance in the Champions League - and even a victory over Manchester United have followed, and after fourth in 2011, Lille have been setting the pace at the top of Ligue 1 in 2010-11.

Could a first title in more than half a century be around the corner?

Where do you come from? Stade Lille Metropole

In an age of spanking new stadiums Stade Lille Metropole is a throwback to the bygone days of European football.

So what does that give you? Pretty, basic facilities in all honesty,  but a dose of character nonetheless. If slighty dodgy grounds is your thing, go soon – the cranes are already building Lille's grand new 50,000 seater showpiece stadium a mile or so away so time to visit the Metropole is running out.

To be fair, the Metropole was always intended to be Lille's temporary home and wasn't exactly built with football in mind. They left the Stade Grimonprez Jooris, their home of 30 years in 2004 with the intention of their former site being redeveloped. But delays intervened, and that project was abandoned with attention moving to building the Grand Stade Lille Metropole, which is due to be completed in 2012 and be used in the Euros in 2016.

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Way in: The Stadium Lille Metropole entrance, with tickets right here.

All this saw Lille pitch up at what is, to all intents and purposes, an athletics stadium. And we all know what that means.. yes, the glory of an athletics track to separate the fans from the players. Put it this way, if Eric Cantona played here he'd need longer legs than a giraffe to express an opinion to an angry fan in the stand.

Holding a modest 18,000, the Metropole is an all seater affair. The two main sides are covered, whilst the relatively shallow ends are open to the northern french elements.

It is on the basic side – hence Lille's forays into the Champions League are moved to the Stade de France in Paris or Stade Felix Bollaert in Lens. A shame, but when has the Champions League ever been interested in football romance (oh, bit of politics there).

The big tick for retro Euro buffs are the old school floodlights .. towering well above the fairly shallow stands.

We're on our way: Getting to the ground

The Stade Lille Metropole is a couple of miles out of central Lille, in the suburb of Villeneuve. That's Villeneuve as in Jacques, of the racing fame, and I'm fairly sure if he had ever lived there he probably doesn't now. Certainly the area between the metro station and the stadium isn't the nicest part of town, the skyline punctured by apartment blocks that have seen better days.

To get there, board a metro on the yellow line and head to Pont de Bois station. It's six stops, or less than 15 minutes, from Gare  Lille Flandres.

Once there you can either hop on a bus. Buses 10 and 41 start from the metro station and go right past the entrance to the stadium, taking all of five minutes traffic permitting. (Bus 10 also runs from Fort du Mons on the red metro line - the journey's a little further, make sure you board it in the direction of Pont de Bois).

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Walk on: The Lille faithful arriving at the ground.

Otherwise you can make the 15 minute walk from Pont de Bois, so here goes. Follow the fans along the footpath directly opposite the station – this cuts through a housing estate. Bear up a slight incline and down, and to the left. Five minutes on this takes you to a main road, look right and you can make out the old school floodlights in the distance. Follow the main road to the roundabout, take a left and the stadium is up on the right.

I made the whole journey from central Lille to turnstile in half an hour. Even an hour before kick off the frequent metro trains aren't exactly packed, many fans choosing to drive and park in the huge car parks near to the ground, causing the inevitable traffic carnage to boot.

Who ate all the pies? Eating and drinking

I read a previous review on a visit to Lille stating there was a lack of places around Stade Lille Metropole for a thirst quenching or culinary pit stop. They weren't wrong.

In the 15 minute walk from station to stadium there was nothing. Not a shop or stall of any type. Not a sausage – literally.

Where on earth the people who live there go to, heaven only knows but it is simply houses and nothing more. Not even anything at the station. And outside the ground – still nothing, not a hot dog stall, drinks van, anything. The only thing outside the turnstiles is the club shop, in a portable building.

There are bars inside the stadium but  unless there are better signs of life in other directions, and there may be but i'm not convinced,  there is nothing, absolutely nothing, to detain you in the immediate vicinity. Don't rock up here three hours before kick off, it's just not worth it.

Bag a seat: Buying a ticket

Tickets are available on the club website, and although prices jump around according to the fixture they are on the reasonable side, perhaps taking into account it's hardly the world's most modern stadium and possibly not the greatest views.

So go online. Be warned though, they do sell out if Lille are doing well so dive in early. http://www.losc.fr/?r=0,7,1

If you're in town and want to buy a ticket, pitch up at the club shop at 68 Rue de Bethune, close to Place de la Republique, where you can lay your hands on one. It's shut Sundays, so the stadium is your option then. You can also try FNAC store in Rue St Nicholas, which has an events tickets desk at one end.

Grab a souvenir: Stores

The club shop at the ground is a fairly modest affair but sells the usual merchandise.

A pretty identical range, possibly more, is there for you at LOSC shop in the city centre close at 68 Rue de Bethune, close to Place de la Republique. It's open 2pm to 7pm on Mondays, 10am to 7pm Tuesdays to Saturdays, but closed Sundays.

Lots of LOSC stuff: The city centre club shop.