Our Story
One house, four doors, one standard of welcome.
Stayen is not a collection of businesses that happen to share an address. It is one house, with different doors and one way of welcoming people.
Since 1927
When this ground first shook.
In 1927 it started here with a pitch, a stand and a city that came to shout. Almost a century later, that same ground carries a house that does far more than ninety minutes of football: a hotel, a grand café, an Italian, an outdoor venue, halls, offices and shops.
What connects all those doors is not the building but the tone: warm, self-assured, welcoming without fuss. Refined, but never quiet.
1927
It started here
4+
Houses under one name
1
Standard of welcome
The timeline
From Staaien to Stayen.
Stayen is Sint-Truiden dialect for Staden, an old quarter of the city. Until May 2009 the name was written Staaien. Top clubs have long called it something else: the Hell of Stayen, after the defeats they regularly suffer here. This is how the ground grew.
1927
A pitch on the Tiensesteenweg
On land owned by the Mellaerts sugar factory, arranged by director Alfred Wauters, STVV gets a new ground. In the very first season the club is promoted to the national divisions, and the first standing terrace goes up.
1944
Destroyed, then rebuilt
On 24 August 1944 the stadium is destroyed in an air raid. The city rebuilds: in 1948 a covered stand with 600 seats is added.
1959
Light over Stayen
Two years after the first promotion to the top flight, the first floodlights are inaugurated. Football under the lights becomes a Sint-Truiden tradition.
1966
A record 20,000
In the season STVV finishes runner-up, more than 20,000 spectators pack Staaien for the match against Anderlecht. Still a legendary evening.
2009
From stadium to house
On the street side a new stand rises with a party hall, gym and offices, with a hotel on the corner. In May 2014 the new stadium is fully finished, seating 14,600 spectators.
2023
A global name on the facade
The Japanese company Daio Wasabi Farm acquires the naming rights, the first time a Japanese company names a Belgian stadium. Stayen stays Stayen.
The historical facts in this timeline are based on the Wikipedia article about Stayen stadium, editorially adapted for this site. Check the source for the full and most recent version.
Brand pillars
What we stand on.
Hosted, not served
You are a guest in our house, not a table number. Attention before protocol.
Match-day energy
Even without a game it feels alive here. That tension is in the walls.
Quietly premium
Quality you feel in material, light and timing, never in loud words.
Of this ground
From Sint-Truiden, stubborn and hospitable. This ground shapes who we are.
One wordmark, many doors. Every venue simply signs its own name underneath.