Beerschot AC

Beerschot AC
Full name Koninklijke Beerschot Antwerpen Club
Nickname(s) De Mannekes
Founded 2011
Ground Olympisch Stadion, Antwerp
(Capacity: 12,771)
Chairman Patrick Vanoppen
Manager Jacky Mathijssen
League Belgian Pro League
2010-11

Belgian Pro League, 13th

Group B Europa League Playoff, 3rd
Home colours
Away colours

Koninklijke Beerschot Antwerpen Club (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈkoː.nɪŋk.lə.kə ˈbeːr.sχɔt ˈɑnt.ˌʋɛr.pə(n) ˌklʏp]), simply known as Beerschot AC (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈbeːr.sχɔt ˈaː ˈseː]), is a Belgian football club based in southern Antwerp. They have been playing in the Belgian Pro League since the 1989-90 season. The club was established in 1999 as the result of the merger between K Beerschot VAC and KFC Germinal Ekeren, from which they took over the matricule number and history. Prior to the merger, Germinal Ekeren had been a first division club for 10 years, while 7 times Belgian champion Beerschot was struggling with financial problems in the third division. The club has won 2 Belgian Cups, one as Germinal Ekeren, the other as Germinal Beerschot. Their best league ranking was a 3rd place in 1995-96 and in 1997-98.

With the merger, the club moved from the Veltwijckstadion in the municipality of Ekeren to the Olympisch Stadion in the Kiel neighbourhood in Antwerp. Their outfits mixed the yellow and red of Germinal Ekeren with the purple of Beerschot. Their biggest rival is Royal Antwerp FC. On 17 May 2011, the club changed its name again to Koninklijke Beerschot Antwerpse Club or Beerschot AC. The name change was the result of an internal struggle which split the board of directors which ended with the former Germinal Ekeren board members vacating their position, giving a free path to remove the mention of Germinal [1] in the team's name by the new directors as part of a business plan to restore the former K Beerschot VAC in its former glory.

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History

In 1920 F.C. Germinal Ekeren was founded in the town of Ekeren, a northern suburb of Antwerp. Several years earlier, in 1899, Beerschot was founded at Het Kiel, a southern outskirt of Antwerp, where the 1920 Olympics had been held. It was only in 1942 that Germinal Ekeren finally registered with the Belgian Football Association, on July 30. In 1971, they added the prefix Koninklijk to their name (meaning Royal in Dutch). The team reached the top division in Belgian football in 1989 and finished 13th. They achieved their highest league position of third in 1996 and 1998 and subsequently qualified for the UEFA Cup. However, in 1999, due to the low attendance of supporters and limited expansion possibilities in Ekeren, the club merged with Beerschot who were then playing in the 3rd division and themselves had severe financial problems.

The new team, K.F.C. Germinal Beerschot Antwerpen kept the matricule n°3530 of Ekeren to keep their place in the first division, but retained the stadium of Beerschot, rebuilding it in the process. By keeping the matricule of Ekeren, the honours of Beerschot were considered to be distinct and separate from the new team and the club finally dropped the name Antwerpen in 2003. In 2004 further financial difficulties were experienced and Marc Brys, a Belgian football coach was brought in. He led the team to victory in the Belgian Cup that year, and in doing so secured a place in UEFA Cup for his side. After only 7 matches in the Jupiler League 2005-06 season, he was fired due to bad results (4 points from 21 and a 3-0 defeat against the 18th placed team). The current coach is Glen De Boeck after the previous coach Jos Daerden left to become an assistant coach at Dutch club Twente.

European competitions

The matricule number 3530 played their first European game as KFC Germinal Ekeren in the 1991-92 season against Celtic F.C. of Scotland (losing 2-0 away and drawing 1-1 at home). They qualified for the UEFA Cup in that year following a 5th place finish in the championship. They then had to wait until 1995 and a 6th place finish to qualify for their next European competition (Intertoto Cup). Unfortunately by finishing 2nd in the first round of Group 3 behind FC Aarau of Switzerland, KFC did not qualify for the second round. In 1996-97 they qualified for the UEFA Cup after finishing 3rd in the league. The club was defeated by Grazer AK in the first round.

In 1997-98 they played the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup after a Belgian Cup win. They lost in the second round at the hands of VfB Stuttgart after a win against FK Crvena Zvezda. The next season, they reached the UEFA Cup first preliminary round after a 3rd place, but lost in the second preliminary round against Swiss team Servette FC. In the 2008 Intertoto Cup, they met Neftchi Baku PFC of Azerbaijan in the second round, drawing 1-1 at home but losing 0-1 away to be eliminated from the competition.

Current affiliations

KFC Germinal Beerschot is currently affiliated with Fulham FC, Charlton Athletic and AFC Ajax. Belgian internationals Thomas Vermaelen, Tom De Mul, Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld all began their careers at Germinal Beerschot before being snapped up by the Ajax youth academy as teenagers.

Honours

European record

As of December, 2008.
Competition Appearances Matches played Won Drawn Lost GF GA
Cup Winners' Cup 1 4 2 1 1 8 9
UEFA Cup 4 10 3 4 3 11 12
Intertoto Cup 2 6 2 3 1 11 7
Season Competition Round Club Home Away
1991-92 UEFA Cup 1R Celtic F.C. 1-1 0-2
1995 UEFA Intertoto Cup Group 3 FC Aarau 3-3
HB Torshavn 1-1
Universitatea Cluj 4-1
Tromsø IL 2-0
1996-97 UEFA Cup 1R Grazer AK 3-1 0-2
1997-98 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1R Crvena Zvezda 3-2 1-1
2R Vfb Stuttgart 0-4 4-2
1998-99 UEFA Cup 1QR FK Sarajevo 4-1 0-0
2QR Servette Genève 1-4 2-1
2005-06 UEFA Cup 1R Olympique Marseille 0-0 1-4 (PEN)
2008 UEFA Intertoto Cup 2R PFC Neftchi Baku 1-1 0-1

Current squad

As of September 11, 2011. Source http://www.germinalbeerschot.be/ploegvantstad/

For recent transfers, see List of Belgian football transfers summer 2011.

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 GK Tomislav Pačovski
2 DF Trésor Diowo
3 DF Dries Wuytens
4 DF Gary Kagelmacher (Captain)
5 DF Jón Guðni Fjóluson
6 MF Wim De Decker
7 FW Adnan Čustović
8 FW Sherjill MacDonald
9 FW Roei Dayan
10 FW Ibrahima Sidibe
11 MF Vuza Nyoni
12 MF Johanna Omolo
16 MF Rodrigo Rojas (on loan from Club Libertad)
17 MF Hernán Losada
No. Position Player
19 DF Ilias Sbaa
20 GK Kristof Maes
22 MF Lindani Ntamo
24 FW Guillaume François
25 DF Tomislav Mikulić
27 DF Sive Phekezela
28 FW Conor Laerenbergh
30 GK Stijn Stijnen
31 DF Dor Malul (on loan from Maccabi Tel Aviv)
32 MF Uroš Delić
33 MF Roni Porokara
35 DF Peter Van Der Heyden
37 MF Arnor Angeli (on loan from Standard)

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
16 DF Roy Mauro (on loan at Turnhout)

Former players

Former coaches

External links

References

  1. ^ "Don't say Germinal Beerschot but Koninklijke Beerschot AC" (in dutch). sporza.be. 2011-05-20. http://www.sporza.be/permalink/1.1028600.