Royal Antwerp F.C.

Royal Antwerp

Full name

Royal Antwerp Football Club

Nickname(s)

The Great Old

Founded

1880

Ground

Broodstraat (1908–1923)
Bosuilstadion (1923– )
Antwerp, Belgium

Capacity

12,975

Chairman

Jan Michel

Manager

László Bölöni

League

Belgian First Division A

2016–17

Belgian First Division B, 3rd promoted

Website

Club website

Home colours

Away colours

Third colours

Royal Antwerp Football Club, often simply referred to as Antwerp, is a Belgian football club based in the city of Antwerp.

Founded around 1880 as Antwerp Athletic Club by English students residing in Antwerp, 15 years prior to the creation of the Royal Belgian Football Association, Antwerp is regarded as the oldest club in Belgium. At first there was no organised football played by its members, until 1887 when the football division was founded with an own board, named Antwerp Football Club. Being the oldest active club at the time, it was the first club to register to the Association in 1895. Consequently, when matriculation numbers were introduced in 1926, the club received matriculate number one.^[1]^[2]

History

In 1900, most of the players left the club for the new neighbouring club of K. Beerschot V.A.C., and this was the start of a long rivalry between both clubs. Royal Antwerp have won four Belgian league titles so far, as well as two Belgian Cups. The club is also the latest Belgian team to have reached a UEFA competition final, the 1993 European Cup Winners' Cup Final, where they lost 3–1 against Parma at Wembley Stadium. They have been playing in the Belgian Second Division since 2004–05. Royal Antwerp play their home matches at the Bosuilstadion since 1923.^[3] Royal Antwerp colours are red and white.

Royal Antwerp have a long-term partnership with the English giants Manchester United, often taking their young players on loan so that their development can be aided with first team football, and young players who require European work-permits can benefit from Belgium's more relaxed laws.^[4] An example is Dong Fangzhuo, who was unable to play for United, immediately due to work permit problems and was loaned to allow him to gain first team experience.

Despite being one of Belgium's best-supported clubs, Antwerp have been under-achievers for several years. They have not won a league title since 1957, and have spent several seasons in the second division. They were last promoted to the top flight in 2000, only to be relegated in short order in 2004. They returned to the first division after 13 years in 2017.

Meuse/Scheldt Cup

The best football (soccer) players of Antwerp and Rotterdam contested a yearly match between 1909 and 1959 for the Meuse- and Scheldt Cup (Maas- en Schelde Beker). It was agreed to play the game at stadium De Bosuil [ Royal Antwerp Football Club ] in Antwerp [Belgium] and at stadium Het Kasteel [ Sparta Rotterdam ] in Rotterdam [Holland]. The cup was provided in 1909 by P. Havenith from Antwerp and Kees van Hasselt from Rotterdam.

Honours

National

Belgian First Division

Champions (4): 1928–29, 1930–31, 1943–44, 1956–57

Belgian Second Division

Champions (1): 1999–2000

Belgian Cup

Champions (2): 1954–55, 1991–92

International

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup

Runners-up (1): 1992–93

Current squad

Updated 28 July, 2017.

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

No.	Position	Player
1	GK	Sinan Bolat
3	DF	Maxime Biset
4	DF	Steve Colpaert
5	DF	Jannes Vansteenkiste
6	DF	Isaac Koné
7	MF	Reda Jaadi
8	FW	Ivo Rodrigues
9	MF	Stallone Limbombe
10	MF	Fabien Camus
11	MF	Joeri Dequevy
12	GK	Antonijo Ježina
15	DF	Dino Arslanagic
17	MF	Mamoutou N'Diaye

No.	Position	Player
18	FW	Björn Vleminckx
19	FW	William Owusu
20	MF	Geoffry Hairemans
21	DF	Dylan Batubinsika
23	DF	Frédéric Duplus
25	DF	Alexander Corryn
38	MF	Faris Haroun
43	FW	Zotsara Randriambololona
55	MF	Tuur Dierckx
58	FW	Obbi Oularé
89	GK	Kevin Debaty
	DF	Moustapha Bayal Sall
	DF	Matheus

References

↑ "125 years football history". rafc.be. Retrieved February 7, 2011.
↑ "Wist je dat: de KBVB stamnummers uitvond?". voetbalkrant.com. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
↑ "Stadiums & Pitches". rafc.be. Retrieved February 7, 2011.
↑ "Manchester United's Royal Antwerp Loanees". Five Cantonas. Retrieved March 24, 2011.

External links

Official website

Belgian First Division A

Seasons

Championship Cup (1895–1904)	1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04
First Division (1904–1926)	1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26
Division of Honour (1926–1952)	1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52
First Division (1952–1993)	1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93
Belgian League (1993–2008)	1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08
Belgian Pro League (2008–2016)	2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16
Belgian First Division A (2016–present)	2016–17 2017–18

Clubs

2017–18 teams

Former

Active

Defunct

Statistics and awards

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