R.S.C. Anderlecht

Royal Sporting Club Anderlecht, usually known as Anderlecht (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɑndərlɛxt], French: [ɑ̃dəʁlɛkt], German: [ˈandɐlɛçt]) or RSCA (Dutch: [ˌɛrɛseːˈjaː, -seːˈʔaː], French: [ɛʁɛsse.ɑ], German: [ˌɛɐ̯ʔɛs.tseːˈʔaː]), is a Belgian professional football club based in Anderlecht, Brussels Capital-Region. Anderlecht plays in the Belgian First Division A and is the most successful Belgian football team in European competitions, with five trophies, as well as in the Belgian domestic league, with 34 championship wins. They have also won nine Belgian Cups and hold the record for most consecutive Belgian championship titles, winning five between the 1963–64 and 1967–68 seasons.

This article is about the men's football team. For the women's football team, see RSC Anderlecht (women). For the racing team, see R.S.C. Anderlecht (Superleague Formula team).

Anderlecht
Full nameRoyal Sporting Club Anderlecht
Nickname(s)Purple & White, Sporting
(Dutch: Paars-wit;
French: Les Mauves et Blancs)
Short nameR.S.C.A.
Founded27 May 1908 (1908-05-27) (creation)
1909 (registration)
GroundLotto Park
Anderlecht, Brussels Capital-Region
Capacity22,500[1]
ChairmanMarc Coucke
ManagerVincent Kompany
Head coachFranky Vercauteren
LeagueBelgian First Division A
2019–20Belgian First Division A, 8th
WebsiteClub website

Founded in 1908, the club first reached the highest level in Belgian football in 1921–22 and have been playing in the first division continuously since 1935–36 and in Europe since 1964–65. They won their first major trophy after World War II with a championship win in 1946–47. Since then, they have never finished outside the top six of the Belgian first division. They are ranked 14th amongst all-time UEFA club competition winners, tenth in the International Federation of Football History & Statistics continental Clubs of the 20th Century European ranking and were 41st in the 2012 UEFA team rankings.[2] In 1986, they achieved their best UEFA ranking with a joint first place with Juventus.[3]

Anderlecht have been playing their matches in the Astrid Park in the municipality of Anderlecht since 1917. Their current stadium, Constant Vanden Stock Stadium, was first opened in 1983, and replaced the former Emile Versé Stadium. They play in purple and white outfits. They have long-standing rivalries with Club Brugge and Standard Liège.

History
Main article: History of R.S.C. Anderlecht
See also: List of R.S.C. Anderlecht seasons

Founded as Sporting Club Anderlechtois on 27 May 1908 by a dozen football lovers at the Concordia café (located in the Rue d'Aumale/Aumalestraat in the municipality of Anderlecht), the club beat Institut Saint-Georges in their first match, 11–8.[4] They joined the official competition in 1909–10, starting at the lowest level in the Belgian football league system, then the third provincial division. In 1912–13, they gained promotion to the second-higher level of football, then named the Promotion. After only one season at that level, the championships were suspended due to World War I, and resumed in 1919–20. With the popularity of the team increasing, Anderlecht had moved to a new stadium in the Astrid Park in 1917 (then known as Meir Park). They baptized the stadium Stade Emile Versé in honor of the club's first major patron, the industrialist Emile Versé.

At the end of the 1920–21 season, Anderlecht were promoted to the first division for the first time in their history. In the next 14 seasons, Anderlecht were relegated four times (1923, 1926, 1928 and 1931) and promoted four times (1924, 1927, 1929, 1935), earning themselves the mockery of local rival clubs Union Saint-Gilloise and Daring Club de Bruxelles, who nicknamed them the "lift club". In 1933, 25 years after their formation, the club changed their name to Royal Sporting Club Anderlechtois. Since their promotion in 1935, Anderlecht has remained at the top level of football. With Jef Mermans, a striker signed from K Tubantia FC in 1942 for a record fee of 125,000 Belgian francs, Anderlecht won their first league title in 1947. Their success increased in the following years as they won six more titles between 1949–50 and 1955–56 (winning three consecutive titles twice) and two more in 1958–59 and 1961–62. In the 1960s, under the coaching of Pierre Sinibaldi and then of Andreas Beres, the club even won five titles in a row (from 1963–64 to 1967–68), which is still a Belgian league record. The star of this team was Paul Van Himst, topscorer in 1965, 1967 and 1969 and Belgian Golden Shoe winner in 1960, 1961, 1965 and 1974.

Anderlecht played in the first European Champion Clubs' Cup in 1955–56, and lost both legs of their tie against Vörös Lobogo. They had to wait until the 1962–63 season to win their first European tie, with a 1–0 victory over Real Madrid, which followed a 3–3 draw in Spain. For the first time, they advanced to the second round, where they beat CSKA Sofia before losing to Dundee in the quarter-finals. In the 1969–70 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, Anderlecht lost in the final against Arsenal. Between 1975 and 1984, Anderlecht only won one championship but they achieved considerable European success: they won the 1975–76 and 1977–78 European Cup Winners' Cups against West Ham United and Austria Wien respectively, as well as the two subsequent European Super Cups.

The 1982–83 season was a noteworthy season for the club for numerous reasons: former Anderlecht favourite Paul Van Himst was named the new coach, they won the 1982–83 UEFA Cup and the rebuilding of the club stadium began. But in the domestic league, Anderlecht had to settle for second place behind Standard. Their bid to retain the UEFA Cup in 1983–84 failed at the final hurdle against English side Tottenham Hotspur. Anderlecht reached the final controversially by beating another English side, Nottingham Forest, with a debatable extra time penalty to win 3–2 on aggregate. It was later found Anderlecht had bribed the referee the equivalent of £27,000 to ensure passage to the final.[5]

After three-second-place finishes in a row, the Purple and Whites secured an easy 18th title in 1984–85, 11 points ahead of Club Brugge. In 1985–86, Anderlecht won the championship again, but this time after a two-legged play-off against Club Brugge. Anderlecht won their 20th championship on the last matchday of the 1986–87 season. They then lost key players Franky Vercauteren, Enzo Scifo (transferred in the summer of 1987) and Juan Lozano (heavily injured in a game at KSV Waregem a few months earlier).[6] A weakened team coached by Raymond Goethals finished only fourth in 1988 behind Club Brugge, KV Mechelen and Royal Antwerp, but they nonetheless managed to lift the Belgian Cup for the sixth time in club history after a 2–0 victory over Standard Liège, with goals by Luc Nilis and Eddie Krnčević. The next year, Anderlecht retained the trophy with goals by Eddie Krncevic and Milan Janković (again with a 2–0 win over Standard), but finished second in the championship. After his second cup win, Goethals left for Bordeaux in the French Ligue 1.

During the 1990s, Anderlecht reached one more European final, the 1990 European Cup Winners' Cup Final, which they lost to Italian club Sampdoria. The club then declined in European competitions, with the 1990–91 and 1996–97 UEFA Cup quarter-finals their best results. In national competition, they won four championship titles and a cup. During the 2000s, Anderlecht secured five more Belgian champion titles, reaching a total of 29 titles in 2007, in addition to one more cup victory. In the 2000–01 UEFA Champions League, they qualified for the first time to the second round, then another group stage, where they finished third in their group behind Real Madrid and Leeds United.

In 2009–10, the Purple and Whites won their 30th Belgian league title, while in the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League, Anderlecht made history by becoming the first Belgian team to finish the group stage of a European competition with the maximum number of points, dominating group opposition Lokomotiv Moscow, Sturm Graz and AEK Athens. They were also the only team of that year's Europa League to achieve this feat. On 6 May 2012, Anderlecht won their 31st Belgian championship,[7] while on 22 July, they won their tenth Belgian Super Cup.[8]

Colours and badge

Anderlecht colours are purple and white, and the club's home kit is generally purple with white trim, though they did wear a black and purple home kit in the 2005–06 season, and a grey in the 2007–08 season. In the beginning, purple was the main colour of the shirts. The motto of Anderlecht ("Mens sana in corpore sano") is written on its badge as are the three letters "SCA", referring to the initial name of the club (Sporting Club Anderlechtois). A crown was added in 1933 following the name change to Royal Sporting Club Anderlechtois. Anderlecht's colours inspired those of Al Ain FC in the United Arab Emirates.

Stadium
Constant Vanden Stock Stadium

Anderlecht play their home matches at the lotto park stadium located within the Astrid Park in the municipality of Anderlecht. It currently has a capacity of 21,500 places.[9] The works should start in 2011 and last two years. Anderlecht has been playing in the Astrid Park since the building of the Emile Versé Stadium in 1917. The stadium was completely rebuilt in 1983 and it was renamed in honour of the then chairman Constant Vanden Stock. Prior to 1917, the club has played on a ground in the current Rue du Serment/Eedstraat for a couple of years since 1908, then in a stadium located Rue Verheydenstraat (now Rue Démosthènestraat).[10] In 2013 the stadium was refreshed, installing new scoreboards and advertising strips along the perimeter of the pitch in accordance with UEFA regulations for the Champions League. ColosseoEAS was chosen as the provider for the ultra-modern LED strips and their controllers. In July 2019 the new owner Marck Couke sold the name to the firm Lotto, and has changed the name to Lotto Park Stadium.

Anderlecht were due to move to the 60,000 capacity Eurostadium upon its expected completion in 2019.[11] The Eurostadium will also be home of the Belgium national team and host fixtures in UEFA Euro 2020.[12] However, during the years that followed, the project was plagued by numerous political delays.[13][14] In February 2017, Anderlecht eventually pulled out of the project.[15]

Supporters

The club has had the highest average attendance in the Belgian First Division for ten years, until 2004–05. Anderlecht supporters hail from all over the country and only a minority come from the Brussels Capital Region. Anderlecht counts 77 fan clubs, of which 5 are abroad (one in France, one in Poland, one in Texas, USA, one in Montreal, Canada and one in Sunderland, England).

Rivals

Anderlecht's main rivals are Standard Liege and Club Brugge.

Honours

Domestic

Leagues
  • Belgian First Division:
    • Winners (34): 1946–47, 1948–49, 1949–50, 1950–51, 1953–54, 1954–55, 1955–56, 1958–59, 1961–62, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1971–72, 1973–74, 1980–81, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1990–91, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2003–04, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2016–17
  • Belgian Second Division:

Cups

International

Friendlies

Players
See also: List of R.S.C. Anderlecht players

Current squad
As of 7 August, 2020[16]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  GER Timon Wellenreuther
4 DF  BEL Vincent Kompany (captain, player-manager)
9 FW  BEL Landry Dimata
10 MF  NED Michel Vlap
11 FW  RSA Percy Tau (on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion)
14 DF  UKR Bohdan Mykhaylichenko
16 GK  FRA Thomas Didillon
17 MF  SRB Luka Adžić
18 MF  BEL Anthony Vanden Borre
19 FW  SLE Mustapha Bundu
21 DF  BIH Ognjen Vranješ
22 DF  BEL Elias Cobbaut
23 MF  AUT Peter Žulj (3rd-captain)
25 MF  FRA Adrien Trebel
27 FW  BEL Ilias Takidine
30 GK  BEL Hendrik Van Crombrugge
No. Pos. Nation Player
32 DF  NED Derrick Luckassen (on loan from PSV)
39 DF  COD Edo Kayembe
40 FW  BEL Francis Amuzu
42 DF  BEL Hannes Delcroix
44 DF  CRO Antonio Milić
46 MF  BEL Anouar Ait El Hadj
48 MF  BEL Albert Sambi Lokonga
49 FW  BEL Jérémy Doku
51 MF  BEL Yari Verschaeren
53 MF  BEL Antoine Colassin
54 DF  BEL Killian Sardella
55 DF  BEL Marco Kana
62 DF  PAN Michael Murillo
70 GK  BEL Rik Vercauteren
92 DF  JAM Kemar Lawrence
99 MF  BEL Zakaria Bakkali

Other players under contract

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
2 DF  POR Josué Sá
3 DF  WAL James Lawrence
15 MF  USA Kenny Saief
38 FW  GHA Mohammed Dauda
No. Pos. Nation Player
77 MF  ALB Kristal Abazaj
— MF  BEL Aristote Nkaka
— DF  GAM Bubacarr Sanneh

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
5 MF  UKR Yevhen Makarenko (at Kortrijk until 30 June 2021)
24 FW  SWE Isaac Kiese Thelin (at Malmö until 31 December 2020)
43 DF  BEL Thierry Lutonda (at waalwijk until 30 June 2021)
No. Pos. Nation Player
50 MF  BEL Sieben Dewaele (at Heerenveen until 30 June 2021)
— MF  ZIM Knowledge Musona (at Eupen until 30 June 2021)

Managers
For a list of former and current managers, see List of R.S.C. Anderlecht managers.

There have been a total of 37 permanent managers and 3 caretaker managers of Anderlecht since the appointment of the first manager, Sylva Brébart, in 1920. The club's longest-serving manager is Englishman Bill Gormlie, who served during nine seasons between 1950 and 1959. Frenchman Georges Perino is the first Anderlecht manager to have claimed a trophy, with the first championship win in 1946–47. Seven Anderlecht managers have managed the club on two occasions: Ernest Churchill Smith, Pierre Sinibaldi, Urbain Braems, Raymond Goethals, Arie Haan, Johan Boskamp and Franky Vercauteren. Other managers have also played another role in the club before being appointed manager, including Jean Dockx, who served three times as caretaker before being appointed manager.

Other sections

In 1993, Brussels D71 became Anderlecht's women team. The team has won three Leagues and five Cups since.

Club presidents
Anderlecht Ownership
Owner President From To Notes
Group Concordia Charles Roos 1908 1911
Group Concordia Théo Verbeeck 1911 1951 Former club player
Albert Roosens 1951 1971
Constant Vanden Stock Constant Vanden Stock 1971 1996 Belgium national team manager
Constant Vanden Stock Roger Vanden Stock 1996 2008
Roger Vanden Stock Roger Vanden Stock 2008 2018 Son of Constant Vanden Stock
Marc Coucke Marc Coucke 2018 2020 Entrepreneur
Marc Coucke Wouter Vandenhaute 2020 Present Entrepreneur
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References
  1. "Een nationaal stadion stamt uit de koloniale tijd". erasmix.be. 15 May 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  2. "UEFA coefficient". Retrieved 28 August 2012.
  3. "UEFA coefficient". Retrieved 1 November 2010.
  4. "RSC Anderlecht official website". Archived from the original on 2 September 2010. Retrieved 24 October 2010.
  5. "Forest sues Anderlecht over '84 bribery scandal". BBC News. 24 December 1997.
  6. Gallez, Marcel & Serkijn Johan (2008). Le dictionnaire du RSC Anderlecht (tome 2). Magnad. p. 122. ISBN 978-2-9600723-3-4.
  7. "Anderlecht crowned champions of Belgium By Berend Scholten". Berend Scholten on UEFA.com. 6 May 2012.
  8. "Anderlecht edge Lokeren to lift Belgian Super Cup By Berend Scholten". Berend Scholten on UEFA.com. 22 July 2012.
  9. Een nationaal stadion stamt uit de koloniale tijd erasmix.be, 15 may 2013
  10. "Histoire 1908–2005" (in French). Archived from the original on 2 September 2010. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
  11. lej, mvd. "Anderlecht speelt vanaf 2019 in nieuw stadion".
  12. UEFA.com (14 August 2014). "UEFA EURO 2020 hosts to be revealed in Geneva". UEFA.com.
  13. "Doodsteek dreigt voor Eurostadion". De Tijd (in Dutch). 29 April 2016.
  14. "En nóg een mokerslag voor Eurostadion: verkeerde rechter en opnieuw extra vertraging" (in Dutch). Voetbalkrant.com. 6 May 2016.
  15. "Anderlecht stapt uit Eurostadion-project". Het Laatste Nieuws (in Dutch). 17 February 2017.
  16. "A-Team". R.S.C. Anderlecht.
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