Royal Antwerp FC

The official nickname of Royal Antwerp FC is "The Great Old," and it's not hard to see why. With the foundation year of 1880, Antwerp is the oldest Belgian club of all time. Despite its rich and vast football history, the club doesn't have much to show in terms of trophies; but they have both Belgian Championships and Belgian Cups, and made the Cup Winners' Cup finals in 1992.

Basic facts

Founded: 1880
Country: Belgium
City: Antwerp

Home grounds

Émile Versé Stadium (1917–1983)
Bosuilstadion (1923–)

Main trophies

Belgian First Division: 34
Belgian Cup: 9
UEFA Cup: 1
European Cup Winners' Cup: 2

Prominent players

Paul Van Himst, Armand Jurion, Rob Rensenbrink, Paul Van Himst, Joseph Mermans, Gilles De Bilde, Pär Zetterberg, Franky Vercauteren, Lucas Biglia, Romelu Lukaku

Club records

Most games played: Paul Van Himst (457)
Top goalscorer: Joseph Mermans (338)

History

Foundation and Turmoil

The club was founded in 1880 by English students who were living in Antwerp at the time. At first, it was merely an athletic club; the sports were switched depending on the season. The summers were reserved for lawn tennis and cricket, whereas the winters were the time for rugby and association football.

In 1887, the club's founders formed a football division named Antwerp Football Club. During the years that followed, Belgium saw the rise of many other football clubs. In 1895, Antwerp and Brussels reached an agreement to form the first Belgian football association. As the oldest active club at the time, Antwerp was the first club to register for this new competition.

The year of 1900 was not a good one for Antwerp, as most of their players decided to move to K. Beerschot A.C, a neighboring club that had the most modern infrastructure in the country. This was a huge blow to the club's ambitions, and they were soon forced to move to the Second Division.

First Trophies

Following the move to the Bosuilstadium in 1923, Antwerp joined the race for the top honors in Belgian football. Their long-awaited first league title came in 1929, and the club followed it up with another title in 1931. However, this was also a time of great internal strife at the club. The players and the board were in constant conflict, especially once the board fired legendary coach Ignac Molnar in 1936.

Despite the occupation of Belgium by German forces, Antwerp managed to claim their third league title in 1944. As it turned out, the club would have to wait another decade to add another trophy to its collection. On its 75th anniversary, Antwerp enjoyed a successful Belgian Cup campaign. Two years later, they won their final Belgian Championship to date.

Recent Years

The following three decades were rough on the club, which got relegated to lower divisions on multiple occasions. It wasn't until 1991 and the appointment of Walter Meeuws as coach that the club finally started competing for trophies again. Under Meeuws, Antwerp developed an "all for one, one for all" mentality, which led to winning a cup trophy in 1992.

Thanks to their cup success, Antwerp earned the right to compete in the Cup Winners' Cup the following season. This would turn out to be the defining moment for the club, which shocked the football world by making it all the way to the finals, where they were defeated 3-1 by Parma.

In 1998, Antwerp signed a cooperation agreement with Manchester United. According to the terms of the partnership, Antwerp would allow United's youngsters to get some first-team experience. Despite this shrewd business move, the club would soon found itself relegated to the Second Division again. In 2017, they finally made their way back to the top echelon of Belgian football.

By Martin Wahl

Logo

The logo consists of a with shield outline with red color and a black football in the middle. The written text "Royal Antwerp Football Club 1880" is visible. Also visible is a crown in the upper part and the number 1 in the lower part. The reason behind the number one is that the club was the first to register to the Royal Belgian Football Association.