Royal Antwerp F.C.

Royal Antwerp Football Club is a Belgian football club from Antwerp. He was founded around 1880 as Antwerp Cricket Club by English students . So the club is regarded as the oldest club in Belgium.[2] The football division was founded in 1887 named Antwerp Football Club.

Royal Antwerp
Full nameRoyal Antwerp Football Club
Nickname(s)The Great Old, The Reds
Founded1880 (1880)
GroundBosuilstadion
Antwerp, Belgium
Capacity16,144[1]
OwnerHouse of Orange-Nassau
ChairmanPiet van Boldwijn
ManagerMark van Bommel
LeagueBelgian First Division A
2021–22Belgian First Division A, 4th
WebsiteClub website

History

Royal Antwerp has won four Belgian league titles as well as three Belgian Cups. In 1900 most of the players left the club to K. Beerschot V.A.C.. This was the start of a long rivalry between the two clubs.

The club is the last Belgian team which reached a UEFA competition final. In the 1993 European Cup Winners' Cup Final they lost 3–1 against Parma at Wembley Stadium.[3]

Royal Antwerp had a partnership with the English club Manchester United[4] An example is Dong Fangzhuo. He was unable to play for United immediately due to work permit problems and was loaned to Antwerp.

Although the club is on Belgium's best-supported they reached no trophies. They have not won a league title since 1957 and also spent several seasons in the second division. They were promoted to the top flight in 2000 and relegated in 2004. They returned to the first division after 13 years in 2017.[5] In August 2020 they won the first title since 1957. They won the Belgian Cup versus Club Brugge .[6]

Stadium

Royal Antwerp plays their home matches at the Bosuilstadion since 1923.[7]

Honours

National

Belgian First Division

  • Champions: 1928–29, 1930–31, 1943–44, 1956–57

Belgian Second Division

  • Champions: 1999–2000, 2016–17

Belgian Cup

  • Winners: 1954–55, 1991–92, 2019–20
  • Runners-up: 1974–75

Belgian Super Cup

  • Runners-up: 1992

International

Challenge International du Nord

  • Winners: 1902, 1906

European Cup Winners' Cup

Runners-up: 1992–93

Players

Current squad
As of 8 August 2022.[8]

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  France Jean Butez
2 DF  Belgium Ritchie De Laet
3 DF  Belgium Björn Engels
4 MF  Belgium Radja Nainggolan
6 MF  Belgium Birger Verstraete
7 FW  Denmark Viktor Fischer
8 MF  Nigeria Alhassan Yusuf
10 FW  Belgium Michel-Ange Balikwisha
11 FW  Kosovo Arbnor Muja
16 MF  Belgium Pieter Gerkens
18 FW  Netherlands Vincent Janssen
19 FW  Japan Koji Miyoshi
21 DF  United States Sam Vines
22 DF  Argentina Gastón Ávila
23 DF  Belgium Toby Alderweireld
24 MF  Netherlands Jurgen Ekkelenkamp
No. Pos. Nation Player
25 MF  Belgium Alexis De Sart
26 GK  Belgium Ortwin De Wolf
30 DF  Senegal Abdoulaye Seck
32 MF  Germany Christoper Scott
33 DF  Belgium Zeno Van Den Bosch
34 DF  Belgium Jelle Bataille
38 MF  Belgium Faris Haroun (captain)
48 MF  Belgium Arthur Vermeeren
50 DF  Kosovo Laurit Krasniqi
51 DF  Ecuador William Pacho
55 FW  Ecuador Anthony Valencia
61 DF  Portugal Dinis Almeida
71 GK  Croatia Davor Matijaš
80 MF  Belgium Pierre Dwomoh
87 GK  Belgium Davino Verhulst
99 FW   Switzerland Michael Frey

Coaching staff
PositionName
Manager Mark van Bommel
Assistant Manager Andries Ulderink
Assistant Manager John Stegeman
Assistant Coach Jürgen Dirkx
Assistant Coach Egid Kiesouw
Goalkeeping Coach Brian Vandenbussche
Fitness Coach Peter Catteeuw
Match Analyst Jerry Vanacker

Manchester United Players loan partnership

This is a list of former players on-loan via Manchester United's partnership with Royal Antwerp from 1998 to 2013.

  • Jamie Wood
  • Dong Fangzhuo
  • Fraizer Campbell
  • Luke Chadwick
  • John Cofie
  • Jimmy Davis
  • Sylvan Ebanks-Blake
  • Adam Eckersley
  • David Fox
  • Luke Giverin
  • Colin Heath
  • Tom Heaton
  • Kirk Hilton
  • Eddie Johnson
  • Ritchie Jones
  • Michael Lea
  • Lee Martin
  • Paul Rachubka
  • Ryan Shawcross
  • Danny Simpson
  • Alan Tate
  • Ronnie Wallwork
  • Neil Wood
  • Arthur Gómez
  • Danny Higginbotham
  • Darron Gibson
  • John O'Shea
  • Gyliano van Velzen
  • Craig Cathcart
  • Jonny Evans
  • Phil Bardsley
  • David Gray
  • Souleymane Mamam

Other websites
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Royal Antwerp FC.

References
  1. Bosuil mag voortaan 16.144 supporters ontvangen GVA, 7 April 2018
  2. "Blow for Royal Antwerp FC, Belgium's oldest football club". VRT. 14 May 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  3. "Parma 3, Royal Antwerp 1". AP. 12 May 1993. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  4. "Manchester United's Royal Antwerp Loanees". Five Cantonas. Retrieved 24 March 2011.
  5. "New life breathed into the Great Old as Royal Antwerp return to top flight". Inside World Football. 13 March 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  6. "Antwerp wins Belgian Cup as soccer resumes in Belgium". Washington Post. 1 August 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  7. "Stadiums & Pitches". rafc.be. Archived from the original on 8 December 2008. Retrieved 7 February 2011.
  8. "Eerste ploeg" [First team] (in Dutch). Royal Antwerp F.C. 22 July 2022.
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