 | |||
| Full name | Koninklijke Beerschot Antwerpen Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicknames | De Mannekes,De Ratten | ||
| Founded | 1920; 105 years ago (1920) (Germinal Ekeren) 1999; 26 years ago (1999) (rebranding; as Germinal Beerschot) | ||
| Dissolved | 2013; 12 years ago (2013) | ||
| Ground | Olympisch Stadion, Antwerp | ||
| Capacity | 12,771 | ||
| Website | www | ||
Koninklijke Beerschot Antwerpen Club (Dutch pronunciation:[ˈkoːnɪŋkləkəˈbeːrsxɔtˈɑntʋɛrpə(ŋ)ˈklʏp]), simply known asBeerschot AC, was a Belgianfootball club based in southernAntwerp. Beerschot played in theBelgian Pro League from1999–2000 (as Germinal Beerschot) until2012–13, when they were relegated not only through their league position, but also lost their professional licence through financial issues, being officially declared bankrupt on 21 May 2013, one week after the season had ended.
K.F.C. Germinal Ekeren, established in 1920, rebranded themselves as Germinal Beerschot in 1999, retaining thematricule number and history but adopting some of the identity ofK Beerschot VAC, seven-times Belgian champions but struggling with financial problems in thethird division. Germinal Ekeren had been a first division club for the past decade, and wereBelgian Cup winners in 1997.
Following the merger in 1999, the club moved from the Veltwijckstadion in the municipality ofEkeren to theOlympisch 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 wasRoyal Antwerp F.C. They won the Belgian Cup in 2005.
On 17 May 2011, the club changed its name again to Koninklijke Beerschot Antwerpse Club orBeerschot 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 formerK. Beerschot V.A.C. to its former glory. In addition, the club set its motto to the Latin phrase 'Tene Quod Bene', which translates as 'keep what is good', again referring to the fact that only the "Beerschot" part was kept. After being relegated in2012–13, the club went bankrupt at the end of the season, was removed from competition altogether and folded shortly afterwards. In June 2013,K.F.C.O. Wilrijk unofficially integrated Beerschot AC's identity into theirs to becomeFCO Beerschot Wilrijk, moving to Beerschot AC's vacated stadium.[2] This new club started in the first division of theBelgian Provincial leagues.[2]
The youth academy of Beerschot produced the likes ofThomas Vermaelen,Mousa Dembélé,Radja Nainggolan,Jan Vertonghen, andToby Alderweireld.
In 1920F.C. Germinal Ekeren was founded in the town ofEkeren, a northern suburb ofAntwerp. Several years earlier, in 1899,Beerschot was founded at Het Kiel, a southern outskirt of Antwerp, where the1920 Olympics had been held. In 1971 Germinal Ekeren added the prefixKoninklijk to their name (meaningRoyal inDutch). 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 theUEFA 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 andMarc Brys was brought in as coach. He led the team to victory in theBelgian Cup that year, and in doing so secured a place inUEFA Cup for his side. After only 7 matches in theJupiler 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).
May 2013,Naamloze vennootschap Beerschot announced it would beliquidated. After having failed to present a financial plan to theRoyal Belgian Football Association, the club had lost its license to play in the 1st division. Unable to attract enough financial means to continue playing in a lower division they decided upon liquidation. Initially it was unclear what would happen to the matricule or players,[3] but it became clear on 21 May 2013 that the club dissolved, meaning the matricule was lost and the players free to look for a new club.[4]
Late May 2013 the "entourage" and fans of Beerschot started negotiations withK.F.C.O. Wilrijk andSportkring Sint-Niklaas in the hope of a "merge" of Beerschot with one of them.[2] In June 2013 when K.F.C.O. Wilrijk adapted its name intoF.C.O. Beerschot-Wilrijk, this "merge" took place.[2] The new club started in the first division of theBelgian Provincial leagues.[2]
The matricule number 3530 played their first European game as KFC Germinal Ekeren in the1991–92 season againstCeltic of Scotland (losing 2–0 away and drawing 1–1 at home). They qualified for theUEFA Cup in that year following a 5th-place finish in the championship. They then had to wait until1995 and a 6th-place finish to qualify for their next European competition (Intertoto Cup), finishing 2nd in Group 3 of the first round behindFC Aarau of Switzerland, which was insufficient to qualify for the second round. In1996–97 they qualified for the UEFA Cup after finishing 3rd in the league. The club was defeated byGrazer AK in the first round.
In1997–98 they played theUEFA Cup Winners' Cup after aBelgian Cup win. They lost in the second round at the hands ofVfB Stuttgart after a win againstFK Crvena Zvezda. Thenext season, they reached the UEFA Cup first preliminary round after a 3rd place, but lost in the second preliminary round against Swiss teamServette FC. In the2008 UEFA Intertoto Cup (their only entry as Germinal Beerschot), they metNeftchi Baku of Azerbaijan in the second round, drawing 1–1 at home but losing 0–1 away to be eliminated from the competition.
| 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 | 0–0 (1–4pen.) |
| 2008 | UEFA Intertoto Cup | 2R |  | Neftçi Baku | 1–1 | 0–1 |
Toby Alderweireld (youth)Mousa DembéléTom De Mul (youth)Radja Nainggolan (youth)Jelle Van DammeThomas Vermaelen (youth)Jan Vertonghen (youth)Wesley Sonck
Victor Wanyama
Tomasz RadzinskiFranky van der Elst (1999 – July 2003)Marc Brys (July 2003 – September 2005)Jos Daerden (September 2005 – June 2006)Marc Brys (July 2006 – June 2007)
Harm van Veldhoven (July 2007 – November 2008)Aime Anthuenis (November 2008 – August 2009)Jos Daerden (September 2009 – June 2010)Glen De Boeck (July 2010 – November 2010)Jacky Mathijssen (December 2010 – March 2012) Wim De Corte (March 2012 – July 2012)Adrie Koster (July 2012 – November 2012) Wim De Corte (November 2012 – January 2013)Jacky Mathijssen (Jan 2013 – May 2013)(in Flemish)
