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| Full name | Cercle Brugge Koninklijke Sportvereniging | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicknames | Groen en Zwart (Green and Black),De Vereniging | ||
| Founded | 9 April 1899; 126 years ago (1899-04-09) | ||
| Ground | Jan Breydel Stadium | ||
| Capacity | 29,062 | ||
| Owner | Dmitry Rybolovlev | ||
| Head coach | Onur Cinel | ||
| League | Belgian Pro League | ||
| 2024–25 | Belgian Pro League, 14th of 16 | ||
| Website | www | ||
 Current season | |||
Cercle BruggeKoninklijke Sportvereniging (Dutch pronunciation:[ˈsɛr(ə)kləˈbrʏɣəˈkoːnɪŋkləkəˈspɔrtfəˌreːnəɣɪŋ]) is a Belgian professionalfootball club based inBruges. They compete in theBelgian Pro League, the top flight ofBelgian football. Theirmatricule number is 12. The club plays home games at the 29,042-seatJan Breydel Stadium, which they share with fierce rivalsClub Brugge. Cercle Brugge won their first national title in 1911, and won two more titles (in 1927 and 1930) before the Second World War. The side also won theBelgian Cup in 1927 and in 1985, and have represented Belgium in European tournaments on several occasions.
Cercle Brugge was founded on 9 April 1899 asCercle Sportif Brugeois by former students of theSaint Francis Xavier Institute, colloquially known asDe Frères (English: The Friars) in Bruges. Originally, the organisation focused on five sports:football,cricket,lawn tennis,running andcycling.
Cercle Brugge became a member of theRoyal Belgian Football Association in 1900 and were awarded matricule number 12. The same year the club moved from their football field inSint-Michiels, which was owned by De Frères, to a pitch inSint-Andries, which offered better facilities and was closer toBruges' main railway station in 't Zand square. Cercle achieved their first success in the 1902 Henri Fraeys Cup, defeating Olympique Iris Club Lillois (the predecessor ofLille OSC) andUS Tourcoing. After winning another few friendly cups, Cercle achieved their first big success, winning the national title in the1910–11 season. Cercle ended a single point ahead of their main rivalsFC Bruges, after their confrontation on the season's last matchday ended in a 1–1 draw.
Three years later,Belgian football was devastated byWorld War I: Cercle lost two first-team players, Louis Baes and Joseph Evrard, and their stadium and facilities sustained heavy damage. Former playerAlphonse Six also died.
Cercle resumed competitive football in 1919 with an almost completely new team.Louis Saeys was the only player to remain in the team from before the war. Expectations were low, but the club finished third in the league. In 1921 the club raised a monument in remembrance of those affiliated with Cercle who had died in WWI: the unveiling was marred by tragedy, when abiplane scheduled to fly over the stadium as a tribute crashed, killing its two passengers. The monument still exists and now stands in front of theJan Breydel Stadium.
In 1923, Cercle extended their stadium facilities again, moving 100 metres from their old pitch to a newly built stadium. This ground, later named theEdgard De Smedt Stadium, became Cercle's home for more than 50 years.
In 1924, the club changed its name from Cercle Sportif Brugeois to Royal Cercle Sportif Brugeois. The club embarked on a successful period, led by two key players: Belgian record internationalFlorimond Vanhalme andplayer-coach Louis Saeys. Cercle led the league midway through the1925–26 season, but player injuries led to poor results that saw them finish in fifth place. Several important players left Cercle after this season, leaving hopes low for the1926–27 campaign, but the year saw Cercle achieve their second national championship on the penultimate matchday with a thrilling 6–5 win overDaring Bruxelles. The victory was overshadowed by two deaths at the club a few months earlier:Albert Van Coile, who had succumbed to injuries sustained in a collision with the goalkeeper during a match againstUS Tourcoing, and former chairmanRené de Peellaert, who died frompneumonia which he had caught during Van Coile'sfuneral.
In 1928,goalkeeperRobert Braet emerged as a new star at Cercle: the player, who had only switched from the outfield to goal after an illness, went on to spend his whole career at Cercle, later becoming chairman.
Cercle made a slow start to the1929–30 season, entering the mid-season winter break in sixth place and seven points adrift of leadersAntwerp. Nonetheless, by the closing weekend of the season they had narrowed the gap to a single point; the final game saw them score a 4–1 victory at home toLierse SK. The side then faced an anxious wait for the result of Antwerp against 10th placedStandard Liège, contemporary telecommunication facilities at grounds being poor. In the end, the news reached team captainFlorimond Vanhalme that Antwerp had lost 3–5, meaning Cercle had won their third and (thus far) final title. Because of this title Cercle were invited to take part in theCoupe des Nations, which is regarded as the predecessor of theChampions League.
Cercle could not maintain the results of their championship season, ending 7th in 1931. New title aspirations disappeared completely as Cercle continued to finish in the middle of the league over the next several seasons. The experienced players who had helped achieve the title retired or left the team, and the youngsters who replaced them could not match their talent. The downward spiral reached a low with relegation to theBelgian Second Division in 1936. Cercle took the opportunity to make sweeping changes, appointing a new coach and board. The changes proved successful, and Cercle won promotion back to the highest division after only two years.
The Second World War made a regular football competition impossible in 1939. Cercle therefore took part in regional championships, in which each team met another multiple times. Cercle, though, had comparatively little competition in its nativeWest Flanders, and lost contact with the high standards maintained in the strongerAntwerp andBrussels regional championships.
A national contest resumed in 1941; Cercle finished the season last but one in the league. Usually this would have meant relegation, but theKBVB ruled that the circumstances of the war, which limited training opportunities and youth development, meant no team should be relegated.
Cercle were made to play one matchbehind closed doors during the1943 season, after an incident during a game againstAnderlecht. Supporters, furious with referee De Braeckel's decisions to annul two Cercle goals for unclear reasons and to awardAnderlecht a goal that lookedoffside, chased De Braeckel from the stadium. Two Cercle fans proposed to the Cercle Brugge board that they give the referee a ride to the Bruges railway station; the board accepted, but the fans instead drove the referee towardZedelgem, where they threw him from the car in the middle of nowhere.
Immediately after liberation in 1944, an unofficial championship was organised among the teams who had in 1939 made up the top division. Most teams, though, were unable to participate, and theVon Rundstedt Offensive spelled the end of the initiative. The end ranking of this competition has not even been archived by the Belgian football association.
Cercle could not avoid relegation in the first season after the war and, despite being favorites for promotion the following season, struggled to compete in the lower league, finishing their first season there in seventh place. The next four seasons brought more mediocre league positions, until in 1951 the KBVB revealed plans to create a new second division. Clubs in the current second tier were required to finish eighth to remain in the second level; Cercle ended in 15th place that season, leaving them even further away from the top flight.
Cercle remained in this third tier until 1956, when they won their league. They spent the next season once again battling relegation, this time with more success, though their second season back in the second tier went less well. The club secured only nine points in the season's first half, avoiding relegation only with a win under coachLouis Versyp in the season's last match. A few weeks later Versyp was replaced by theFrenchmanEdmond Delfour. This replacement inaugurated a more successful new era at Cercle who, under Delfour's command, missed promotion only barely in 1960 and returned at last to the top flight in 1961.
Cercle had taken 15 years to return to the highest division, and remained there for only five more. They scarcely escaped relegation in their first season back at the top level, thanks only to a successful proposition by Antwerp that changed the way teams with equal points were ordered in the league. Until this season, where two teams had the same number of points the one with fewer defeats was ranked higher; under Antwerp's scheme, the team with the greater number of victories placed higher. Thanks to the changed rule Cercle finished ahead ofThor Waterschei, who would have placed above them under the previous rule. Ironically, Antwerp became victims of their own proposal: Standard obtained the second place, with Antwerp having equal points but fewer victories (but also fewer defeats).
This spell in the top division saw Cercle enjoy little success, and in1965–66 they finished last behindBerchem. Worse, the team was accused of corruption byLierse player Bogaerts, who said Cercle's vice-president Paul Lantsoght had engaged in bribery. The Belgian football association sentenced Cercle to relegation from the second division to the third. Lantsoght launched alawsuit against the KBVB, which he won in June 1967, but the damage was done: Cercle remained in the third division, losing many of their players, and were not able to achieve promotion immediately.
In 1967, Cercle appointedUrbain Braems ashead coach. Braems designed an ambitious plan to restore Cercle to the top division within five years. During Braem's first season the club competed withEendracht Aalst for promotion: they played one another two matches before the end of the season, tied on 41 points, but Aalst with the greater number of victories to their name. Cercle had to win the match to take the lead, and lost it 0–1: but Cercle's youth team coach, André Penninck, had noticed that the Aalst team delegate had made a mistake, switching the names of the substitutes, which meant that, according to the match paper, Aalst had ended the match playing illegally with twogoalkeepers. Cercle lodged a complaint with the Belgian football association, who confirmed Aalst's 0–1 win, and also dismissed a first appeal. Cercle then made their second and final possible appeal, and on this instance ordered the football association to apply the rules. On 21 June 1968, Cercle received the news that the decision had been overturned, and they would be promoted to the second division. In July of the same year, Royal Cercle Sportif Brugeois changed their name to Cercle Brugge K.S.V.
Cercle were immediately able to play a role in the second division title contest, thanks to a successful transfer policy. After 20 matches Cercle led the league, only to finish the season fourth, four points behind championsAS Oostende. Next season, Cercle again finished four points behind the champions,KFC Diest. But in 1971, one year before the end of the five-year-plan, Cercle achieved their goal: they won promotion and were back at the top.
Cercle tried immediately to avoid the relegation battle by fortifying their squad, signingFernand Goyvaerts andBenny Nielsen. Early results saw them win points from both Anderlecht and Club Brugge, respectively champions and vice-champions that season, and they finished the season in fifth place, the first of a succession of secure midtable finishes. In 1975 the club left the Edgard De Smedt Stadium goodbye to move to theOlympia Stadium, which was later renamed the Jan Breydel Stadium duringEuro 2000.
Between 1967 and 1977, Cercle had had only two coaches, Urbain Braems andHan Grijzenhout, but Grijzenhout left after a lucrative offer fromSC Lokeren. Cercle appointedLakis Petropoulos as new coach, but the appointment proved an uneasy one: language difficulties between the Greek coach and his players were compounded by player injuries, and the club was unexpectedly relegated. Han Grijzenhout was again appointed as coach to get Cercle back to the first division as soon as possible. After only one season, Cercle became champions, ending one point beforeSK Tongeren.
Again, Cercle enjoyed a comfortable period in the top division, climaxing with aBelgian Cup win in 1985. The final saw Cercle faceSK Beveren; the score was 1–1 after 90 minutes, and 30 minutes' added time produced no further goals, so the match went topenalties. Beveren playerPaul Lambrichts kicked the last penalty of the series against the crossbar, and Cercle celebrated. For the first time since1930, Cercle qualified for an official European tournament. They drewDynamo Dresden as opponents, winning the home match 3–2, but inDresden Cercle lost 2–1, losing the confrontation on the away goals rule.
Cercle again reached the Belgian cup final in 1986, this time meeting city rivalsClub Brugge. Cercle lost 0–3, with two questionable penalties scored byJean-Pierre Papin. A next high point came in the recruitment ofYugoslavstrikerJosip Weber in 1988: despite a difficult start in Belgium, Weber proved to be Cercle's best post-war goal scorer, ranking as the team's top scorer from 1989 to 1994 (when he left for Anderlecht) successively. Weber was also national top scorer from 1992 until 1994. Another prominent player,Romanian record internationalDorinel Munteanu, signed for Cercle in the 1990s.
In 1996, Cercle once more reached the national cup final, again facing Club Brugge: this time, Cercle lost 2–1. Nonetheless, Club's double victory meant Cercle still qualified for theUEFA Cup, in which they drew theNorwegian sideSK Brann. Cercle won the home match 3–2, but lost 4–0 inBergen. Cercle then lost some important players whom they failed to adequately replace, and were relegated, along withK.V. Mechelen, in 1997.
Cercle aimed at an immediate return, but were thwarted early on. They finished their first season in 10th place, and gained only a single place increase in league position over each of the next four seasons. In2002–03 the board chose a new chairman, formerStandaard Boekhandel directorFrans Schotte, and a new coach, former playerJerko Tipurić, who had also been coach in Cercle's1996–97 relegation season. The new staff helped Cercle to achieve promotion once more in 2003.
The 2003–4 season saw newly signed playersHarold Meyssen andNordin Jbari proving instrumental in avoiding relegation, and the Cercle board chose not to extend Tipurić's contract.Harm Van Veldhoven was chosen to replace him, and oversaw three decent but unspectacular seasons for Cercle, brightened by the emergence of the talentedStijn De Smet andTom De Sutter. When Van Veldhoven was announced as new coach ofG. Beerschot, Cercle chose former Anderlecht player and assistant managerGlen De Boeck as his successor. In his debut year, De Boeck surprised with successful attacking and attractive football. Cercle ended the season fourth in the top division, their best post-war ranking. The 2009–10 season saw them ending as runners-up in theBelgian Cup final, which was enough to qualify for theEuropa League. Shortly afterwards, manager Glen De Boeck surprisingly signed a contract withGerminal Beerschot, only one month after having signed a new 4-year-deal with Cercle Brugge. De Boeck declared to the press that he only had some questions about hislawn mower for Beerschot president Herman Kesters, but had finally ended up signing for theAntwerp side.[1] Cercle Brugge appointedAA Gent reserves coachBob Peeters as their new manager. It will be Peeters' first experience in thePro League. This season also brought Cercle's first European attendance in the2010–11 UEFA Europa League, where they defeatedTPS from Finland and reached the third qualifying round where they lost againstAnorthosis Famagusta F.C. In November 2012 Peeters was fired for poor results. Despite attracting star playerEiður Guðjohnsen, he failed to get Cercle away from that last place and was replaced byFoeke Booy. The team still struggled to avoid relegation. After the bad results they sackedFoeke Booy and the new trainer wasLorenzo Staelens.Lorenzo Staelens would be replaced byArnar Vidarsson in their last season in first division. A few months later Vidarsson would also be replaced byDennis Van Wijk, Cercle eventually lost Play-Off III toSK Lierse and relegate to second division.
The first season in the second division, Cercle ended 5th out of 17. The next season (2016–17), the competition was renamed to 1B and contained 8 teams. ManagerVincent Euvrard was sacked after a disappointing start and was replaced byJosé Riga. Cercle ended 7th in the competition and had to play a relegation poule withTubize,Oud-Heverlee Leuven andLommel United to secure their place in 1B. Lommel United ended last in the play-downs.[2] During the season it was obvious that Cercle could not compete with other teams any more due to their financial status and the fact that many of the other teams had foreign investors. Cercle also began to search for an investor. On 15 February 2017 Cercle found inDmitry Rybolovlev a partner to continue their existence in the future.[3] Dimitri Rybolovlev is now the majority shareholder and owner of Cercle. On 10 March 2018, Cercle became champion in theProximus League, the Belgiansecond division after winning againstBeerschot 3–2 on aggregate. The winning goal – a penalty kick, was scored byIrvin Cardona, a loaned player from Monaco, in the last minute of the game and thus the season.[4]
Cercle reached the knockout stage of a European competition for the first time during the2024–25 UEFA Conference League. They lost in the round of 16 toJagiellonia Białystok with an aggregate score of 2–3.
| Season | Competition | Round | Opponent | Home | Away | Aggregate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985–86 | UEFA Cup Winners' Cup | 1 |  Dynamo Dresden | 3–2 | 1–2 | 4–4 (a) |
| 1996–97 | UEFA Cup Winners' Cup | 1 |  Brann | 3–2 | 0–4 | 3–6 |
| 2010–11 | UEFA Europa League | 2Q |  Turun Palloseura | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 (a) |
| 3Q |  Anorthosis Famagusta | 1–0 | 1–3 | 2–3 | ||
| 2024–25 | UEFA Europa League | 2Q |  Kilmarnock | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| 3Q | Molde | 1–0 | 0–3 | 1–3 | ||
| UEFA Conference League | PO |  Wisła Kraków | 1–4 | 6–1 | 7–5 | |
| League phase |  St. Gallen | 6–2 | — | 8th | ||
 Víkingur Reykjavík | — | 1–3 | ||||
 LASK | — | 0–0 | ||||
| Heart of Midlothian | 2–0 | — | ||||
 Olimpija Ljubljana | — | 4–1 | ||||
 İstanbul Başakşehir | 1–1 | — | ||||
| R16 | Jagiellonia Białystok | 2–0 | 0–3 | 2–3 |
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Note: Please consider that the flags of each club's player not only indicate one's citizenship (jus soli principle), but a nationality as well (jus sanguinis principle).
As of matches played 11 June 2011 and according towww.cerclemuseum.be
| No. | Name | Career | Appearances | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Jules Verriest | 1965–81 | 492 | 8 |
| 2 | Denis Viane | 1997–2011 | 385 | 2 |
| 3 | Geert Broeckaert | 1978–91 | 376 | 19 |
| 4 | Arthur Ruysschaert | 1925–44 | 372 | 108 |
| 5 | Roger Claeys | 1941–57 | 362 | 48 |
| 6 | Jackie De Caluwé | 1951–66 | 354 | 32 |
| 7 | Robert Braet | 1928–48 | 352 | 0 |
| 8 | Rudy Poorteman [fr] | 1979–91 | 347 | 7 |
| 9 |  Wim Kooiman | 1980–88 / 1994–98 | 339 | 25 |
| Bram van Kerkhof | 1974–85 | 339 | 14 |
As of matches played 11 June 2011 and according towww.cerclemuseum.be
| No. | Name | Career | Appearances | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marcel Pertry | 1943–55 | 280 | 140 |
| 2 | Josip Weber | 1988–94 | 204 | 136 |
| 3 | Dirk Beheydt | 1975–84 | 295 | 115 |
| 4 | Michel Vanderbauwhede | 1920–32 | 231 | 109 |
| 5 | Arthur Ruysschaert | 1925–44 | 372 | 108 |
| 6 | Gilbert Bailliu | 1953–66 | 227 | 104 |
| 7 | Louis Saeys | 1903–27 | 305 | 103 |
| 8 | Gérard Devos | 1921–30 | 178 | 100 |
| 9 | Alphonse Six | 1907–12 | 89 | 93 |
| 10 | André Saeys | 1928–35 / 1941–42 | 172 | 55 |
| Eric Buyse | 1959–70 | 265 | 55 |
According towww.cerclemuseum.be. Names initalic means that only partial match history for the season could be retrieved.
This prize is awarded by the club's supporters, in an election held byd'Echte, a Cercle Brugge supporters' association. The election is held in two rounds. At the last home game before the winter break, and at the last home game of the season, supporters can receive a paper and vote for three players. The player with most votes after the second round wins thePop Poll. The main criteria taken into account are performances on the pitch and the players' love for the team.
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1 Alex Querter never received the award, because of his move to city rivalsClub Brugge the same season. The organisers of the award concluded that Querter's decision failed to satisfy the criterion of "love for the team".
| Position | Name | Nationality |
|---|---|---|
| Head coach | Onur Cinel |  |
| Assistant coach | Jimmy De Wulf Florens Koch | |
| Goalkeeping coach | Stefan Toonen[11] | |
| Physical coach | vacant | |
| Head of Analysis | Stuart Metcalf |  |
| Reserves coach | Jimmy De Wulf | |
| Reserves coach | Wouter Artz | |
Joseph Dewulf (1910–14)Louis Saeys (1914–28)Florimond Vanhalme (1928–37)William Maxwell (1937–38)
Hugo Fenichel (1938–40)Florimond Vanhalme (1940–41)Louis Saeys (1941–42)Willy Steyskal (1942–44)Louis Baes (1944–46)André De Schepper (1946–48)Louis Baes (1948–50)Georges Vanden Bempt (1950–51)Bill Kennedy (1951–52)Louis Versyp (1952–54)Arthur Ruysschaert(a.i.)1 (1953–54)Guy Thys (1954–56)Louis Versyp (1956–57)
Edmond Delfour (1958–62)Jules Bigot (1962–63)Georges Meuris (1963–66)Jules Van Dooren (1966–67)Urbain Braems (1967–72)Han Grijzenhout (1972–77)
Lakis Petropoulos (1977–78)Lucien Masyn (1978)Han Grijzenhout (1978–79)Leo Canjels (1979–82)Han Grijzenhout (1982–83)Henk Houwaart (1983–84)Bram van Kerkhof (1984)Georges Leekens (1984 – 30 June 1987)René Taelman (1987–88)Roland Rotty (1988–89)Han Grijzenhout (1989–91)Eric Lagrou (1991)Henk Houwaart (1 July 1991 – 30 June 1993)Georges Leekens (1 Nov 1993 – 30 June 1994)
Jerko Tipurić (1994–97)Rudy Verkempinck [nl] (1997–98)Ronny Desmedt (1998–99)Dennis Van Wijk (31 Oct 1998 – 30 June 2002)Jerko Tipurić (2002–04)Harm Van Veldhoven (22 May 2004 – 30 June 2007)Glen De Boeck (1 July 2007 – 2010)Bob Peeters (27 May 2010 – 27 Oct 2012)Lorenzo Staelens(a.i.) (28 Oct 2012–5 Nov 2012??)Foeke Booy (5 Nov 2012 – 4 April 2013)Lorenzo Staelens (2013–2014)Arnar Viðarsson (2014–2015)Dennis Van Wijk (2015)Frederik Vanderbiest (2015–2016)Vincent Euvrard (2016)José Riga (2016–2017)Franky Vercauteren (2017-2018)Laurent Guyot (2018–2019)Fabien Mercadal (1 July 2019 – 7 Oct 2019)Bernd Storck (12 Oct 2019 – 31 May 2020)Paul Clement (3 July 2020 – 1 Feb 2021)Yves Vanderhaeghe (1 Feb 2021 - 28 Nov 2021)Dominik Thalhammer (28 Nov 2021 - 19 Sep 2022)Miron Muslić (19 Sep 2022 - 2 Dec 2024)Jimmy De Wulf(a.i.) (2 Dec 2024 - 10 Dec 2024)Ferdinand Feldhofer (10 Dec 2024 - 17 March 2025)Jimmy De Wulf (21 March 2025 - 12 May 2025)Bernd Storck (12 May 2025 - 19 June 2025)Onur Cinel (19 June 2025 - present)Notes:
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