 | ||||
| Full name | Royal Excel Mouscron | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | Les Hurlus | |||
| Short name | REM | |||
| Founded | 1922; 103 years ago (1922) (as RC Péruwelz) | |||
| Dissolved | 2022; 3 years ago (2022) | |||
| Ground | Stade Le Canonnier | |||
| Capacity | 10,800[1] | |||
| Owner | Gérard López[2] | |||
| Chairman | Patrick Declerck | |||
| 7th of 8 (folded) | |||
Royal Excel Mouscron (French pronunciation:[mukʁɔ̃],Dutch pronunciation:[muˈskrun]), commonly known asMouscron or familiarly asREM, was a Belgian professionalfootball club based inMouscron.
The team was formed asRoyal Mouscron-Péruwelz in the spring of 2010 as a result of the merging betweenbankruptR.E. Mouscron andR.R.C. Peruwelz. It won promotion to theBelgian Pro League in 2014 and changed its name in the summer of 2016, being relegated in 2021 and filing for bankruptcy a year later.
The club was owned by nearby French clubLille OSC from 2012 to 2015, and by a Maltese consortium linked to Israeli agentPini Zahavi from 2015 to 2018, Pairoj Piempongsant ofCarabao Energy Drink from 2018 to 2020, and Spanish-Luxembourgish businessmanGérard López from 2020 to 2022. The club was investigated by the Belgian federal judiciary over alleged financial offences relating to Zahavi.[2]
Following the liquidation and break-up ofR.E. Mouscron, whose registration number was removed by theRoyal Belgian Football Association, the city ofMouscron began negotiations with leaders ofR.R.C. Peruwelz about a possible merge. After weeks of hesitation and uncertainty, an agreement was reached. The agreement was officially signed and announced on 11 March 2010. Debts of about€100,000 in R.R.C. Peruwelz's name were cleared while the city agreed to maintain the training center known as "Futurosport". The newly merged club, Royal Mouscron-Péruwelz, took on the history of R.R.C. Peruwelz, receivingmatricule number 216 and keeping red and blue as its main colors.[3]
In its first season, it participated inBelgian Promotion A, the4th level of Belgian football. They were promoted to theBelgian Third Division for the 2011–12 season, playing inDivision A, while reaching Round 6 of the2011–12 Belgian Cup before losing toBelgian Pro League clubBeerschot on penalties 4–3.[4] They finished first in their division in league play, and thus were promoted to theBelgian Second Division. The next season Mouscron-Péruwelz finished 2nd and qualified for the promotion play-offs but lost; in the cup, they reached Round 6 again, losing 3–2 after extra time toStandard Liège.[5]
In2013–14, Royal Mouscron-Péruwelz came fourth and made the playoffs, where they won promotion on the final day with a 4–2 win atSint-Truidense V.V. whileK.A.S. Eupen lost 2–1 atOud-Heverlee Leuven. The result restored top-flight football to the city of Mouscron four years after the decline of Royal Excelsior Mouscron.[6]
In 2015, after their first season in the top flight, the club saw the termination of its partnership with neighbouring FrenchLigue 1 clubLille OSC, which had been the majority shareholder for the past three years. This was because Belgian businessmanMarc Coucke had invested in Lille while being owner of Belgian top-flight teamK.V. Oostende, and could not own interests in two teams in the same league.[7]
After the separation from Lille in 2015, the club was bought by a Maltese company involving Israeli agentPini Zahavi, then transferred to another Maltese consortium controlled by his nephew Adar, to avoidFIFA's rules on agents owning clubs.[8]
The club had its best finish in the Belgian Cup in 2015–16, making the quarter-finals before a 2–1 loss atK.R.C. Genk.[9] In June 2016, the club changed its name toRoyal Excel Mouscron, which it would remain until its bankruptcy.[10]
In March 2018, Thai businessman Pairoj Piempongsant of theCarabao Energy Drink bought 90% of the club's shares, with 10% remaining in local hands.[11] Eleven months later, the club was put in administration by the Belgian federal judiciary, due to allegedmoney laundering by Pini Zahavi.[12] In June 2019, a court in Mons ordered the club to restore the namePéruwelz due to an agreement between the two united clubs and the possession of that club's matricule number; the two clubs agreed not to restore the name.[13]
Spanish-Luxembourgish businessmanGérard López took over the club in May 2020, restoring its partnership with Lille, another one of his properties. He was ousted from Lille in December 2020.[2] The club's seven-year stay in the top flight ended with relegation in2020–21.[14] In June 2021, former Belgium internationalEnzo Scifo was bought in as manager withMbo Mpenza asdirector of football and his brotherÉmile Mpenza as Scifo's assistant, but all three were dismissed in October.[15]
In May 2022, the club were relegated two tiers to the fourth, after being refused a professional licence due to financial irregularities and a debt of around €10 million.[16] On 31 May, the club filed for bankruptcy.[17]
