K Beerschot VA - Onze club

The start Beerschot Athletic Club was founded on 3 September 1899 by Alfred Grisar, who developed the plot of land in the Kiel district in the south of Antwerp that belonged to his father Ernest into a multi-purpose sports facility. In addition to the already existing horse racecourse and stables, sports fields for hockey, cricket, rugby, polo and tennis were built on and the grassy areas. A football section was also established in February 1900, which was officially registered in July this year. As club colours, Beerschot AC opted for purple and white. The purple as a sign of mourning, in memory of Ernest Grisar, who had died just before. Paul Havenith became the club's first president in 1901.

Beerschot AC's first match took place on 21 October 1900, against Cercle Brugge... and was an instant hit. Beerschot won with convincing 10-2 figures. It immediately started in the premier division, relegated at the end of the 1905-1906 season but fought its way back the following season and would play uninterrupted first division football until 1981.

OLYMPIC STADIUM When the city of Antwerp applied to host the 1920 Olympic Games in 1919, the Beerschot AC accommodation was immediately chosen. Over the years, it had become a gem, and was so much to the liking of the International Olympic Committee that president Pierre De Coubertin opted for the stadium on the Kiel. So two years after the end of World War I, Beerschot hosted the VII Olympiad, and the Beerschot stadium was officially renamed Olympic Stadium. Besides the already existing main stand, a slightly smaller ‘small stand’ was built on the opposite side, with wooden boxes. Behind the goals, in the standing areas (‘the people's pitches’), plaster Greek columns appeared, which were again demolished three years later. Four towers completed the setting. During the 1920 Olympic Games, the Olympic flag with five rings was presented for the first time as well as the Olympic oaths. For the financial picture, the Belgian Olympic Committee and the city of Antwerp also appealed to the Beerschot administration, which consisted mainly of counts and other dignitaries.

THE SUCCESS YEARS 1920-1930 The Olympic Games, where Belgium's national football team had won the gold medal, gave a huge boost to football in Antwerp. In that period, Beerschot AC grew to become the most popular, best footballing and most successful team in Belgium. In the 1921-22 season, Beerschot became national champions for the first time, after a test match against Union. Also in the 1923-24, 1924-25, 1925-1926 and 1927-1928 seasons, the purple and white team finished first in the premier division each time. Five titles in a span of seven years, and this under the leadership of coach Johnny Dicken with Raymond Braineals absolute standout.

In 1925, when celebrating the club's twenty-fifth anniversary, Beerschot was awarded the royal title, and the club name became Royal Beerschot Athletic Club.

In the early 1930s, Beerschot had to relinquish its hegemony for a while. Partly as a result of Raymond Braine's forced departure to Sparta Prague. Braine was suspended by the Belgian Football Federation for running a pub in Antwerp and accepted the offer from the Czechoslovakian top club, where he went on to become an absolute world footballer. With him, Sparta Prague won the Mitropa Cup, the forerunner of the Cup of Nations Champions and the Champions League, among others. In 1937, Braine returned to Belgium - and to Beerschot - and that earned the club two new national titles: in the 1937-38 and 1938-39 seasons. Beerschot seemed poised for another prolonged period of success, but it was brutally halted by World War II in 1940.

RIK COPPENS WILL BE THE NEW STAR In the years 1940-1950, Beerschot could not add any new titles to its record of achievements. Purple and white continued to opt for beautiful combination football - ‘the cleanest football is still played in the Olympic Stadium on the Kiel’ the newspapers wrote for years - but that did not translate into successes. In 1950, Beerschot celebrated its 50th anniversary with an anniversary match against Tottenham Hotspur, which was won 2-1.

Three years later, Beerschot was the first football club to tour the Belgian Congo for three weeks, playing exhibition matches in just about every corner of the immense country. It proved itself a worthy ambassador for Belgium and Belgian football and built up enormous popularity there. Players like Stanneke Huysmans and Rik Coppens were celebrated there as heroes.

At the time, Rik Coppens had emerged as Beerschot's new vedette. He possessed enormous technical baggage, was ball-proof, had an eye for goals, super-individualist and played the spectators in unparalleled fashion. When he reappeared with the reserves against Beringen in 1954 after an injury, there were more than 8,000 spectators in the Olympic Stadium. His popularity was immense. In the same year 1954, he became the first laureate of the Golden Shoe, the ultimate award for the best footballer from Belgium.

Beerschot did not become champions with Rik Coppens in the ranks. But there was spectacle “à volonté”. For instance in an exhibition match against Pele's Santos in 1960. The Brazilian ball magicians knocked Beerschot off the mat with 1-10 figures... but the most beautiful goal that evening came from the foot of Coppens, who lifted the ball over a Brazilian defender with a tip-up and scored with a half-strike. Pele was the first to congratulate Coppens on that world goal. In the early 1930s, Beerschot had to relinquish its hegemony for a while. Partly due to the forced departure of Raymond Braine to Sparta Prague. Braine was suspended by the Belgian Football Federation for running a pub in Antwerp and accepted the offer from the Czechoslovakian top club, where he went on to become an absolute world footballer. With him, Sparta Prague won the Mitropa Cup, the forerunner of the Cup of Nations Champions and the Champions League, among others. In 1937, Braine returned to Belgium - and to Beerschot - and that earned the club two new national titles: in the 1937-38 and 1938-39 seasons. Beerschot seemed poised for another prolonged period of success, but it was brutally halted by World War II in 1940.

THE INTREDENCE OF PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL AT THE KIEL At the end of the 1960s, professional football also made its appearance at Beerschot. In 1968 it opted for a new name: Royal Beerschot Football and Athletics Association. With professionalisation, the first foreign footballers also appeared in the Olympic Stadium: Lothar Emmerich, a German international who had played in the 1966 World Cup final at Wembley against England, was one of the best transfers in that period. In his first season at Beerschot (1969-1970), he immediately crowned himself Belgium's top scorer with 29 goals from 30 games.

In the 1970s, Beerschot won the Belgian Cup twice. In 1971 it beat Sint-Truiden at the Heysel 2-1 after extensions (goals by Herman Houben and Arto Tolsa); in 1979 it won 1-0 in the final against Club Brugge (goal by Johan Coninx). In the latter match, Beerschot had Polish wonder goalkeeper Jan Tomaszewski under the crossbar and Haitian ball magician Emmanuel Sanon provided the decisive assist. Two footballers picked off by Beerschot at the World Cup... and went on to become world stars at the Olympic Stadium.

Juan Lozano By now, Beerschot supporters had also become acquainted with young Spanish midfielder Juan Lozano, who had come to Antwerp from Andalusia with his parents and had dribbled everyone in a heap on the youth practice pitches at Wilrijk Pleinen. After Raymond Braine and Rik Coppens, Beerschot's third natural talent. The player with the velvet ball touch. After winning the 1979 cup, he left Beerschot and broadened his sporting horizons: first to the Washington Diplomats where the dollars were waiting for him, then to Anderlecht and Real Madrid. A genius football artist with the ‘Beerschot product’ stamp on his behind.

FINANCIAL PROBLEMS, DEGRADATIONS, FAILINGS AND OTHER PROBLEMS In 1981, Beerschot was penalised by the Belgian Football Federation with mandatory relegation, due to ‘suspicions of bribery’.It was Beringen that had filed a shadowy complaint about this, but Beerschot was relegated to second division. For the first time since 1906. However, Purple-White clawed its way back to first division the following season and regained its place among Belgium's footballing elite.

The club got a new zest, and especially the youth section worked its way to the national and international forefront, with the annual Muguet Tournament on the Wilrijk Squares, attracting top players from home and abroad. Teams like Anderlecht, Club Brugge, Standard, Ajax, Feyenoord, PSV, Arsenal, Spartak Moscow,... they all sent their best youth teams to Antwerp.

Year after year, however, the sport went downhill. There were a few positive peaks, such as a 5-1 derby victory against Antwerp and a sensational 4-3 victory against Standard in which a 0-3 deficit was turned around in the final quarter, but in the final rankings Beerschot often ended up in the right-hand column.

Sporting relegation to second division followed in 1991... and with a complaint from SK Tongeren on top, Beerschot even had to play in third division. Again, purple-and-white immediately fought their way back (to second division)... but there the resurgence stalled. Season after season, they just missed out on promotion in the final round, which also had dire financial consequences.

Under chairman Paul Nagels, the club was transformed into Koninklijke Beerschot Voetbal- en Atletiek Club, the stadium was refurbished, but the sports car never got rolling again. In 1997, the last pros left the sinking Beerschot ship and the club went financially under. Coach Marc Noé completed the final seasons with a group of eager but inexperienced youth players. Relegation to third division followed in 1998, after which the club went into liquidation, came into the hands of lawyer Guy Laugs, and the final straight.

In May 1999, Beerschot VAC played its very last league game in its history in the Olympic Stadium, in third division against Rita Berlaar. Losing 1-2, the regular number 13 was withdrawn from circulation by the Royal Belgian Football Association. The curtain fell.

FREEDOM AS GERMINAL BEERSCHOT ANTWERPEN A few months earlier, the club boards of bankrupt Beerschot and supporter-less Germinal Ekeren had sat around the table several times and an agreement was reached to start the 1999-2000 season under the name KFC Germinal Beerschot Antwerp, and with Germinal's registration number 3530. In first division. The club would play its home matches at the Olympic Stadium and began a new life with an ultra-prestigious project. Dutch top club Ajax supported financially but at the same time picked up the biggest youth talents (Jan Vertonghen, Thomas Vermaelen, Toby Alderweireld, Tom De Mul,...). Jos Verhaegen, with René Snelders in his wake, became the big bosses, Franky Vander Elst trainer, top players like Marc Degryse and kleppers like Wesley Sonck, Manu Karagiannis, Luciano, Daniel Cruz, François Sterchele were all on the Kiel payroll. One success resulted, in 2005. A third cup victory at the Koning Boudewijnstadion, where, under the leadership of coach Marc Brys, Club Bruges were beaten 2-1, with goals from Karel Snoeckx and Kris De Wree. What followed were European duels against Olympique Marseille (twice 0-0 but knocked out on penalties) and a unique opportunity to advance to the top.

At the time, the club management lacked the courage and guts to take that next step... and continued to tread on the spot. Ajax had meanwhile turned on the money tap, while the risk-free and overly conservative approach of the Verhaegen-Snelders-Hofmans duo was no longer appreciated. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a certain Patrick Vanoppen blew into the Olympic Stadium, and he chased the former Germinallers out with a putsch.

Vanoppen The businessman from Leuven wanted to rejoin the glorious Beerschot of yesteryear. He changed the name back to Beerschot AC, which stood for Beerschot Antwerp Club, but his megalomania, unfulfilled financial promises, egomania and failing policy led Beerschot to another bankruptcy in three years' time. Exit Vanoppen. And once again Beerschot seemed dead and buried.

THE WAY BACK TO THE TOP Under the impetus of Beerschot supporters, a deal was struck in a few months with KFCO Wilrijk, which played in first provincial. The forces were joined, and carried by the fans, KFCO Beerschot Wilrijk was launched in 2013. Under Wilrijk's registration number 155. And in first provincial. Trainer became Urbain Spaenhoven, Eric Roef was chairman. In a short span of a few weeks, more than six thousand season tickets went over the counter, an agreement was reached with the city of Antwerp to be able to play the home games in the Olympic Stadium... and the success train got up to full speed.

With four league titles and as many promotions, KFCO Beerschot Wilrijk climbed in one straight line from first provBincial to 1B - and meanwhile lost one more season due to a league reform that created an extra series (First Amateur). The architects for those titles were Urbain Spaenhoven, intermediate Pope Dennis van Wijk and the returning Marc Brys. Twice in a row, Beerschot were stranded in the ultimate promotion duels that would open the gate to 1A. In 2018, Cercle Brugge (with the help of referee Boucaut) were too strong (1-0 at the Kiel, 3-1 at the Jan Breydel Stadium). In 2019, KFCO Beerschot Wilrijk - with Stijn Vreven as the new sporting manager - played 0-0 at home against KV Mechelen but lost 2-1 Achter de Kazerne. In 2020, it succeeded. Beerschot reached the final again won both the outward and return matches against OHL 1-0 and 1-4 respectively. The comeback in 1A is a fact!

Beerschot relegated from the first division again two seasons later. In the 2022-2023 season, it will play in the Challenger Pro League.

NAME CHANGE AND THE OLD REGISTRATION NUMBER BACK During the 2017-2018 season, the club was taken over by Francis Vrancken's construction company DCA from Beerse, who then handed over 50% of the shares to Saudi Prince Abdullah Bin Mossa'ad bin Abdulaziz al-Saud. They gave the club a major financial injection and threw their sporting ambitions on the table without any fuss: as soon as possible to 1A. They also raised the necessary funds to buy back, with effect from 1 June 2019, the old tribal number 13 - and with it the fine record of the old Beerschot - and changed the name to Koninklijke Beerschot Voetbalclub Antwerpen.