Royal Sporting Club Anderlecht, usually known as Anderlecht or RSCA, is a Belgian professional
football club based in Anderlecht in Brussels-Capital Region.
Anderlecht plays in the Belgian Pro League and is the most successful Belgian football
team in European competitions as well as in the Belgian Pro League.
They also have won 9 Belgian Cups.
They hold the record of the most consecutive Belgian championship titles, as they are the
only side to have won 5 consecutive Belgian championships between 1963–64 and 1967–68.
The club was founded in 1908, first reached the highest level in Belgian football in 1921–22,
and have been playing in the first division since 1935–36.
They won their first major trophy after World War II, with a championship win in 1946–47.
Since then, they have never finished outside the top six of the Belgian first division.
They are #12 in the all time List of UEFA club competition winners and #10 in the IFFHS
continental Clubs of the 20th Century European ranking.
Anderlecht are ranked 41st in the 2012 UEFA team ranking.
In 1986, they achieved their best UEFA ranking with a joint first place with Juventus F.C..
Anderlecht have been playing their matches in the Astrid Park in the municipality of
Anderlecht since 1917.
Their current stadium, Constant Vanden Stock Stadium, was first opened in 1983, and replaced
the former Emile Versé Stadium.
They play in purple and white outfits.
They have long-standing rivalries with Club Brugge, Standard Liège and FC Brussels.
History
Founded as Sporting Club Anderlechtois on 27 May 1908 by a dozen football lovers at
the Concordia café, the club beat Institut Saint-Georges in their first match by 11–8.
They joined the official competition in 1909–10, starting at the lowest level in the Belgian
football league system, then the 3rd provincial division.
In 1912–13, they gained promotion to the second-higher level of football, then named
the Promotion.
After only one season at that level, the championships were suspended due to World War I, and resumed
in 1919–20.
With the popularity of the team increasing, Anderlecht had moved to a new stadium in the
Astrid Park in 1917.
They baptized the stadium Stade Emile Versé in honor of the club's first major patron,
the industrialist Emile Versé.
At the end of the 1920–21 season, Anderlecht promoted to the first division for the first
time in their history.
In the next 14 seasons, Anderlecht was relegated 4 times and promoted 4 times, earning themselves
the mockery of local rival clubs Union Saint-Gilloise and Daring Club de Bruxelles, who nicknamed
them the "lift club".
In 1933, 25 years after their formation, the club changed their name to Royal Sporting
Club Anderlechtois.
Since their promotion in 1935, Anderlecht has remained at the top level of football.
With Jef Mermans, a striker signed from K Tubantia FC in 1942 for a record fee of 125,000
Belgian francs, Anderlecht won their first league title in 1947.
Their success increased in the following years as they won 6 more titles between 1949–50
and 1955–56 and 2 more in 1958–59 and 1961–62.
In the 1960s, under the coaching of Pierre Sinibaldi and then of Andreas Beres, the club
even won 5 titles in a row, which is still a Belgian league record.
The star of this team was Paul Van Himst.
Anderlecht played in the first European Champion Clubs' Cup in 1955–56, and lost both legs
of their tie against Vörös Lobogo.
They had to wait until the 1962–63 season to win their first European tie, with a 1–0
victory over Real Madrid, which followed a 3–3 draw in Spain.
For the first time they advanced to the second round, where they beat PFC CSKA Sofia before
losing to Dundee in the quarter-finals.
In the 1969–70 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, Anderlecht lost in the final against Arsenal FC.
Between 1975 and 1984, Anderlecht only won one championship but they achieved considerable
European success: they won the 1975–76 and 1977–78 European Cup Winners' Cups against
respectively West Ham United and FK Austria Wien, as well as the two subsequent European
Super Cups.
The 1982–83 season was a noteworthy season for the club for numerous reasons: former
Anderlecht favourite Paul Van Himst was named the new coach, they won the 1982–83 UEFA
Cup, and the rebuilding of the club stadium began.
But in the domestic league, Anderlecht had to settle for second place behind Standard.
Their bid to retain the UEFA Cup in 1983–84 failed at the final hurdle against English
side Tottenham Hotspur.
Anderlecht reached the final controversially by beating another English side Nottingham
Forest with a debatable extra-time penalty to win 3–2 on aggregate.
It was later found Anderlecht had bribed the referee the equivalent of £27,000 to ensure
passage to the final.
After three second-place finishes in a row, the Purple and Whites secured an easy 18th
title in 1984–85, 11 points ahead of Club Brugge.
In 1985–86, Anderlecht won the championship again, but this time after a two-legged play-off
against Club Brugge.
Anderlecht won their 20th championship on the last matchday of the 1986–87 season.
They then lost key players Franky Vercauteren, Enzo Scifo and Juan Lozano.
A weakened team coached by Raymond Goethals finished only 4th in 1988 behind Club Brugge,
Mechelen and Antwerp, but they managed to lift the Belgian Cup for the sixth time in
their history, after a 2–0 victory against Standard Liège, with goals by Luc Nilis and
Eddie Krnčević.
The next year, Anderlecht retained the trophy with goals by Krnčević and Jankovic, but
finished second in the championship.
After his second cup win, Raymond Goethals left for Bordeaux.
In the 1990s, Anderlecht reached one more European final, the 1990 European Cup Winners'
Cup Final, that they lost to UC Sampdoria.
The club then declined in European competitions, reaching only the 1990–91 and 1996–97
UEFA Cup quarter-finals as their best result.
In national competitions, they won 4 championship titles and a cup.
In the 2000s, Anderlecht secured 5 more Belgian champion titles, reaching a total of 29 titles
in 2007, and 1 more cup.
In the 2000–01 UEFA Champions League, they qualified for the first time to the second
round, then another group stage, where they finished 3rd of their group behind Real Madrid
and Leeds United.
In 2009–10, the Purple and Whites won their 30th Belgian league title.
In the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League, Anderlecht made history by becoming the first Belgian
team to finish the group stage of a European competition with the maximum number of points,
in a group with Lokomotiv Moscow, Sturm Graz and AEK Athens.
They were also the only team of that year's Europa League to achieve this feat.
On 6 May 2012 Anderlecht won their 31st Belgian Championship.
On 22 July 2012 Anderlecht won their 10th Belgian Super Cup.
Colours and badge Anderlecht colours are purple and white, and
the club's home kit is generally white with purple trim, though they did wear a black
and purple home kit in the 2005–06 season, and a grey in the 2007–2008 season.
In the beginning, purple was the main colour of the shirts.
The motto of Anderlecht is written on its badge as are the three letters SCA referring
to the initial name of the club.
A crown was added in 1933 following the name change to Royal Sporting Club Anderlechtois.
Anderlecht's colours were the inspiration for Al Ain FC's colours.
Stadium
RSC Anderlecht play their home matches at the Constant Vanden Stock Stadium located
within the Astrid Park in the municipality of Anderlecht.
It currently has a capacity of 28,063 places, with 6,900 standing places, but the club has
planned to extend the stadium to reach a capacity of 30,000 all-seated.
The works should start in 2011 and last 2 years.
Anderlecht has been playing in the Astrid Park since the building of the Emile Versé
Stadium in 1917.
The stadium was completely rebuilt in 1983 and it was renamed in honour of the then chairman
Constant Vanden Stock.
Prior to 1917, the club has played on a ground in the current Rue du Serment/Eedstraat for
a couple of years since 1908, then in a stadium located Rue Verheydenstraat.
In 2013 the stadium was refreshed, installing new scoreboards and advertising strips along
the perimeter of the pitch in accordance with UEFA regulations for the Champion's League.
ColosseoEAS was chosen as the provider for the ultra-modern LED strips and their controllers.
Supporters The club has had the highest average attendance
in the Belgian First Division for ten years, except in 2002–03 and 2004–05.
Anderlecht supporters hail from all over the country and only a minority come from the
Brussels Capital Region.
Anderlecht counts 77 fan clubs, of which five are abroad one in Montreal and one in Sunderland.
Honours Domestic
Belgian First Division: Winners: 1946–47, 1948–49, 1949–50,
1950–51, 1953–54, 1954–55, 1955–56, 1958–59, 1961–62, 1963–64, 1964–65,
1965–66, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1971–72, 1973–74, 1980–81, 1984–85, 1985–86,
1986–87, 1990–91, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2003–04,
2005–06, 2006–07, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14
Belgian Second Division: Winners: 1923–24, 1934–35
Belgian Cup: Winners: 1964–65, 1971–72, 1972–73,
1974–75, 1975–76, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1993–94, 2007–08
Belgian League Cup: Winners: 1999–00
Belgian Supercup: Winners: 1985, 1987, 1993, 1995, 2000, 2001,
2006, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014
Bruges Matins: Winners: 1985, 1988
International UEFA Cup Winners' Cup:
Winners: 1975-76, 1977-78
UEFA Cup / UEFA Europa League: Winners: 1982-83
UEFA Super Cup: Winners: 1976, 1978
Toulon Tournament: Winners: 1967
Amsterdam Tournament: Winners: 1976
European record Updated 10 December 2013.
A = appearances, GP = games played, W = won, D = drawn, L = lost, GF = goals for, GA = goals
against.
Matches Q = qualification round
PO = play-off R = round
Group = group stage / Group 1 = first group stage / Group 2 = second group stage
1/8 = eighth finals / 1/4 = quarter-finals / 1/2 = semi-finals
F = final PUC = points UEFA coefficient
Summary of best results From the quarter-finals upwards:
(5 cups) + European Cup/UEFA Champions League:
- semi-finalists in 1982 and 1986 - quarter-finalists in 1963, 1966, 1975, 1987
and 1988 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup +:
- winners in 1976 and 1978 - finalists in 1977 and 1990
UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League +: - winners in 1983
- finalists in 1970 and 1984 - quarter-finalists
in 1991 and 1997 UEFA Super Cup:
- winners in 1976 and 1978 UEFA club coefficient ranking
(As of 22 November 2012), Source: uefa.com website
Current coaching staff Updated 21 March 2014.
Players Current squad
Last updated: 25 July 2014 Note: Flags indicate national team as defined
under FIFA eligibility rules.
Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Out on loan Note: Flags indicate national team as defined
under FIFA eligibility rules.
Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Captains Noted players
Managers
There have been a total of 37 permanent managers and 3 caretaker managers of Anderlecht since
the appointment of the first manager, Sylva Brébart in 1920.
The club's longest-serving manager is Englishman Bill Gormlie who served during 9 seasons between
1950 and 1959.
Frenchman Georges Perino is the first Anderlecht manager to have claimed a trophy, with the
first championship win in 1946–47.
Seven Anderlecht managers have managed the club on two occasions: Ernest Churchill Smith,
Pierre Sinibaldi, Urbain Braems, Raymond Goethals, Arie Haan, Johan Boskamp and Franky Vercauteren.
Other managers have also played another role in the club before being appointed manager,
for instance Jean Dockx who served 3 times as caretaker before being appointed manager.
Other sections In 1993 Brussels D71 became Anderlecht's women
team.
The team has won three Leagues and five Cups since.
Chairmen Charles Roos
Théo Verbeeck Albert Roosens
Constant Vanden Stock Roger Vanden Stock
References
External links Official website / / /
Anderlecht at UEFA.COM