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K.F.C. Winterslag)
K.R.C. Genk, usually referred to as Racing Genk is a Belgian football club based in the city of Genk in Limburg, province of Belgium. It was formed in 1988 by the fusion of Waterschei Thor and K.F.C. Winterslag. It is currently one of the four most successful clubs in Belgium as Racing Genk often qualifies for European competitions and it won the championship and the cup twice since 1998. The club has been in the first division since the 1996-97 season. The supporters of Genk produced in their homegames one of the best atmospheres in Belgium. Genk counts 68 fan clubs.
The club F.C. Winterslag was founded in 1923 and it became that year a member of the Belgian Football Association that gave it the matricule n°322. On its 35th anniversary the club changed its name to K.F.C. Winterslag. In 1972 Winterslag reached the second division and it eventually qualified for the 1974-75 season in the first division after finishing second in the final round. It had taken advantage of the increase in the number of first division clubs (from 16 to 20). The club ended the season in last place but won the second division right after.
K.F.C. Winterslag reached the 5th place in 1981 but two seasons later it was relegated to the second stage after a disappointing last place. That season Standard Liège won the championship on bribery in a match against the club of Waterschei Thor that would eventually merge with the matricule n°322. Following a spell of four seasons in the second division, Winterslag found its place again in the first division by winning the 1987 final round, one point ahead of Tongeren. It finished 15th on 18 but at the end of the season, the club merged with the neighbour club of Waterschei Thor which was playing in the second division since its relegation in 1986.
K. Waterschei S.V. Thor Genk was created in 1919 as Waterschei's Sport Vereeniging Thor with Thor being the acronym of Tot Herstel Onzer Rechten ("To recover our rights"). It registered to the FA only in 1925 and received the matricule n°533. The club enjoyed a spell in the first division in the late 1950s to the early 1960s and again from 1978 to 1986. After two seasons in the second division, K. Waterschei S.V. Thor Genk merged with K.F.C. Winterslag to form K.R.C. Genk. During the season 1982-83, the match Standard Liège-Waterschei had been bribed and the Standard eventually won the championship. Waterschei won the Belgian Cup twice (1980 and 1982). Quite remarkably, the latter victory led to Waterschei reaching the Semi - Finals of the European Cup Winners Cup in season 1982 - 83. After defeating PSG in the Quarter - Finals, Waterschei lost the First Leg of the Semi - Final 5 - 1 at Pittodrie, home of the eventual winners, Aberdeen F.C. A 1 - 0 victory in Waterschei, courtesy of Eddy Voordeckers, could not reverse the position. They then absorbed into Winterslag in 1988 to form the current club.
The new club was named K.R.C. Genk and as it kept the matricule of Winterslag, it began in the first division but it finished last. The next year Genk managed to win the final round and then played 4 seasons in the first division. In 1995 the chairman hired Aimé Anthuenis as a coach and Racing finished second and skipped the final round as two first division teams merged (Seraing and Standard Liège). After an eighth place in 1997, the club had a good 1997-98 season with a cup win and a second place in the championship. In its first European season, Racing Genk eliminated successively Apolonia and MSV Duisburg but it lost to RCD Mallorca in the round of 16 after two draws (1-1 on aggregate) in the last Cup Winners' Cup ever. The season was ended in beauty as Genk won its first Belgian championship in May after what the manager Aimé Anthuenis signed to Anderlecht.
Genk subsequently played the UEFA Champions League in 1999-2000 but lost in the second qualifying round to NK Maribor. It saved its season when it won the Belgian Cup again to Standard this time, but ended the championship in 9th place. It then finished 11th the next season and it lost in the UEFA Cup second round to Werder Bremen after a win against FC Zürich.
Last season, Genk ended second after Anderlecht. The Limburgians had lead almost the entire competition but lost the leadership to Anderlecht at the 28th day, after a loss on the field of Germinal Beerschot.
- As of March 5, 2006:
A = appearances, P = matches played, W = won, D = drawn, L = lost, GF = goals for, GA = goals against.
- 1980s:
Mark Farrington (1988-89)
- 1990s: Carmel Busuttil, Branko Strupar, Souleymane Oulare, Bart Goor, Marc Hendrikx, Philippe Clement
- 2000s: Didier Zokora, Josip Skoko, Koen Daerden, Kevin Vandenbergh, Moumouni Dagano, Mirsad Bešlija, Sunday Oliseh, Wesley Sonck
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Harry Lemmens
