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Royal Antwerp
Full name	Royal Antwerp Football Club
Nickname(s)	Great Old
Founded	1880
Ground	Bosuilstadion, Antwerp (Capacity 16,649)
Chairman	Eddy Wauters
Manager	Warren Joyce
League	Belgian Second Division
2006-07	Belgian Second Division, 4th
Home colours 　 Away colours

Royal Antwerp FC is a Belgian football club, from the city of Antwerp in Antwerp (province). Antwerp became the first football club to register to the Belgian Football Association and it received consequently the matricule number one. In 1900, most of the players left the club for the new Beerschot A.C. It is also the last Belgian team to play in a European cup final (namely the Cup Winners' Cup) in 1993, losing 3-1 to Parma A.C. at Wembley Stadium.

Royal Antwerp also have a long-term partnership with the English club Manchester United F.C., often taking their young players on loan so that their development can be aided with first team football, and young players who require European work-permits can benefit from Belgium's more relaxed laws.

Contents 1 History 1.1 The first years (1880--1901) 1.2 The first titles (1901-1953) 1.3 The European years (1953--1975) 1.3.1 In national competitions 1.3.2 In European competitions 2 Current squad 2007/08 3 Honours 4 References

Founded in 1880 as Antwerp Cricket, Football & Lawn Tennis Club, the football club grew in prominence and the club's name became Antwerp Football Club in 1894. The next year, it was the first club to register to the brand new FA. It thus took part in the first Belgian championship and finished 2nd behind F.C. Liégeois.

Antwerp ended the following two championships in 3rd (of 6) and 5th (of 5) place but avoided relegation as the first division was expanded in 1898 (two leagues). However, the club finished last in its league again. The next year however, it won its league and played a test-match against Racing Club de Bruxelles in Leuven on April 8, 1900. An own goal by an Antwerp defender gave the title to the Brussels side.

Some time earlier, a previous Antwerp goalkeeper, Alfred Grisar, who was studying in England, had suggested to his father, a race course owner in Antwerp, that he create a sports club. The father agreed but died soon after so Alfred came back to Belgium to manage the club with some friends. He chose to take care of the football club that he named Beerschot. Grisar then asked the Antwerp F.C. players to play for his team and they agreed as the club had the best facilities in the city. Almost every player of Antwerp left the club after the 1-0 defeat to Racing Club.

Antwerp thus decided to withdraw from the league to build a new team in the second division. It was back at the top level in 1901.

While Beerschot was the leading team in the city, Antwerp was getting better and better in the 1920s. In 1925 it finished in second place 6 points behind Beerschot. Four seasons later the first championship was won by the matricule n°1 after a test-match against the rival Beerschot (2-0). The next year Antwerp F.C. finished one point away from the champion CS Brugeois. And in 1931 the players lifted the trophy for the second time.

The "Great Old" had definitely taken over the lead in Antwerp football and it confirmed its status in the next few years. But Beerschot came back and won two more titles in the late 1930s. During World War II, Antwerp brought the trophy back to the Bosuilstadion but the rivalry with the purple and white was still present.

As with a number of other clubs, an English manager named Harry Game was hired in 1953. Antwerp won the Belgian Cup two years later against Waterschei Thor (4-0), the year of the 75th anniversary of the club. In spite of the domination of R.S.C. Anderlecht in the 1950s, the Red and White managed to win the championship for the fourth time in 1957. The season after, they finished 2nd with the same number of points as Standard Liège but Liège had fewer defeats and thus won according to the rules of the competition.

After winning the Belgian Cup in 1992 against K.V. Mechelen, Royal Antwerp Football Club played the European Cup Winner's Cup in the '92-'93 season. A glorious campaign lead the team to the Cup Winners Cup Final at Wembley on 13th May 1993 against Parma AC. The Final was lost 1-3, the Antwerp goal was scored by Cisse Severeyns.

No. Position Player 1 GK Predrag Ristovic 2 DF Roel van Hemert 3 DF Ray Fränkel 5 DF Kirk Hilton 8 MF Kevin Baert 9 FW Luciano Olguín 10 FW Stavros Glouftsis 11 FW Peter Utaka 12 DF Bobsam Elejiko 14 MF Spencer Verbiest 15 DF Philippe Fostier 16 DF Ransford Addo 17 MF David Geeroms 18 FW Emmanuel Kenmogne 19 MF Souleymane Mamam

No. Position Player 20 MF Sean Doherty 21 GK Kevin Wauthy 22 MF Richie Ryan 23 DF Henry McStay 24 MF Zarko Jelicic 31 GK Jochem Tanghe 33 MF Marco Gbarssin DF Craig Cathcart (on loan from Manchester United) DF Michael Lea (on loan from Manchester United) FW Volkan Özen FW Darko Pivaljevic FW Sacha Verveckken DF Bart De Corte MF Franky Pelgrims

• Belgian First Division:
  • Winners (4): 1928-29, 1930-31, 1943-44, 1956-57
  • Runners-up (11): 1895-96, 1924-25, 1929-30, 1931-32, 1932-33, 1945-46, 1955-56, 1957-58, 1962-63, 1973-74, 1974-75
• Belgian Cup:
  • Winners (2): 1954-55, 1991-92
  • Runners-up (1): 1974-75
• Cup Winners' Cup:
  • Runners-up (1): 1992-93

• Official website

Belgian Second Division, 2007/08 v • d • e
Antwerp | SK Beveren | OC Charleroi | SK Deinze | AS Eupen | VW Hamme | KV Kortrijk | Lierse | OH Leuven | UR Namur | KV Oostende | Tienen | FC Tournai | FC Tubize | Union SG | KVSK United | Virton | Waasland
Football in Belgium v • d • e
League competitions The FA Cup competitions and awards Jupiler League Belgium Cup Second division Women Supercup Third division (A, B) List of clubs Golden Shoe Promotion (A, B, C, D) List of venues Professional football awards