Royal Sporting Club Anderlecht History

The first years (1908--1935)

Founded as Sporting Club Anderlechtois in 1908 by some football fans at the Concordia café (rue d'Aumale in Anderlecht, a municipality of Brussels), the club beat Institut Saint-Georges on its first match (11-8). As they were winning most of their matches, the secretary decided to join the official competition in 1909. They began at the regional level and at the end of the season, they had already qualified to play in the higher division. In 1913, they reached the national level, ascending to the second division (called promotion at the time). They ended the season at the fourth place (behind Uccle Sport, R.C. Mechelen and K.V. Mechelen).

Because of the World War I, the championship was stopped until 1919. However, with the popularity of the team increasing, it was decided that Anderlecht would play at the Parc Astrid (known as Parc du Meir at that time) in a new stadium they baptized Stade Emile Versé in 1917. In 1919-20, it finished 3rd this time but failed to qualify for the top division. Nonetheless, at the end of that season, the Belgian Football Association decided to let two more club play the first division which meant that the three top clubs in the second division would be promoted. Three teams finished with 22 points behind Tilleur and Standard Liège (two teams from Liège): Anderlecht, T.S.V. Lyra and F.C. Liégeois. A test-match was organized and finally won by the Brussels team. On April 16, 1921, the fans had a short sleep.

The first season at the top level was tough as the club reached the 12th place with one point more than the best relegated team. With only 15 points in 26 matches (a win earned two points at the time) at the end of the 1922-23 season, it was not enough to stay in first division. They managed to win the second division right after that and finished 9th in first division in 1925. But again, in 1926, they were relegated. In total, they were relegated four times in ten years to the second division (1923, 1926, 1928 and 1931), receiving the nickname of lift club by rivals Union Saint-Gilloise and Daring de Bruxelles. Their best ranking was obtained in 1930 when they reached the 5th place in first division. The club changed its name to Royal Sporting Club Anderlechtois in 1933 after 25 years of existence. In 1935, they won one of the two leagues of the second division (the other one was won by Club Brugge) and promoted to first division again, for the last time in their history.

The first titles (1935--1968)

National competitions

Anderlecht reached the 5th place again in 1939. The championship was then suspended due to World War II for two years. Jef Mermans, a striker from Tubantia Borgerhout was transferred in 1942 for a fee of 125,000 Belgian francs, a record in Belgium at that time. The first title was won in 1947 after they finished 2nd in 1944 and 3rd in 1946 (the championship was not finished in 1945). The succes grew in the following years as they won 6 more titles between 1949 and 1956 (twice three in a row) and 2 more in 1959 and 1962. In the 1960s, under the coaching of Pierre Sinibaldi, the club even won 5 titles in a row (from 1964 until 1968), which is still the record in Belgian football. The leader of the team was then Paul Van Himst (topscorer in 1965, 1967 and 1969 and Belgian Golden Shoe in 1960, 1961, 1965 and 1974). On September 30, 1964, the Belgium national football team played against the Netherlands with 11 players from Anderlecht on the ground after the substitution of F.C. Liégeois goalkeeper Delhasse by Jean Trappeniers. The 10 other players were: Heylens, Verbiest, Plaskie, Cornelis, Hanon, Jurion, Stockman, Devrindt, Van Himst and Puis. Since the arrival of Sinibaldi, the team was playing with a "Brazilian" 4-2-4 tactics, leaving the WM tactics (defense in W and attack in M, i.e. a kind of 2-3-3-2) of former coach, the Englishman Bill Gormlie. After three titles won (in a row), Sinibaldi left the club and was replaced by Hungarian Andreas Beres who won the next two titles.

European competitions

Anderlecht played in 1955 in the first Champions' Cup, and lost its two matches against MTK Budapest. A year later, it was eliminated after the preliminary round against Manchester United (12-0 on aggregate). In 1959, for their next European competition, they lost their two matches again, this time to Rangers. Anderlecht then had to wait until the 1962-63 season to play in Europe. And it won its first European match (1-0, goal by Joseph Jurion) on the second leg against Real Madrid after a 3-3 draw in Spain. For the first time it advanced to the second round, where it beat CSKA Sofia before losing to Dundee United in the quarter-finals.

In 1964, after a 1-0 win at home, Anderlecht lost 2-1 at Bologna FC, and both teams had to play a third match (in Barcelona) that finished on a 0-0 draw. Anderlecht finally qualified on a coin toss. In the second round, it lost against Liverpool. The year after, it reached the quarter-finals again to meet Real Madrid. But an obvious bribe of the referee in the second leg helped the Spanish to progress in the cup after a 4-3 victory on aggregate (the Belgian had won the first match 1-0). In 1966 and 1967, it lost in the second round against a Czech team (first FK Marila Príbram, then AC Sparta Praha).

The European years (1968--1984)

National competitions

The next domestic title was won in 1972 on the last matchday. Indeed, the other team from Brussels, namely Racing White, managed to keep the draw against leader Club Brugge that finished 2nd with the same number of points than Anderlecht. The same year, Rob Rensenbrink was transferred from Club Brugge. In 1973, the club from Brugge won the championship at the Parc Astrid, a nice revenge (they had finished 2nd the last 5 seasons), while Les Mauve et Blanc ended at the 6th rank, a poor performance (the worst since 1952). This was the beginning of a long rivalry between the two teams. A year later, Anderlecht finished on top once again with a team comprising players like Robbie Rensenbrink, Ludo Coeck, Paul Van Himst and Attila Ladynski. Between 1975 and 1984, Anderlecht only won one championship but they achieved European succes (see below). Their worst ranking obtained during this period was a 5th place in 1980. In the winter of 1980-81, Juan Lozano was added to the team, as were Morten Olsen, Luka Peruzovic and Tomislav Ivic (coach) during the summer of 1980. The 17th title was won at the end of the season. The season 1982-83 was an important one: the stadium was planned to be rebuilt, the former leader of the team, Paul Van Himst, was chosen as the new coach, and a new European title was won. But in the domestic league, Anderlecht reached the 2nd place behind Beveren.

European competitions

Anderlecht reached its first European final in 1970 in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, which became the UEFA Cup two years later. That year, it was decided that, in case of a draw after two matches, the team that had scored the most goals away was qualified. That rule permitted Anderlecht to beat Dunfermline and Newcastle United respectively at the second and third stage of the competition (they beated Valur Reykjavik during the first round). In the semifinals, the team from Brussels beat Internazionale, but they lost 3-0 at Highbury in the final, after they had won the first leg 3-1 against Arsenal.

Six years later, Anderlecht qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup, and it won. It eliminated easily Rapid Bucharest, then Banja Luka (from Yugoslavia). The third round was more difficult against Welsh cup winner Wrexham A.F.C. (though it was playing in the third English division). They beated Zwickau (from East Germany) in the semifinals. It had been decided earlier that the final had to be played at the Heysel in Brussels. This was thus a good opportunity for the Brussels team to win its first European title, and it did as it won 4-2 against the English side West Ham United. Robbie Rensenbrink and François Van Der Elst scored twice each, while Ludo Coeck, one of the key players of the team, was injured. Anderlecht also won the European Supercup that year against Bayern München (4-1 at home after a 2-1 defeat at the Olympiastadion).

The next year, the club lost in final against Hamburger SV (2-0) in the same competition. It took its revenge a season later at the second round of the Cup Winners' Cup against the German side, then eliminated FC Porto and FC Twente to reach the final for the third time in a row. And they won the cup again with a 4-0 victory against the Austria Wien (with goals by Rob Rensenbrink and Gilbert Van Binst). Again, the team won the Supercup, this time against Liverpool.

The day before the journey to Kuopion Pallotoverit for the UEFA Cup first round in 1982, Paul Van Himst replaced the coach Tomislav Ivic. Anderlecht easily won (6-1 on aggregate) as they did against FC Porto (6-3) in the second round and against Sarajevo (6-2). Two wins against Valencia CF allowed the club to play Bohemians Praha in the semifinals (win 4-1 on aggregate). For their first final since the UEFA Cup replaced the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, Anderlecht beated SL Benfica to win their fifth European trophy in 7 years. The key players of the team were then Franky Vercauteren and Juan Lozano.

In 1984, Anderlecht reached the final of the UEFA Cup again but it was more difficult. In the round of 16, it was leading 0-1 at RC Lens with a goal by Erwin Vandenbergh but a stone on the ground changed the direction of an easy ball for the goalkeeper Jacky Munaron and the Frenchmen equalized. At home, Anderlecht secured a 1-0 win. After they beated Spartak Moskva in quarter-finals, they lost with 2-0 at Nottingham Forest. Then, the president at the time (Constant Vanden Stock) bribed the referee of the second leg to insure a place in the final game. The Purple and White won by 3-0. In the final, Tottenham Hotspur won after penalty shootout. The scandal of the semifinal was discovered in the Belgian newspapers in September 1997. The UEFA decided to ban Anderlecht from the European competitions for one year (1998-99). But a decision by the TAS (the Court of Sports Arbitration, a sports tribunal set up by the International Olympic Committee) overturned the ban.

Recent years (1984--2005)

National competitions

After three years ended at the second place, the Purple and White secured a easy 18th title in 1985, 11 points ahead of Club Brugge. The club scored 100 goals in the 34 matches scheduled that season. It was the first title under the coaching of Paul Van Himst who was fired in the middle of the following season, replaced by Arie Haan. The team comprised then players like Jacky Munaron, Franky Vercauteren, Morten Olsen, Luka Peruzovic, Erwin Vandenbergh, Alexandre Czerniatynski, Enzo Scifo and Georges Grün. In 1986, Anderlecht won the championship again, but this time after a two-legged playoff game against Club Brugge. The Flemish had forced the draw 1-1 in Anderlecht, and lead 2-0 at home after thirty minutes. But the Sporting managed to score twice.

Anderlecht won its 20th championship on the last matchday of the 1986-87 season. It easily beat Berchem Sport (that was already relegated) while co-leaders KV Mechelen lost to Club Brugge who needed a win to qualify for the UEFA Cup. Franky Vercauteren and Enzo Scifo were transferred in the summer and Juan Lozano had been heavily injured in a game at KSV Waregem a few months earlier. The weakened team headed by Raymond Goethals finished only 4th in 1988 behind Club Brugge, Mechelen and Antwerp. But it managed to lift the Belgian Cup for the 6th time in history, after a 2-0 victory against Standard (goals by Luc Nilis and Edi Krncevic). The next year, Anderlecht retained the trophy with goals by Krncevic and Jankovic (2-0 to Standard again), but finished second in the championship. After the second cup win, Raymond Goethals left for Girondins de Bordeaux. At the end of the 1992-93 season, R.S.C. Anderlechtois merged with the women team Brussels Dames '71 to become R.S.C. Anderlecht.

Colours and badge

Anderlecht colours are purple and white, though the home kit is black and purple since the 2005-06 season. Prior to this, the home kit was generally white with a bit of purple. In the beginning, purple was the main colour of the shirts.

The motto of Anderlecht (Mens sana in corpore sano) is written on its badge as are the three letters SCA referring to the initial name of the club (Sporting Club Anderlechtois). A crown was added in 1933 following the name change to Royale Sporting Club Anderlechtois.

Stadium

R.S.C. Anderlecht plays its home matches at the Constant Vanden Stock Stadium located within the Astrid park in the municipality of Anderlecht. The board of directors is currently considering a move to a bigger stadium that would not neccesarily lie in Anderlecht.

Anderlecht has been playing in the Astrid park since the building of the Emile Versé Stadium in 1917. It was completely renewed in 1983 and it took the name of the then chairman Constant Vanden Stock.