Westerlo
Full nameKoninklijke Voetbal Club
Westerlo
Nickname(s)De Kemphanen
Founded5 September 1933 (5 September 1933)
GroundHet Kuipje
Capacity8,035[1]
ChairmanOktay Ercan
ManagerRik De Mil
LeagueBelgian Pro League
2022–23Belgian Pro League, 8th of 18
WebsiteClub website

Koninklijke Voetbal Club Westerlo (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈkoːnɪŋkləkə ˈvudbɑl ˌklʏp ˈʋɛstərloː]; often simply called Westerlo) is a Belgian professional football club located in the municipality of Westerlo in the province of Antwerp. Since 1997–98, Westerlo has been mostly playing in the Belgian Pro League, save for a short stint in the Belgian Second Division between 2012 and 2014. Their highest finish is a 6th place in 1999–00, 2003–04 and 2008–09. They have won one Belgian Cup. The only player who has ever been called up for the Belgium national football team while at Westerlo is Toni Brogno (7 caps, all of them while at Westerlo).

The club was founded in 1933, receiving the matricule number 2024. Their colours are yellow and blue. They play their home matches at the Het Kuipje.

History

K.V.C. Westerlo was founded in the city of Westerlo by students in 1917, and it was named Sportkring De Bist Westerlo. After five years of existence, the club retired. The club Bist Sport was created in 1931 and it changed its name to Sportkring Westerlo two years later. At that time. some players left the club to found Westerlo Sport, the ancestor of K.V.C. Westerlo. In 1939, the club won its league for the first time. Five years later, Sportkring Westerlo and dissident Westerlo Sport decided to merge in spite of the rivalry between the teams, and the new club was called V.C. Westerlo.

It became champion of the Antwerp second division in 1960. Eight years later it played its first season at the national level in Promotion and it won its league to play the third division in 1969. At the end of the season, Westerlo missed a third title in a row, finishing second behind Eupen. The next year, the club was relegated after the playoff and it stayed in the Promotion for ten seasons. The club then underwent two relegations in a row and thus played in the Antwerp second division in 1982–83. Westerlo was then promoted for three consecutive years to qualify for the third division once again. In 1993, the club promoted to the second division and then to the first division in 1997. In 1996, the club added the prefix Koninklijke (meaning "Royal" in Dutch) to its name.

On 18 June 2019 it was officially announced that the club was taken over by Turkish businessman Oktay Ercan. He immediately made it clear that KVC Westerlo will remain a regional family club, and that more attention will be paid to the social dimension and sporting ambitions. Ercin expressed his commitment in 2019 to a year-long plan called 'KVC Westerlo 2024'.[2]

Stadium

Westerlo plays its home matches at Het Kuipje, which is Dutch for "The Cockpit". Its capacity is 8,035.[3]

Honours

European record

Competition Appearances Matches Won Drawn Lost GF GA
UEFA Cup / Europa League2611428
UEFA Intertoto Cup2401 3014
Season Competition Round Nat Club Home Away
2000 UEFA Intertoto Cup 1R Slovenia Primorje 0–6 0–5
2001–02 UEFA Cup 1R Germany Hertha Berlin 0–2 0–1
2004 UEFA Intertoto Cup 2R Czech Republic Tescoma Zlín 0–0 0–3
2011–12 UEFA Europa League Q2 Finland TPS Turku 0–0 1–0
Q3 Switzerland Young Boys 0–2 1–3

Current squad

As of 6 September 2023[4]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Turkey TUR Sinan Bolat
2 DF Belgium BEL Pietro Perdichizzi
4 MF Belgium BEL Mathias Fixelles
5 MF Australia AUS Jordan Bos
6 MF Turkey TUR Doğucan Haspolat
7 MF Belgium BEL Lukas Van Eenoo
8 MF Denmark DEN Nicolas Madsen
9 FW Croatia CRO Matija Frigan
13 FW Scotland SCO Adedire Mebude
14 FW Belgium BEL Kyan Vaesen
15 MF Ukraine UKR Serhiy Sydorchuk
18 MF United States USA Griffin Yow
19 FW Belgium BEL Irsan Muric
20 GK Belgium BEL Nick Gillekens
21 FW North Macedonia MKD Erdon Daci
No. Pos. Nation Player
22 DF United States USA Bryan Reynolds
24 DF Turkey TUR Ravil Tagir (on loan from İstanbul Başakşehir)
25 DF Belgium BEL Tuur Rommens
30 GK Belgium BEL Koen Van Langendonck
32 DF Bulgaria BUL Edisson Jordanov
33 DF Russia RUS Roman Neustädter
34 FW Morocco MAR Ilias El Hari
39 MF Belgium BEL Thomas Van den Keybus
40 DF Turkey TUR Emin Bayram (on loan from Galatasaray)
46 DF Belgium BEL Arthur Piedfort
76 FW Belgium BEL Lucas Stassin
77 FW Costa Rica CRC Josimar Alcócer
79 MF Japan JPN Yusuke Matsuo (on loan from Urawa Reds)
89 MF Belgium BEL Nacer Chadli

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
DF Belgium BEL Rubin Seigers (at Zulte Waregem until 30 June 2024)
MF Slovakia SVK Ján Bernát (at Spartak Trnava until 30 June 2024)
MF Guinea GUI Sékou Camara (at Houtvenne until 30 June 2024)
No. Pos. Nation Player
MF Turkey TUR Muhammed Gümüşkaya (at Samsunspor until 30 June 2024)
MF Belgium BEL Simon Paulet (at Olympic Charleroi until 30 June 2024)
FW Ivory Coast CIV Fernand Gouré (at DAC Dunajská Streda until 30 June 2024)

Coaching staff

Position Staff
ManagerBelgium Jonas De Roeck
Assistant ManagerBelgium Eric Reenaers
Morocco Mohamed Messoudi
First-Team CoachBelgium Kevin Van Haesendonck
Belgium Bart Goor
Goalkeeping CoachBelgium Paul Peeters
Fitness CoachBelgium Rudger Van Snick
Head of ScoutingBelgium Niel Cuijvers
ScoutBelgium Francesco Carratta
Belgium Stan Van den Buijs

Managers

References

  1. het kuipje Archived 2018-03-30 at the Wayback Machine, kvcwesterlo.be (last check 30/03/2018)
  2. "KVC Westerlo 2024". 21 November 2020.
  3. het kuipje Archived 2018-03-30 at the Wayback Machine, kvcwesterlo.be (last check 30/03/2018)
  4. "Doelmannen" (in Dutch). K.V.C. Westerlo. Archived from the original on 13 October 2017. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
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