Royal Charleroi S.C.
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| Full name | Royal Charleroi Sporting Club | ||
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| Nickname(s) | Les Zèbres (The Zebras), Les Carolos | ||
| Founded | January 1, 1904 (creation) November 24, 1907 (registration) | ||
| Ground | Stade du Pays de Charleroi, Charleroi | ||
| Capacity | 22,000 | ||
| Chairman |  Abbas Bayat | ||
| Manager |  Thierry Siquet | ||
| League | Belgian First Division | ||
| 2007-08 | Belgian First Division , 8th | ||
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R. Charleroi S.C. is a Belgian football club from the city of Charleroi, Hainaut.
Hailing from a French-speaking area, it has been recruiting several French players in recent years. It has played in the Belgian First Division since the 1985-86 season. The second club from the city is R.O.C. de Charleroi-Marchienne, which plays in the second division.
History
Charleroi Sporting Club was founded in 1904 and received the matricule n°22. Twenty years later, the club qualified to play in the second division and in 1929, the prefix Royale was added to the name. The R.O.C. was playing in the first division in the late 1930s and in the 1940s while the Sporting was one level down, until the promotion of RCSC in 1947.
In 1949, the Sporting finished 4th (2 points behind Standard Liège) whereas the Olympic was 14th. But the Olympic took the lead again until 1955 and the relegation of the O.C. Charleroi. In 1957, OCC had promoted in the first division but RCSC finished last. A spell of 9 seasons in the second division followed and in 1966, the Sporting was back at the top level. It finished 2nd in 1969 with 5 points less than Standard but it was relegated within two years.
In 1974 the first division was changing from 16 to 20 teams and Sporting Charleroi was chosen to play at that level. Olympic promoted too as it had won the second division right before but it was relegated the year after. Sporting underwent a new relegation in 1980 (17th on 18) but was back five years later. Its best result since then in the Jupiler League is a 4th place in 1994.
In September 2005, the G-14 took FIFA to court over the 8 month injury incurred by Abdelmajid Oulmers whilst on international duty with Morocco.
Colours and badge
The colours of Charleroi are black and white with a shirt generally striped, which lead to the team being nicknamed The Zebras. In the season 2005-06 the team's away kit was pink.
Stadium
- Main article: Stade du Pays de Charleroi
The actual ground was baptized in 1939 with a match Sporting-Union du Centre and it was located near the coal mine named Mambourg. In 1985 the stadium was slightly modernized as the club had qualified for the first division. It was then heavily renewed in the late 1990s in view of the 2000 European Football Championship. The name changed on May 24, 1999 from Stade du Mambourg to Stade du Pays de Charleroi. During the tournament, the full capacity of the stadium was up to 30,000 seats. The Stade du Pays de Charleroi hosted notably the match between Germany and England. The highest stand was eventually reduced and the capacity is now of about 25,000.
Current squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Players out on loan
Michael Blanc (to Union Royale Namur)- Damien Lahaye (to Union Royale Namur)
- Thomas Loic (to Union Royale Namur)
- Filippo Porco (to Union Royale Namur)
- Steve Verelst (to Union Royale Namur)
Former Players
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Belgium
Algeria Argentina Australia Brazil Cameroon Chile Croatia England
France |
Guinea Hungary Iran Ireland
Luxembourg FYROM Netherlands Nigeria Poland Romania Sierra Leone Sweden Togo Ukraine Yugoslavia
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Honours
- Belgian First Division:
- Runners-up (1): 1968-69
- Belgian Second Division:
- Winners (1): 1946-47
- Runners-up (1): 1965-66
- Belgian Second Division Final Round:
- Winners (1): 1985
- Belgian Cup:
- Runners-up (2): 1977-78, 1992-93
European record
- As of March 5, 2006:
| Competition | A | B | C | D | E | F | G |
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| UEFA Cup | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Intertoto Cup | 3 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 11 |
A = appearances, B = matches played, C = won, D = drawn, E = lost, F = goals for, G = goals against.