Cercle Bruges

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Cercle Bruges
Basic data
Surname	Cercle Brugge Koninklijke Sportvereniging
Seat	Bruges , Belgium
founding	April 9, 1899
Colours	green-black
Board	Vincent Goemaere
Website	cerclebrugge.be
First soccer team
Head coach	Paul Clement
Venue	Jan Breydel Stadium
Places	29,062
league	Division 1A
2019/20	14th place - end of the season
home Away

The Cercle Brugge Koninklijke Sportvereniging , commonly known in German-speaking countries as Cercle Brugge [ ˈsɛʁkɫ ˈbʁʏɡə ], is a Belgian football club. The home games are played at the Jan Breydel Stadium in Bruges. The stadium is shared with local rivals Club Bruges .

history

1899 to 1919: The early years of the club

Cercle Sportif Brugeois was founded on April 9, 1899 through a merger of Vlaamsche FC de Bruges and Rapid FC, initiated by the Xaverianen brothers. Originally, the club focused on five sports: soccer , cricket , tennis , running, and cycling .

The club joined the Royal Belgian Football Association in 1900, and the club was given matriculation number 12. Cercle achieved her first success in 1902 in the Henri Fraey Cup , defeating Olympique Iris Club Lillois (the predecessor of OSC Lille ) and US Tourcoing . After the team won a few small tournaments, Cercle scored their first major success and became Belgian champions in the 1910/11 season. Cercle ended this season one point ahead of their arch-rivals Club Brugge .

The First World War also had a devastating effect on Cercle: The club lost two players, Louis Baes and Joseph Evrard , and their stadium and club grounds suffered severe damage. Former player Alphonse Six , who scored 92 goals in 87 games for Cercle (1907-1912), also lost his life.

1919 to 1924: rebuilding

Cercle resumed their football in 1919 with an almost entirely new team. Louis Saeys was the only player who played for the team before the war. Expectations were low, but the club settled in the top half of the table for the next few years.

In 1921 the association unveiled a monument in memory of the members of Cercle Bruges who died in the First World War . The revelation was overshadowed by a tragedy when a double-decker crashed during the ceremony, killing the two occupants. The monument still exists and is now in front of the Jan Breydel Stadium .

In 1923 the club area was expanded. The pitch shifted 100 meters, the stadium was expanded and was known as the Edgard De Smedt Stadium for the next fifty years .

1924 to 1930: Belgian champion

In 1924 the club was given the royal name Royale Cercle Sportif Brugeois . The club began a successful era led by two playmakers: Florimond Vanhalme and Louis Saeys . In the 1925/26 season, Cercle was in first place after the first half of the season, but was only able to reach fifth place at the end of the season due to many player injuries and the poor second half result. Although some important players left the club afterwards, Cercle Brugge won their second Belgian championship and the Belgian cup competition for the first time a year later. The win was overshadowed by two deaths at the club a few months earlier: Albert Van Coile , who died of a serious injury in the game against US Tourcoing , and former President René de Peellaert , who died of pneumonia he died during the funeral of Van Coile had caught.

Cercle started the 1929/30 season poorly after the high expectations: after the first half of the season they reached seventh place and seven points behind the leaders Royal Antwerp . Nevertheless, they were able to reduce the gap to the front runner by one point at the end of the season. On the last day of the match, Cercle Bruges won 4-1 against Lierse SK , but at the same time Royal Antwerp lost 5-3 against tenth-placed Standard Liège . As a result, Cercle had won the third and so far last Belgian championship. Because Cercle won the championship, they were invited to take part in the Coupe des Nations , which is seen as the forerunner of the national champions' cup . Cercle Bruges lost the tournament in the first round against Slavia Prague 4-2.

1930 to 1938: downhill run

The team could not compensate for the successes of the previous season and reached seventh place at the end of the season. Further title ambitions were completely gone in the following years, as Cercle could not establish itself in the upper half of the table. The reasons during this time were, on the one hand, that some players ended their professional careers or moved to other clubs, and on the other, the young players who could not show their talents at this level.

The downward spiral reached a low point in 1936 with the descent into the second class . Cercle took the opportunity to make radical changes: the appointment of a new coach and board. The changes proved relatively successful and Cercle rose after two years back to the top Belgian league .

1939 to 1945: The Second World War in Belgium

The Second World War made regular football operations impossible in 1939. Therefore Cercle took part in regional championships, where the clubs met each other several times.

In 1941 the club took part again in the national competition, but Cercle finished the season as the penultimate. Ordinarily, this would mean that Cercle would descend. But the Belgian Football Association decided that due to the circumstances of the war, the limited training opportunities and youth development, no team should be relegated from the league.

In the 1942/43 season, Cercle was imposed a ghost game after an incident during a game against RSC Anderlecht .

Immediately after the liberation in 1944, an unofficial championship was held, which was to be played by the clubs that had qualified for the top division in 1939. Most of the clubs could not participate, and the Battle of the Bulge marked the end of this initiative. The final placements of this competition has never been archived by the Belgian Football Association.

1945 to 1961: ascent and descent

After the war Cercle Bruges could not avoid relegation in the first season (1945/46) from the top Belgian division and, although the team was considered a promotion favorite, Cercle did not come in seventh place in the 1946/47 season. For the next four seasons, performance was mixed. In 1951 the Belgian Football Association announced that for the next season 1952/53 the second highest division of two league relays ( Promotion A and Promotion B ) will be reduced to one relay. Cercle did not qualify for the new Division II - Cercle only reached 15th place at the end of the 1951/52 season - and had to play in the third highest division until 1956.

In the next two years the team in Division II had to fight relegation again, this time with more success, even if the second season was very close. The club had only earned nine points after the first half of the season, but relegation was secured on the last day of the game with a win. Shortly afterwards, the new French coach Edmond Delfour was introduced. The new coach brought Cercle on a new road to success: although they only narrowly missed promotion to the top division in 1959 and 1960, the team was able to celebrate promotion to the 1st division a year later .

1961 to 1965: brief resurrection

After 15 years, Cercle Bruges played again in the first division and stayed there for only five years. In the first season Cercle Brugge was able to claim the relegation battle for itself due to a changed table regulation. If two teams were tied (in the case of Cercle Brugge and THOR Waterschei ), the team that had fewer defeats and more victories was placed higher.

1965 to 1971: Tristesse and the five-year plan

At the end of the 1965/1966 season, Cercle Bruges finished last and had to play in the second division the next season. Worse still, the club was accused of corruption. The former Lierse SK player Bogaerts said that the Cercle Vice President Paul Lantsoght would be involved in bribery. The Belgian Football Association sentenced Cercle to relegation to the third division . Lantsoght sued the Belgian Football Association, which he had won in June 1967, but the sporting damage was great: Cercle remained in the third division, lost many important players and were therefore unable to immediately rise again.

For the 1967/68 season, Cercle Urbain named Braems as the new head coach. Braems had an ambitious plan: within five years Cercle Bruges should play in the top division again. In the first season Braems' team played for promotion to the second division and made it to the end with first place. In July 1968 the club name was changed to KSV Cercle Bruges .

Thanks to a good transfer policy, the club immediately played an important role in the second division. After 20 matchdays, Cercle led the second division, but ended the season in fourth place and four points behind the first-placed AS Ostend . In the next season, Cercle was also four points behind the first-placed KFC Diest . But in 1971, a year before the end of the five-year plan, Cercle Braems' goal achieved: the team finished the season in first place and played again in the top Belgian division.

1971 to 1997: establishment

Cercle tried with commitment Fernand Goyvaert and Benny Nielsenden to avoid relegation battle. The first results looked promising after the win against RSC Anderlecht and Club Brugge , both champions and runners-up this season. The team finished the season in fifth place. In the following years Cercle was able to establish himself in the safe middle field. In 1975, the club said goodbye to the Eggard De Smedt Stadium and moved to the Olympic Stadium, which was later renamed the Jan Breydel Stadium .

Jan Breydel Stadium

Between 1967 and 1977 Cercle only had two coaches, Urbain Braems and Han Grijzenhout - the latter left the club due to a lucrative offer from SC Lokeren . In 1977, Cercle appointed Lakis Petropoulos as the new coach. But the appointment came at a major disadvantage as there were linguistic difficulties between the Greek coach and his players. The club was relegated to the second division in the same season. Subsequently, Han Grijzenhout was reappointed as a trainer in order to make the promotion as soon as possible. After only one season, Cercle rose again to the first division.

After the short break, Cercle Bruges was able to further establish itself in the top Belgian league, this culminated in 1985 with the last Belgian Cup victory so far . For the first time since 1930, Cercle Bruges qualified for a European tournament. In the first round of the European Cup Winners' Cup , the team played against Dynamo Dresden and won the home game 3-2, but in Dresden Cercle lost 2-1. As a result, Cercle Bruges lost 4: 4 against Dynamo Dresden on the away goals rule . A year later, Cercle was back in the final to win the Belgian Cup, but the team lost 3-0 to city rivals Club Brugge.

In 1988 the club signed the Yugoslav striker Josip Weber (1964-2017). Despite the difficult start in Belgium, Weber turned out to be the best goalscorer of the post-war period for Cercle Bruges (136 goals in 204 league games). Weber was the top scorer in the first division from 1992 to 1994. Another prominent player was Romanian Dorinel Munteanu , who played for Cercle Bruges in the 1990s .

In 1996 the team reached the final in the Belgian cup competition again. Cercle Bruges lost the final again against Club Bruges. But, since Club Bruges became Belgian champions in the same season, Cercle Brugge qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup (for the 1996/97 season), where they played in the first round against the Norwegian team Brann Bergen . Cercle won the home game 3-2, but lost 4-0 in Bergen. Cercle then lost some important players, found no real substitute players and rose in 1997 together with KV Mechelen .

1997 to 2003: Second division

Cercle finished the first season in the second division in tenth place. In the next four years, the team settled in the middle of the table. For the 2002/03 season, the board elected a new president, Frans Schotte , and a new coach, the former player Jerko Tipurić , who also coached the team in the 1996/97 season. In 2003 the team reached first place and rose to the first division for the 2003/04 season.

Cercle Bruges since 2003

Under coach Jerko Tipurić, the club finished 14th with 35 points. The following year was played more offensively under the new coach Ham Van Veldhoven . On November 24, 2004, Nele Deboeuf, girlfriend of striker Denis Viane , died of an illness at the age of 27. The entire team was shocked and a period of poor performance followed. Nevertheless, a good result was achieved at the end of the season. At the end of the 2004/05 season Cercle Brugge was tied with Lierse SK , but ended up in 11th place due to the poor goal difference. When Van Veldhoven was announced as the new coach of Germinal Beerschot in 2007 , Cercle chose the former Anderlecht player and coach Glen De Boeck as his successor.

In his first year De Boeck surprised with successful attacking, attractive football. Cercle finished the season in fourth place - the best placement since World War II. At the end of the 2009/10 season, the team reached the final in the Belgian Cup competition, losing 3-0 to KAA Gent , which was enough to qualify for the Europa League . Shortly thereafter, coach Glen De Boeck surprisingly announced that he had signed a contract with Germinal Beerschot for the new season, despite having signed a 4-year contract with Cercle Bruges a month earlier. Cercle Brugge appointed Bob Peeters , reserve coach at KAA Gent, as the new coach.

On May 2, 2019, the separation from the previous coach Laurent Guyot was announced. Fabien Mercadal was signed on June 19, 2019 as the new coach with a two-year contract. After Cercle had only won once and lost nine times in the first ten match days of the 2019/20 season and was in last place in the table, the amicable separation with Fabian Mercadal was agreed on October 7, 2019.

On October 12, 2019, Bernd Storck was signed as the new coach. This succeeded through success in February 2020 that Cercle left the relegation zone. If the season was interrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic after the penultimate match day of the main round, relegation was ensured. On April 22, 2020, Storck informed the association that he would not be available for a contract extension beyond June 30, 2020.

A successor was only presented on July 3, 2020 with the Englishman Paul Clement . A three-year contract was signed with him.

Local rivals

In addition to Cercle Bruges, Club Bruges also plays in the first Belgian league. During the derby, the city is split in two. To date, a total of 132 derbies have been played.

successes

• Belgian champion (3)
  • 1911 , 1927 , 1930
• Belgian Cup Winner (2)
  • 1927, 1985

European Cup balance sheet

season	competition	round	opponent	total	To	Back
1985/86	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	1 round	Dynamo Dresden	(a)4: 4 ( a )	3: 2 (H)	1: 2 (A)
1996/97	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	1 round	Brann Bergen	3: 6	3: 2 (H)	0: 4 (A)
2010/11	UEFA Europa League	2nd qualifying round	Turku PS	( a ) 2: 2(a)	0: 1 (H)	2: 1 (A)
		3rd qualifying round	Anorthosis Famagusta	2: 3	1: 0 (H)	1: 3 (A)

Legend: (H) - home game, (A) - away game, (N) - neutral place, (a) - away goal rule , (i. E.) - on penalties , (n. V.) - after extra time

Overall record: 8 games, 4 wins, 4 defeats, 11:15 goals (goal difference −4)

Board

On January 14, 2020, Frans Schotte, who was chairman of Cercle Bruges from 2001 to 2011 and since 2014, resigned from his position. He was made honorary chairman. At the same time was Vincent Goemaere elected as the new chairman.

Player and coach

Well-known former players (selection)

Name of the player	Period	comment
Robert Braet	1928-1948	• Belgian champion 1930 with Cercle Bruges • Former Belgian national player
Kalusha Bwalya	1985-1989	• Former Zambian international
Albert Van Coile	1919-1927	• Former Belgian international
Alain De Nil	1988-1992	• Former Belgian international
Jan Ove Pedersen	1996-1997	• former Norwegian international
Fernand Goyvaerts	1971-1973	• Former Belgian international
Kari Laukkanen	1986-1987	• Former Finnish national player • Active in Germany for Stuttgarter Kickers and SV Waldhof Mannheim
Dorinel Munteanu	1993-1995	• Former Romanian national player • Active in Germany for 1. FC Köln and VfL Wolfsburg
Morten Olsen	1972-1976	• Former Danish national player • Active in Germany for 1. FC Köln
Marcel Pertry	1943-1955	• Record holder as top scorer for Cercle with 137 goals in 277 games
Alphonse Six	1907-1912	• former Belgian international • Belgian champion 1911 • played in the club's own youth team from 1906 to 1907 • scored 92 goals in 87 league games • first Belgian player to win a foreign championship
Didier Six	1980	• Former French national player • Active in Germany for VfB Stuttgart and VfB Leipzig
Julien Verriest	1965-1981	• 1985 in the Cup Winners Team of Cercle Bruges
Josip Weber	1988-1994	• Former Croatian and Belgian national team player • In 204 games for Cercle with 136 goals (2nd place top scorer for Cercle)

Cercles Trainer (incomplete)

Term of office	Nat.	Trainer	annotation
1914-1928		Louis Saeys
1928		Florimond Vanhalme
-	-	-
1937-1938		William Maxwell	• First coach of the Belgian national football team
-	-	-
1940-1941		Florimond Vanhalme
1941-1942		Louis Saeys
-	-	-
1954-1958		Guy Thys	• Active as a player- coach . • Between 1976 and 1991 coach of the Belgian national team
1958-1977		Han Grijzenhout
-	-	-
1978		Lakis Petropoulos
1978-1979		Han Grijzenhout
-	-	-
1982-1983		Han Grijzenhout
1983-1984		Henk Houwaart
1984-1987		Georges Leekens	• 1985 Belgian cup winner
1988-1991		Han Grijzenhout
1991-1993		Henk Houwaart
1994-1997		Jerko Tipurić
1998-2002		Dennis van Wijk
2002-2004		Jerko Tipurić
2004-2007		Harm van Veldhoven
2007-2010		Glen De Boeck
2010–2012		Bob Peeters
2012-2013		Foeke Booy
2013-2014		Lorenzo Staelens
2014-2015		Arnar Vidarsson
2015		Dennis van Wijk
2015-2016		Frédéric Vanderbiest
2016		Vincent Euvrard
2016-2017		José Riga
2017-2018		Franky Vercauteren
2018-2019		Laurant Guyot
2019		Fabien Mercadal
2019-2020		Bernd Storck
2020–		Paul Clement

Web links

• Official website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ officiele mededeling. Cercle Bruges, May 2, 2019, accessed June 20, 2019 (Dutch). 
2. ↑ Fabien Mercadal traine van Cercle Brugge. Cercle Bruges, June 19, 2019, accessed June 20, 2019 (Dutch). 
3. ↑ Cercle Brugge approved de samenwerking met Fabien Mercadal. Cercle Bruges, October 7, 2019, accessed October 7, 2019 (Dutch). 
4. ↑ Bernd Storck is the new trainer at Cercle. Belgian Broadcasting, December 10, 2019, accessed October 12, 2019 . 
5. ↑ officiele mededeling: Bernd Storck published Cercle Brugge. Cercle Bruges, April 22, 2020, accessed April 22, 2020 (Dutch). 
6. ↑ Welcom Coach. Cercle Bruges, July 3, 2020, accessed July 9, 2020 (Dutch). 
7. ↑ Raad van bestuur benoemt Vincent Goemaere tot nieuwe voorzitter van cvba Cercle Brugge. Cercle Bruges, January 14, 2020, accessed January 15, 2020 (French).