KVC Westerlo
| KVC Westerlo | ||||
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| Basic data | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surname | Koninklijke Voetbal Club Westerlo | |||
| Seat | Westerlo , Belgium | |||
| founding | September 5, 1933 (foundation) October 1, 1935 (registration) August 5, 1942 (merger) |
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| Colours | yellow blue | |||
| president | Herman Wijnants | |||
| Website | kvcwesterlo.be | |||
| First soccer team | ||||
| Head coach | Bob Peeters | |||
| Venue | Het Kuipje , Westerlo | |||
| Places | 7,982 | |||
| league | Division 1B | |||
| 2018/19 | 4th Place | |||
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The KVC Westerlo is a football club from Westerlo in the Belgian province of Antwerp . The club has been playing in Division 1B since the 2017/18 season . It is affiliated with the Royal Belgian Football Association and has the registration number 2024. The club colors are yellow and blue. One of the greatest successes in the club's history was winning the Belgian Cup in 2001.
history
In 1917, students in Westerlo founded the Sportkring de Bist Westerlo , but its activities were discontinued in 1922. From 1924 to 1930 the Westerlo Footbaal Club existed for a time , which was registered with the Belgian Football Association under number 379. In 1931, the former Bist Sport club was finally re-established and on October 1, 1933, it became part of the Belgian Football Association under the name Sportkring Westerloo , with the number 2027. Some players had left the club and founded Club Westerlo Sport , which was also registered with the Belgian Football Association on October 1, 1933 and was assigned the number 2024. Finally, on August 5, 1942, the two clubs merged to form the Voetbalclub Westerlo , which from then on operated under the number 2024.
In 1968 the club appeared for the first time in the lowest Belgian league, was able to prevail there and rose to the third division. After two seasons, however , the Voetbalclub Westerlo rose again to the fourth division and in 1981 could not hold up there either. 1984 succeeded again the promotion to the fourth division and for the 1985/86 season the club was able to switch to the third division. In 1993 they won the title there, so that the club rose to the second division for the first time in its history . After the Voetbalclub was awarded the royal title in 1994, the club was officially called Koninklijke Voetbalclub Westerlo . 1997 Westerlo prevailed in the finals of the second division and rose to the first division.
There the club played mostly in the midfield of the league. In the 1999/2000 season the club was able to provide the top scorer of the Belgian first division with Toni Brogno and his 30 goals.
In the same season, the club was able to develop a reputation as a strong home team. KVC Westerlo only lost once during the entire season at their own stadium 't Kuipke. Big clubs like Club Brugge or Standard Lüttich had to leave the field as losers. The RSC Anderlecht , who was close to the championship, even lost with 5: in Westerlo 0th The club also hold a Belgian record by beating KV Mechelen 8-0 at home.
In 2001 the club won the Belgian Cup competition, but the years that followed were not so successful. Some regulars left the club and Westerlo did not have the resources to replace the players on an equal footing. Westerlo became a gray mouse in the Belgian Jupiler League .
Under the leadership of President Herman Wijnants , Westerlo should break away from the “gray mouse” image. Cooperations have been concluded with Feyenoord Rotterdam and Chelsea FC . As a result of this collaboration, some players were temporarily loaned to Westerlo.
In 2005, coach Jan Ceulemans moved to Club Bruges after six years in office . He was succeeded by Herman Helleputte . Well-known Belgian players such as Ronny Gaspercic and Nico Van Kerckhoven were signed during the 2005 summer break .
The 2004/05 season ended Westerlo in fourth place, just one point behind the third-placed. From 2007 to 2012 the KVC Westerlo was trained again by Jan Ceulemans . In the 2008/09 season the club reached 6th place in the Jupiler Pro League. Since 2008, Westerlo has been running the Westerlo Football Academy in Lagos with the Julius Berger Nigeria PLC Group .
After the 2011/12 season they rose as the penultimate in the second division . For the 2014/15 season , the club managed to return to the Belgian upper house. At the end of this season, Westerlo finished in midfield.
In the next season the club reached 15th place with only one point ahead, so that relegation was just avoided. In the 2016/17 season this no longer succeeded: one point behind, they were in last place at the end of the season and relegated to Division 1B .
In December 2017, the club finished next to last after more than half of the games. In this situation, Bob Peeters, who had already saved Westerlo from relegation in 2015/16, was signed as the new coach. The previous coach Vedran Pelic became assistant coach under Peeters.
Initially, the club still finished penultimate at the end of the main round and had to participate in the relegation round. This was completed in second place, thus avoiding relegation.
In November 2018 Peeters also received a trainer offer from Waasland-Beveren . He refused. In return, Westerlo extended his contract until 2023.
The 2018/19 season ended Westerlo in fourth place in the overall table, so the relegation round was avoided. This enabled the club to take part in the play-off 2 of the First Division , where it reached 3rd place.
successes
- Belgian Cup Winner : 2001
- Belgian Cup finalist: 2011
Former players (selection)
- Andrzej Rudy
- Michal Ščasný
- Kevin Vandenbergh
- Lukazs Zelenka
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Bob Peeters is the best trainer at Westerlo. Gazett van Antwerpen, December 5, 2017, accessed June 11, 2019 (Dutch).
- ^ Trainer Bob Peeters aan het woord. KVC Westelo, November 16, 2018, accessed June 11, 2019 (Dutch).