Royal Antwerp F.C.

Royal Antwerp FC
Full name	Royal Antwerp Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Great Old
Founded	1880
Ground	Bosuilstadion; Antwerp, Belgium; (Capacity: 16,649)
Chairman	Gunther Hofmans
League	Belgian Second Division
2011–12	Belgian Second Division, 6th
Home colours	Away colours

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Redirected from R. Antwerp F.C.)

Jump to: navigation, search

Royal Antwerp Football Club, often simply referred to as Antwerp, is a Belgian football club based in the city of Antwerp.

Antwerp is the oldest football club to register to the Royal Belgian Football Association in 1895 and they consequently received the matriculate number one^{[clarification needed]} when matriculation numbers were introduced in 1926.^[1]^{[not in citation given]}

[edit] History

In 1900, most of the players left the club for the new neighbouring club of Beerschot AC, and this was the start of a long rivalry between both clubs. Antwerp have won 4 Belgian league titles so far, as well as 2 Belgian Cups. Antwerp FC is also the latest Belgian team to have played a European cup final, the 1993 European Cup Winners' Cup Final. They lost 3–1 to Parma FC at Wembley Stadium. They have been playing in the Belgian Second Division since 2004–05. They play their home matches at the Bosuilstadion since 1923.^[2] Antwerp colours are red and white.

Royal Antwerp have a long-term partnership with the English giants Manchester United, often taking their young players on loan so that their development can be aided with first team football, and young players who require European work-permits can benefit from Belgium's more relaxed laws.^[3] An example is Dong Fangzhuo, who was unable to play for Manchester United immediately due to work permit problems and was loaned to allow him to gain first team experience. Despite being one of Belgium's best-supported clubs, Antwerp have floundered in the second tier of the league for several years and are perennial under-achievers.

[edit] Honours

[edit] National

Belgian First Division

Champions (4): 1928–29, 1930–31, 1943–44, 1956–57

Belgian Second Division

Champions (1): 1999–2000

Belgian Cup

Champions (2): 1954–55, 1991–92

[edit] International

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup

Runners-up (1): 1992–93

[edit] Players

[edit] Current squad

As of 10 January, 2012^[4]

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

No.	Position	Player
1	GK	Kevin Wauthy
2	DF	Thomas Phibel
3	DF	Romeo Van Dessel (on loan from Mechelen)
4	MF	Andrei Ionescu
6	DF	Karel De Smet
7	MF	Wouter Smeets
8	MF	Benjamin Lambot
9	FW	Varin Mehta
11	MF	Justice Wamfor
14	DF	Zinho Chergui
15	FW	Tosin Dosunmu
16	DF	George Blay

No.	Position	Player
17	DF	Denis Viane
18	FW	John Cofie (on loan from Manchester United)
20	MF	Guy Dufour
21	GK	Théo Defourny (on loan from Olympique Lyon)
22	MF	Christophe Meyers
29	DF	Wesley Pollemans
30	MF	Jordi Nijs
31	GK	Jeroen Hofmans
43	DF	Marvin Peersman
99	FW	Oumar Diouck
	MF	Bruno Carvalho
	FW	Artjom Dmitrijev

[edit] Notable former players

This list of former players includes those who received international caps while playing for the team, made significant contributions to the team in terms of appearances or goals while playing for the team, or who made significant contributions to the sport either before they played for the team, or after they left. It is clearly not yet complete and all inclusive, and additions and refinements will continue to be made over time.