Club Brugge KV

Club Brugge
Full name	Club Brugge Koninklijke Voetbalvereniging (Club Bruges Royal Football association)
Nickname(s)	Blauw-Zwart (Blue-Black), Club, FCB
Founded	13 November 1891; 132 years ago Stamnummer (matricule number) 3
Ground	Jan Breydel Stadium
Capacity	29.042
President	Bart Verhaeghe
Head coach	Michel Preud'homme
League	Belgian Pro League
2015–16	Belgian Pro League, 1st
Website	Club website
	Current season

Club Brugge Koninklijke Voetbalvereniging (Dutch pronunciation: [klɵˈbrɵɣə ˈkoːnɪŋkləkə ˈvudbɑlvəˈreːnəɣɪŋ]),^[2] also referred to as just Club Brugge, is a football club based in Bruges in Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,472.

One of the most decorated clubs in Belgian football, it has been Belgian league champion on 14 occasions, second only to major rivals Anderlecht, and it shares the Jan Breydel Stadium with city rival Cercle Brugge, with whom they contest the Bruges derby.

Throughout its long history, Club Brugge has enjoyed much European football success, reaching two European finals and two European semi-finals. Club Brugge is the only Belgian club to have played the final of the European Cup (forerunner of the current UEFA Champions League) so far, losing to Liverpool in the final of the 1978 season. They also lost in the 1976 UEFA Cup Final to the same opponents. Club Brugge holds the European record number of consecutive participations in the UEFA Europa League (20), the record number of Belgian cups (11) and the record number of Belgian Supercups (14).

History

History of Club Brugge

Brugsche Football Club
(1891)

Football Club
Brugeois (1892)

Football Club Brugeois
(1897)

Royal Football Club Brugeois
(1920)

Club Brugge Koninklijke
Voetbalvereniging (1972)

File:Club Brugge logo 1970s.png

Logo of Club Brugge in the 1970s

1890: Brugsche Football Club

Club created by old students of the Catholic school Broeders Xaverianen and the neutral school Koninklijk Atheneum.

13 November 1891: Club recreated

The club was recreated. This has since been adopted as the official date of foundation.

1892: First board

An official board was installed in the club.

1894: Football Club Brugeois

Club created by 16 old members of Brugsche FC.

1895: Vlaamsche Football Club de Bruges

Club created in the city.

1895–96: the UBSSA set up in 1895. and they went to the UBSSA and took part of the first Belgian national league.
1896: Leaving the UBSSA

Financially it was difficult for FC Brugeois and so after only one year they had to leave the UBSSA.

1897: Fusion

FC Brugeois joined Brugsche FC but they continued under the name Football Club Brugeois.

1902: New fusion

Vlaamsche FC joined FC Brugeois.

1912: De Klokke

They moved to a new stadium named "De Klokke".

1913–14: First cup final

FC Brugeois reached their first Belgian Cup final but they lost 2–1 from Union SG.

1920: First time league champions

The club became for the first time champions of the first division.

1926: Royal Football Club Brugeois

The club get number 3 as their matricule number and in the same year they get the royal title.

1928: First relegation

A first low when the club was relegated to the second division.

1930: New statute

President Albert Dyserynck changed the club's statute into a non-profit association.

1931: Albert Dyserynckstadion

When president Albert Dyserynck suddenly died they honoured him by changing the stadium's name into Albert Dyserynckstadion.

1959: Permanent to the first division

RFC Brugeois promoted to the first division and never relegated again in the future.

1968: First time cup winners

They won the Belgian Cup for the first time against Beerschot AC (1–1, 7–6 after penalty's).

1972: Club Brugge Koninklijke Voetbalvereniging

The club changed their name into the Flemisch name Club Brugge KV

1975: Olympiastadion

They moved from Albert Dyserynckstadion to Olympiastadion (current Jan Breydelstadion).

1976: Highest position in UEFA Cup

Under Austrian coach Ernst Happel, Club Brugge reached the finals of the UEFA Cup and lost against Liverpool (3–2 and 1–1).

1978: Only Belgian European Cup 1 finalists

Still under Ernst Happel, the club faced Liverpool again of a European final. This time it was in the European Champions Clubs' Cup final. And again they lost (1–0). Club Brugge is the only Belgian club that has reached the finals of the European biggest competition.

1992: First goal scorer in the Champions League

Daniel Amokachi is the first goal scorer in the Champions League. He scored against CSKA Moscow.

1998: Jan Breydelstadion

Olympiastadion had to be expanded for the EURO 2000 organisation. They also changed the name into Jan Breydelstadion.

2006: CLUBtv

Club Brugge was the first Belgian club to create its own TV channel.

Crest and colours

The club don a black and blue home kit traditional to their history, away they wear a red strip.

Stadium

Supporters

Tifo before the Champions League game Club Brugge-Rapid Wien in 2005

Club Brugge is the most supported club in Belgium. it has fans all over the country. Attendances are high. The Jan Breydel Stadium is almost sold out at every home game. Some of these fans are part of 62 supporter clubs in Belgium, which have more than 10,000 members. The "Supportersfederatie Club Brugge KV", founded in 1967, is recognized as the official supporters club of Club Brugge.

Club Brugge's most vocal fans are known to gather in the 'Noord-tribune', the 'Kop', of the Jan Breydel Stadium. Club Brugge fans are known for their lively atmosphere, taking their inspiration from the British football culture. As such, the supporters of Club Brugge were labelled as 'the best supporters of Belgium' by a survey in 2015. The Blue Army is the club's main active supporter group. This group is responsible for the organization of tifos and the publishing of a fanzine. The North Fanatics are the club's second, smaller supporter group. They try to achieve a non-stop atmosphere in the stadium, by using smoke bombs, flags, flares, constant singing, etc.

In tribute the fans, often dubbed the twelfth man in football, Club Brugge no longer assigns the number 12 to players. Club Brugge also has a TV show, CLUBtv, on the Telenet network since 21 July 2006. This twice weekly show features exclusive interviews with players, coaches and managers.

Mascot

The official mascot of Club Bruges is a bear, symbol of the city of Bruges. The history of the bear is related to a legend of the first Count of Flanders, Baldwin I of Flanders, who had fought and defeated a bear in his youth. Since the end of 2000, a second mascot, always a bear, travels along the edge of the field during home games for fans to call and encourage both their favorites. These two bears are called Belle and Bene. In 2010, a third bear named Bibi, made its appearance. He is described as the child of the first two mascots, and is oriented towards the young supporters.

Rivalries

Like many historic clubs, Club Brugge contests rivalries with other Belgian clubs, whether at local (Cercle Brugge), regional level (Gent and Anderlecht).

Gent

At regional level, Club Brugge has maintained rivalry with Gent, a team in the neighboring province. The successes achieved by Club Bruges in the early 1970s, combined with very poor season performances by Gent in the same period, attracted many fans. Since the late 1990s, Gent again played a somewhat more leading role in Belgium, and matches against Club Brugge were often spectacles.

Anderlecht

The rivalry between Club Brugge and Anderlecht has developed since the 1970s. At that time, the Brussels-based club and Club Brugge won most trophies between them, leaving little room for other Belgian teams. Matches between these two teams were often contested for the title of champion of Belgium. Three Belgian Cup finals were played between the two clubs (with Anderlecht winning once and Club Brugge twice), and they played seven Belgian Supercups (Club Bruges won five). A match between these two sides is often called 'The Hate Game'. They are arguably the most heated fixtures in Belgian football.

Honours

Domestic

Belgian First Division

Winners (14): 1919–20, 1972–73, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1979–80, 1987–88, 1989–90, 1991–92, 1995–96, 1997–98, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2015–16

Runners-up (21): 1898–99, 1899-00, 1905–06, 1909–10, 1910–11, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1993–94, 1996–97, 1998–99, 1999-00, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2011–12, 2014–15

Belgian Cup

Winners (11): 1967–68, 1969–70, 1976–77, 1985–86, 1990–91, 1994–95, 1995–96, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2006–07, 2014–15

Runners-up (7): 1913–14, 1978–79, 1982–83, 1993–94, 1997–98, 2004–05, 2015–16

Belgian Supercup

Winners (14): 1980, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2016

Runners-up (3): 1995, 2007, 2015

International

European Champion Clubs' Cup Final: 1

1977–78

European Champion Clubs' Cup Quarter-final: 1

1976–77

UEFA Cup Final: 1

1975–76

UEFA Cup Semi-final: 1

1987–88

UEFA Cup / UEFA Europa League Quarter-final: 1

2014–15

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Semi-final: 1

1991–92

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Quarter-final: 2

1970–71, 1994–95

Kirin Cup Winners: 1

1981

Pre-Season Friendly

Amsterdam Tournament Winners: 1

1990

Players

First-team squad

As of 3 December 2016 – Notes: - 2 players are injured at the moment

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	FRA	Ludovic Butelle
2	DF	NED	Ricardo van Rhijn
3	MF	BEL	Timmy Simons (Captain)
4	DF	BEL	Björn Engels ()
5	DF	FRA	Benoît Poulain
6	MF	BRA	Claudemir
7	FW	BRA	Wesley
8	FW	ISR	Lior Refaelov (Vice-captain)
9	FW	BEL	Jelle Vossen
10	FW	MLI	Abdoulay Diaby ()
11	FW	COL	José Izquierdo
15	MF	ESP	Tomás Pina


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
16	GK	BEL	Sébastien Bruzzese
17	FW	BEL	Anthony Limbombe
19	FW	BRA	Felipe Gedoz
20	MF	BEL	Hans Vanaken
21	DF	BEL	Dion Cools
24	DF	NED	Stefano Denswil
25	MF	NED	Ruud Vormer
28	DF	BEL	Laurens De Bock
41	GK	BEL	Jens Teunckens
42	FW	BEL	Nikola Storm
44	DF	BEL	Brandon Mechele
63	DF	BEL	Boli Bolingoli

For recent transfers, see the list of Belgian football transfers summer 2016.

Registered reserve-team players


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
14	FW	CRO	Fran Brodić
90	FW	BEL	Terry Osei-Berkoe
92	DF	BEL	Laurent Lemoine


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
93	DF	BEL	Thibault Vlietinck
96	DF	BEL	Ahmed Touba

Out on loan


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
43	MF	BEL	Sander Coopman (on loan to Zulte Waregem)
46	FW	BEL	Dylan Seys (on loan to Twente)
--	FW	AUS	Bernie Ibini (on loan to Sydney)
--	DF	FRA	Jean-Charles Castelletto (on loan to Red Star)


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
--	FW	BRA	Leandro Pereira (on loan to Palmeiras)
--	FW	LVA	Valērijs Šabala (on loan to DAC)
--	FW	CHI	Nicolás Castillo (on loan to Universidad Católica)

Retired numbers

12 – The 12th man (reserved for the club supporters)

23 – François Sterchele, striker (2007–08). Posthumous; Sterchele died in a single-person car accident on 8 May 2008.

Reserve-team (U21) and Club Academy (U19) squad

As of 10 September 2016 – Note: Reserve players are given a "B" squad number.