K.V.C. Westerlo

Koninklijke Voetbal Club Westerlo (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈkoːnɪŋkləkə ˈvudbɑl ˌklɵp ˈʋɛstərloː]; often simply called Westerlo) is a Belgian professional football club located in the municipality of Westerlo in the province of Antwerp. Since 1997–98, Westerlo has been mostly playing in the Belgian Pro League, save for a short stint in the Belgian Second Division between 2012 and 2014. Their highest finish is a 6th place in 1999–00, 2003–04 and 2008–09. They have won one Belgian Cup. The only player who has ever been called up for the Belgium national football team while at Westerlo is Toni Brogno (7 caps, all of them while at Westerlo).

Westerlo

Full name	Koninklijke Voetbal Club Westerlo
Nickname(s)	De Kemphanen
Founded	5 September 1933; 89 years ago (5 September 1933)
Ground	Het Kuipje
Capacity	8,035^[1]
Chairman	Oktay Ercan
Manager	Jonas De Roeck
League	Belgian First Division A
2021–22	Belgian First Division B, 1st (promoted)
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours

The club was founded in 1933, receiving the matricule number 2024. Their colours are yellow and blue. They play their home matches at the Het Kuipje.

History

K.V.C. Westerlo was founded in the city of Westerlo by students in 1917, and it was named Sportkring De Bist Westerlo. After five years of existence, the club retired. The club Bist Sport was created in 1931 and it changed its name to Sportkring Westerlo two years later. At that time. some players left the club to found Westerlo Sport, the ancestor of K.V.C. Westerlo. In 1939, the club won its league for the first time. Five years later, Sportkring Westerlo and dissident Westerlo Sport decided to merge in spite of the rivalry between the teams, and the new club was called V.C. Westerlo.

It became champion of the Antwerp second division in 1960. Eight years later it played its first season at the national level in Promotion and it won its league to play the third division in 1969. At the end of the season, Westerlo missed a third title in a row, finishing second behind Eupen. The next year, the club was relegated after the playoff and it stayed in the Promotion for ten seasons. The club then underwent two relegations in a row and thus played in the Antwerp second division in 1982–83. Westerlo was then promoted for three consecutive years to qualify for the third division once again. In 1993, the club promoted to the second division and then to the first division in 1997. In 1996, the club added the prefix Koninklijke (meaning "Royal" in Dutch) to its name.

On 18 June 2019 it was officially announced that the club was taken over by Turkish businessman Oktay Ercan. He immediately made it clear that KVC Westerlo will remain a regional family club, and that more attention will be paid to the social dimension and sporting ambitions. Ercin expressed his commitment in 2019 to a year-long plan called 'KVC Westerlo 2024'.^[2]

Stadium

Westerlo plays its home matches at Het Kuipje, which is Dutch for "The Small Tank". It is believed to be reference to the Feijenoord Stadion that is nicknamed De Kuip ("The Tank"). Its capacity is 8,035.^[3]

Honours

• Belgian Second Division/Belgian First Division B
  • Winners (2): 2013–14, 2021–22
  • Runners-up (1): 1996–97
• Belgian Second Division Final Round
  • Winners (1): 1997
• Belgian Cup:
  • Winners (1): 2000–01
  • Runners-up (1): 2010–11
• Belgian Supercup
  • Runners-up (1): 2001

European record

Competition	Appearances	Matches	Won	Drawn	Lost	GF	GA
UEFA Cup / Europa League	2	6	1	1	4	2	8
UEFA Intertoto Cup	2	4	0	1	3	0	14

Season	Competition	Round	Nat	Club	Home	Away
2000	UEFA Intertoto Cup	1R		Primorje	0–6	0–5
2001–02	UEFA Cup	1R		Hertha Berlin	0–2	0–1
2004	UEFA Intertoto Cup	2R		Tescoma Zlín	0–0	0–3
2011–12	UEFA Europa League	Q2		TPS Turku	0–0	1–0
		Q3		Young Boys	0–2	1–3

Current squad

As of 22 September 2022^[4]

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   TUR Sinan Bolat 2 DF   BEL Pietro Perdichizzi 3 MF   USA Griffin Yow 4 MF   BEL Mathias Fixelles 5 MF   BEL Nacer Chadli (on loan from İstanbul Başakşehir) 6 MF   BRA Lucas Mineiro (on loan from Braga) 7 MF   BEL Lukas Van Eenoo 8 MF   DEN Nicolas Madsen 9 FW   RSA Lyle Foster 10 MF   SVK Ján Bernát 11 DF   BEL Maxim De Cuyper (on loan from Club Brugge) 14 FW   BEL Kyan Vaesen 17 MF   TUR Muhammed Gümüşkaya

No. Pos. Nation Player 18 DF   CIV Kouya Mabea 20 GK   BEL Nick Gillekens 21 FW   MKD Erdon Daci 22 DF   USA Bryan Reynolds (on loan from Roma) 23 DF   BEL Rubin Seigers 24 DF   TUR Ravil Tagir (on loan from İstanbul Başakşehir) 25 FW   ANG Igor Vetokele 30 GK   BEL Koen Van Langendonck 32 DF   BUL Edisson Jordanov 33 DF   RUS Roman Neustädter 39 MF   BEL Thomas Van den Keybus (on loan from Club Brugge) 45 MF   MLI Nene Dorgeles (on loan from Red Bull Salzburg) 55 MF   BEL Tuur Dierckx

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — DF   SUI Léo Seydoux (on loan at Beerschot until 30 June 2023) — MF   GUI Sékou Camara (on loan at Bandırmaspor until 30 June 2023) — MF   TUR Oğuz Kağan Güçtekin (on loan at Bandirmaspor until 30 June 2023)

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF   BEL Simon Paulet (on loan at Virton until 30 June 2023) — FW   CIV Fernand Gouré (on loan at Újpest until 30 June 2023)

Other players under contract

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF   MLI Mamoutou N'Diaye

Coaching Staff

Position	Staff
Manager	Jonas De Roeck
Assistant Manager	Eric Reenaers   Mohamed Messoudi
First-Team Coach	Kevin Van Haesendonck   Bart Goor
Goalkeeping Coach	Paul Peeters
Fitness Coach	Rudger Van Snick
Head of Scouting	Niel Cuijvers
Scout	Francesco Carratta   Stan Van den Buijs

Managers

•   Louis Leysen (1982–84)
•   Jos Heyligen (1984–86)
•   Marcel Corens (1986–88)
•   Dirk Verbraken (1989)
•   Raymond Jaspers (1989)
•   Dirk Verbraken (1990–92)
•   Jos Heyligen (1992–93)
•   Werner Helsen (1993)
•   Stef Verelst (1993)
•   Barry Hulshoff (1994–95)
•   Erwin Vandenbergh (1995)
•   Franky Dekenne (1996)
•   Jos Heyligen (1996–99)
•   Jan Ceulemans (July 1, 1999 – June 30, 2005)
•   Herman Helleputte (July 1, 2005 – June 30, 2007)
•   Jan Ceulemans (July 1, 2007 – May 19, 2012)
•   Frank Dauwen (May 22, 2012 – April 18, 2013)
•   Dennis Van Wijk (May 1, 2013 – January 2015)
•   Harm van Veldhoven (January 6, 2015 – November 25, 2015)
•   Bob Peeters (November 26, 2015 – 2016)
•   Jacky Mathijssen (September 14, 2016 - June 21, 2017)
•   Vedran Pelić (June 21, 2017 – December 5, 2017)
•   Bob Peeters (Since December 5, 2017)

References

1. het kuipje 2018-03-30 at the Wayback Machine, kvcwesterlo.be (last check 30/03/2018)
2. "KVC Westerlo 2024". 21 November 2020.
3. het kuipje 2018-03-30 at the Wayback Machine, kvcwesterlo.be (last check 30/03/2018)
4. (in Dutch). K.V.C. Westerlo. Archived from the original on 13 October 2017. Retrieved 17 August 2019.

External links

• (in Dutch) Official Website
• (in English) KVC Westerlo at UEFA.COM
• KVC Westerlo at EUFO.DE
• KVC Westerlo at Weltfussball.de
• KVC Westerlo at Football Squads.co.uk
• KVC Westerlo at national Football Teams.com
• KVC Westerlo at Football-Lineups.com