Liège

Full name	Royal Football Club de Liège
Nickname(s)	Les Sang et Marine (The Blood and Marine)
Founded	1892 (1892)
Ground	Stade de Rocourt, Liège
Capacity	3,500
Chairman	Jean-Paul Lacomble
Manager	Gaëtan Englebert
League	Challenger Pro League
2022–23	Belgian National Division 1, 2nd of 20 (promoted)
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours

Royal Football Club de Liège (more commonly known as RFC Liège) is a professional football club based in Liège, Belgium. It currently plays in Challenger Pro League from 2023–24. Its matricule is 4, meaning that it was the fourth club to register with the country's national federation (founded 1895), and the club was the first Belgian champion in history (5 Championships & 1 Cup). The 'philosophy' of the club is based on integration of local young players and on popular and faithful support. The club was also known for being 'homeless' between 1995 and 2015, but is now playing on its own ground in the Rocourt area of Liège.

In 1990, FC Liège precipitated a ground-breaking ruling for European football, when its refusal to release Jean-Marc Bosman after his contract ran out led to the Bosman ruling, a European Court of Justice decision that caused major changes to the structure of European football.

History

RFC Liège Club, the first Belgian Champion in 1896. Alfred Wahl, La balle au pied : Histoire du football (p. 53), "Découvertes Gallimard" collection (vol. 83).

It was founded in 1892 as Liège Football Club (Liège FC) and became an inaugural (1895) member of the Belgian Football Association as Football Club Liégeois (FC Liégeois). In 1896, the club became the first ever Belgian Champion, and is still the only club that has played all its seasons (117 as of 2019–20) at a national level, versus county or local levels. The club has won five First Division championships: 1896, 1898, 1899, 1952 and 1953.

In 1920 the prefix Royal was, when the club changed its name to Royal Football Club Liégeois (RFC Liégeois). Its name had been shortened to RFC Liège by the time of its consecutive championships in 1952 and 1953, the only clubs able to contest a dominating streak by Anderlecht, which won the three championships before (1949–1951) and after (1954–1956). RFC Liégeois reached the 1963–64 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup semi-finals, losing in three games against the eventual winner of the Cup, Spain's Real Zaragoza. Between 1965 and 1985, there were poor results, and the club survived with the help of its own tradition: young players coming from inside the club, and faithful supporters.

At the end of the 1980s, RFC Liège played in European competitions, facing such notable clubs as Benfica, Juventus, Rapid Vienna, Hibernian, Werder Bremen and Athletic Bilbao. The club won a Belgian Cup in 1990.

In 1995, the club faced bankruptcy when its stadium, Stade Vélodrome de Rocourt, was sold and demolished to build a movie theatre. To survive, the club joined with R.F.C. Tilleur-Saint-Nicolas, based in the Liège suburb of Saint-Nicolas, to become R. Tilleur F.C. de Liège.

The club went down from the First Division (which it had not left since 1945) to the Third Division. The word Tilleur was dropped from the team name in 2000, returning to "RFC Liège".

From 1995 to 2009, the club moved between the Second and Third Divisions, with two Third Division titles in 1996 and 2008.

In 2008–09, the club played in the Second Division, but suffered back to back relegations, dropping to the Fourth Division in April 2011.

In the 2015–16 season, RFC Liège plays in Division 3.

In the 2022–23 season, RFC Liège confirmed promotion to Challenger Pro League from 2023–24 after draw 0-0 at Tienen on Matchweek 35. On 14 May 2023, the club finished runner-up of Belgian National Division 1 in 2022–23 season.

Stadium

Starting in 1921, RFC Liège played in Stade Vélodrome de Rocourt, in the suburban municipality of Rocourt. Rocourt became part of the city of Liège in 1977. The stadium was sold, and demolished, in 1995, earning RFC Liège the nickname 'homeless'.

Between 1995 and 2015, RFC Liège played in Tilleur (1995–2000), Seraing (2000–2004), Ans (2004–2008), and Seraing (Pairay Stadium, 2008–2015).

In 2015 the club returned to Rocourt, playing its home matches in the new Stade de Rocourt.

Current squad

As of 6 September 2023

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  BEL Kevin Debaty 2 DF  FRA Jérémie Lioka 3 MF  BEL Clément Vanoirbeck 4 DF  BEL Jordan Bustin 5 DF  BEL Benjamin Van den Ackerveken 6 MF  FRA Ryan Merlen 7 MF  BEL Benoît Bruggeman 9 FW  BEL Adriano Bertaccini 10 MF  BEL Mohamed Moulhi 12 GK  BEL Antoine Lejoly 13 FW  BEL Damien Mouchamps

No. Pos. Nation Player 14 DF  BEL Lucca Lucker 15 MF  BEL Abian Arslan 16 FW  BEL Zakaria Atteri 17 FW  BEL Tom Panepinto 18 DF  BEL Benoît Nyssen 19 DF  BEL Benjamin Lambot 20 MF  BEL Emilien Massart 21 MF  BEL Alessio Cascio 23 FW  CGO Yannick Loemba 24 DF  BEL Reno Wilmots 25 DF  BEL Jonathan D'Ostilio 26 MF  BEL Maxime Cavelier

Staff

Head coach: Gaëtan Englebert
Assistant coach: Eric Deflandre
Goalkeeper coach: Pierre Drouguet

Honours

References

• (in French) Official website

External links