RFC Liège

Royal Football Club de Liège(more commonly known asRFC Liège) is a professionalfootballclub based inLiège,capital ofLiège Province,Belgium.The team currently play inChallenger Pro League,the second tier in Belgian football. Itsmatriculeis 4, meaning that it was the fourth club to register withthe country's national federation(founded 1895), and the club was thefirst 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 theRocourtarea of Liège.

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
2023–24	Challenger Pro League, 7th of 16
Website	https:// fcliege.be
Home colours Away colours

In 1990, FC Liège precipitated a ground-breaking ruling for European football, when its refusal to releaseJean-Marc Bosmanafter his contract ran out led to theBosman ruling,aEuropean Court of Justicedecision that caused major changes to the structure of European football.

History

Early 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).

The city of Liège was introduced to football at the end of the 19th century by English workers, and theParc de la Boverie,which housed a velodrome, quickly became the home for the first football players in the region.The cyclists were also among the first to take an interest in this new sport, which allowed them to train during thewintermonths.

On 14 February 1892, Liège Football Club was founded by members of the Liège Cyclist's Union, who also organized the first edition of the "Liège-Bastogne-Liège", the oldest cycling race, on the same day.The club's first official match took place in Brussels against aBrusselsFA XI, and lost the match 4–0 on a 200 x 100-metre pitch.The club's registrations quickly increased, and the Liège team took its revenge against the Brussels FA on a new ground located in the gardens of theChâteau de Sclessin,this time wearing red and blue jerseys in homage to theLondon-based English clubDulwich Hamlet.

In 1895, Liège FC became an inaugural member of theBelgian Football AssociationasFootball Club Liégeois(FC Liégeois), and the club won the subsequent inauguralnational championship of Belgiumin1895–96,thus becoming first-ever Belgian Champion.Most of the members of that first squad were Belgian, such asFernand Defalle,Lucien Londot,Ernest Moreau de Melen,Gérard Kleinermann,but also had Englishmen, such asTreharne Reeves,Samuel Hickson,who was thetop scorerof the inaugural edition, andHarry Menzies,who was the son of the club's presidentRonald Menzies.Londot and Moreau de Melen went on to represent Belgium in thefootball tournamentat the1900 Summer Olympics,while Londot, Defalle, and Menzies went on to feature in the first-ever match of aBelgium national teamat the1901 Coupe Vanden Abeeleon 28 April.

Liège won back-to-back titles in1898and1899,beatingFC Brugeois6–3 in the two-legged final of 1899.During this period, Liégeois had an unbeaten run of 23 official matches that lasted over two years, between 28 February 1897 and 12 November 1899, coming to an end in a 3–5 loss toAntwerp FC.However, Liège FC eventually bowed to the superiority of the Brussels teams, which marked the beginning of the dark years since they were the first former Belgian champions to be relegated to the second division.

In 1920 the prefix Royal was, when the club changed its name toRoyal Football Club Liégeois(RFC Liégeois). Its name had been shortened toRFC Liègeby the time of its consecutive championships in 1952 and 1953, the only clubs able to contest a dominating streak byAnderlecht,which won the three championships before (1949–1951) and after (1954–1956). RFC Liégeois reached the1963–64 Inter-Cities Fairs Cupsemi-finals, losing in three games against the eventual winner of the Cup, Spain'sReal 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 asBenfica,Juventus,Rapid Vienna,Hibernian,Werder BremenandAthletic Bilbao.The club won aBelgian Cupin 1990.

In 1990, the club forced French clubDunkerqueto pay a transfer fee forJean-Marc Bosman,although his contract had expired with the RFC Liège. Dunkerque refused to pay the fee, resulting in a series of lawsuits which led to theBosman rulingin 1995.

Recent history

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 withR.F.C. Tilleur-Saint-Nicolas,based in the Liège suburb ofSaint-Nicolas,to becomeR. Tilleur F.C. de Liège.

The club went down from theFirst Division(which it had not left since 1945) to theThird Division.The word Tilleur was dropped from the team name in 2000, returning to "RFC Liège". From 1995 to 2009, the club moved between theSecondand 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 theFourth Divisionin April 2011. During the 2010–11 season, RFC Liège played its 3000th match and scored its 5000th goal at national level.

In the 2015–16 season, RFC Liège plays inDivision 3.RFC Liège holds the Belgian record for the number of seasons played at national level with 117 seasons between 1896 and 2019, having played a total of 67 seasons in D1, including 50 consecutive seasons (1950–1995), 28 seasons inD2,11 seasons in D3, and 2 seasons in D4.Liège FC still is the only club that has played all its seasons (117 as of 2019–20) at a national level, versus county or local levels, having won a total of fiveFirst Divisionchampionships: 1896, 1898, 1899, 1952 and 1953, thus being the 6th most successful (active) Belgian club, only behindBeerschot(7),Standard(10),Union Saint-Gilloise(11),FC Bruges(13), andAnderlecht(31).

In the 2022–23 season, RFC Liège confirmed promotion toChallenger Pro Leaguefrom 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 inStade Vélodrome de Rocourt,in the suburban municipality ofRocourt.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 inTilleur(1995–2000),Seraing(2000–2004),Ans(2004–2008), andSeraing(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 20 August, 2024

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

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	BEL	Kevin Debaty
2	MF	FRA	Jérémie Lioka
4	DF	BEL	Jordan Bustin
5	DF	BEL	Pierre-Yves Ngawa
6	MF	FRA	Ryan Merlen
7	FW	BEL	Benoît Bruggeman
8	MF	FRA	Théo Pierrot
9	FW	BEL	Zakaria Atteri
10	MF	BEL	Mohamed Moulhi
11	FW	FRA	Alexis Lefevbre
12	GK	BEL	Antoine Lejoly
13	FW	BEL	Damien Mouchamps

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
14	DF	BEL	Lucca Lucker
15	MF	TUR	Abian Arslan
17	MF	FRA	Flavio Da Silva
19	DF	BEL	Benjamin Lambot
21	FW	BEL	Alessio Cascio
22	GK	BEL	Joshua Mpenza
23	FW	CGO	Yannick Loemba
24	DF	BEL	Stefano Marzo
25	DF	BEL	Jonathan D'Ostilio(captain)
26	FW	BEL	Maxime Cavelier
27	DF	BEL	Liam Moreau

Former players

• Tarik Kharif

Staff

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

Honours

League

• Belgian First Division
  • Champions (5):1895–96,1897–98,1898–99,1951–52,1952–53
  • Runners-up:1896–97,1958–59,1960–61
• Belgian Second Division
  • Winners:1911–12, 1922–23, 1943–44
• Belgian Third Division
  • Winners:1942–43, 1995–96, 2006–07
• Belgian Fourth Division
  • Winners:2014–15
• Belgian National Division 1
  • Runner-up:2022–23

Cups

• Belgian Cup
  • Winners:1989–90
  • Runners-up: 1986–87
• Belgian League Cup
  • Winners:1986
  • Runners-up: 1973