(), known simply as Club Brugge (in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ...
also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional
football club based in
Bruges
Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...
, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the
Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,062.
[Jan Breydel Stadium](_blank)
clubbrugge.be (last check 20 October 2017) They play in, and are the reigning champions of
Belgian First Division A, the top domestic league in Belgian football.
One of the most decorated clubs in
Belgian football, the club have been crowned
Belgian league champions 18 times, second only to major rivals
Anderlecht
Anderlecht (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and Saint-Gilles, as well as the ...
, and it shares the
Jan Breydel Stadium with city rival
Cercle Brugge
Cercle Brugge Koninklijke Sportvereniging () is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges. Cercle have played in the Belgian Pro League since the 2003–04 season, having previously spent several years in the Belgian Second Divisio ...
, with whom they contest the
Bruges derby.
Throughout its long history, Club 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 (now the
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...
) so far, losing to
Liverpool
Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...
in the final of the
1978
Events January
* January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
* January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government).
* January 6 ...
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 Super Cups (17). They would also qualify for the
2022–23 UEFA Champions League knockout for the first time in the modern history.
History
In 1890, students from the Catholic school Broeders Xaverianen and the neutral school Koninklijk Atheneum joined together to form the Brugsche Football Club. The former students christened the club's founding by establishing the Latin motto '
mens sana in corpore sano
''Mens sana in corpore sano'' () is a Latin phrase, usually translated as "a healthy mind in a healthy body". The phrase is widely used in sporting and educational contexts to express that physical exercise is an important or essential part of men ...
' (a healthy mind in a healthy body).
A year later on 13 November 1891, the club was re-created under Brugsche FC, and this is now seen as the official foundation of the current Club Brugge. In 1892, an official board was installed at the club to oversee all operations and team decisions. In 1895, the national athletics sports union was founded, predecessor of the later national football association, under the name UBSSA (Union Belge des Sociétés de Sports Athlétiques); Brugsche FC was a founding member of the UBSSSA and as such took part in the first league campaign organized in Belgian football during the
1895–96 season. Financial difficulties the following year forced the club to leave the UBSSA and soon after, Football Club Brugeois were formed by breakaway club members. The two sides were reunited in 1897 under the French name of Football Club Brugeois; they did not take on the Dutch title Club Brugge until 1972.
In 1914, FC Brugeois reached their first
Belgian Cup final, but lost 2–1 to
Union SG. Six years later, the club claimed their first trophy, by winning the
Belgian First Division during the
1919–20 season.
They celebrated by changing their title to Royal FC Brugeois – with their regal status now reflected in their modern prefix KV, standing for Koninklijke Vereniging (royal club).
Only eight years later though, the club was relegated to the
Belgian Second Division for the first time in their history following a relegation play-off.
Further lean times followed the relegation in 1928, as they spent much of the 1940s and 1950s in the second division of Belgian football.
Following the
1958–59 season, the club earned promotion back to the First Division and have not been relegated since.
The club were able to add to their trophy cabinet in 1968, winning the first of their record 11
Belgian Cup titles for the first time after defeating
Beerschot A.C.
Koninklijke Beerschot Antwerpen Club (), simply known as Beerschot AC, was a Belgian football club based in southern Antwerp. Beerschot played in the Belgian Pro League from 1999–2000 (as Germinal Beerschot) until 2012–13, when they were r ...
7–6 in a penalty-shootout after a 1–1 draw.
The club enjoyed their most success under legendary Austrian manager
Ernst Happel as he led the club to three straight league championships from
1975–76 to
1977–78 and a Belgian Cup victory in 1976–77. Happel also guided Club Brugge to their first European final, reaching the
1976 UEFA Cup Final. Over the two-legged final against English giants
Liverpool
Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...
, Club Brugge fell 3–4 on aggregate.
Two years later, Brugge again met Liverpool in a European final, this time in the
1978 European Cup Final at
Wembley, becoming the first Belgian club to reach the final of the competition. Brugge fell to a lone second-half goal from
Kenny Dalglish
Sir Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish (born 4 March 1951) is a Scottish former football player and manager. During his career, he made 338 appearances for Celtic and 515 for Liverpool, playing as a forward, and earned a record 102 full caps for th ...
as Liverpool won their second European Cup and third European trophy in succession.
Following the cup final loss to Liverpool, Happel left Club Brugge and would lead
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
later that summer to the final of the
1978 FIFA World Cup
The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It was held in Argentina between 1 and 25 June.
The Cup was won by ...
.
On 25 November 1992, Brugge player
Daniel Amokachi
Daniel Owefin Amokachi (born 30 December 1972) is a Nigerian football manager and former professional footballer and a member of the dubious goals panel for the Premier League.
As a player he was a forward who notably played in the Premier L ...
became the first goal scorer in the
Champions League. He scored in a 1–0 win over
CSKA Moscow.
On 20 May 2021, Brugge drew 3–3 with
rivals
A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...
Anderlecht
Anderlecht (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and Saint-Gilles, as well as the ...
to win the
Belgian First Division A title for the fourth time in six years and 17th time overall.
It was the first time since 1973 that Club Brugge had been crowned champions at Anderlecht's ground and the first time since 1976–77 and 1977–78 that Brugge had won back-to-back league titles.
Crest and colours
The club don a blue and black home kit as has been traditional through their history. Away from home they wear a light coloured kit. Colours like white, light blue and yellow have been used in recent years. As of the 2022–23 season, the club's current kit supplier is
Macron.
Stadium
The club's original home in the Sint-Andries district of Bruges was known as the Rattenplein (rats' stadium) since it was owned by the local fox terrier club, who used it for another imported English pastime: rat baiting.
This non-UEFA affiliated 'sport' involved getting dogs to chase and kill rats.
In 1911, the team moved to a new ground, called De Klokke (after a nearby pub), which was renamed the Albert Dyserynckstadion after the sudden death of Club Brugge chairman Albert Dyserynck.
Their current stadium, since 1975, was rebranded in honour of local butcher and revolutionary
Jan Breydel in 1998.
Breydel led a rising against the city's French overlords in the 1300s.
The venue – which Club Brugge share with local rivals
Cercle Brugge
Cercle Brugge Koninklijke Sportvereniging () is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges. Cercle have played in the Belgian Pro League since the 2003–04 season, having previously spent several years in the Belgian Second Divisio ...
– was previously named the Olympiastadion.
In November 2016, the club broke ground on a new training complex at
Westkapelle, including four training pitches and an additional training centre for the senior squad plus the U21 and U19 teams; all in addition to the already available sports complex Molenhoek.
New stadium
Since 2007, Club Brugge has been working on developing a new stadium. Since then, there have been a number of proposed locations, but the project never really took off due to problems with ground availability and endangered animal species on the proposed grounds.
However, when a new city council and mayor were sworn into office in the city of Bruges, the project went through a rebirth. Instead of moving out of the current Jan Breydelstadium, the site on which this stadium is built will be completely reconstructed into a park with a brand new stadium next to where the current stadium is situated. Although this project has been criticised by some, it's the furthest the club has come with a project. In October of 2021 the club received their building permit. The club, the city and the Flemish government aim to have a functioning stadium by mid-2023, which will hold up to 40,116 spectators.
Supporters
Some of the 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. The federation is made up of 60 recognized supporters' clubs and has an elected board to steer the operation in the right direction.
In tribute to 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
Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...
. The history of the bear is related to a legend of the first
Count of Flanders,
Baldwin I of Flanders
Baldwin I (probably 830s – 879), also known as Baldwin Iron Arm ( nl, Boudewijn met de IJzeren Arm; the epithet is first recorded in the 12th century), was the first margrave of Flanders, which evolved into the County of Flanders.
He was the s ...
, who had fought and defeated a bear in his youth. Since the end of 2000, a second mascot, also 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
Cercle Brugge Koninklijke Sportvereniging () is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges. Cercle have played in the Belgian Pro League since the 2003–04 season, having previously spent several years in the Belgian Second Divisio ...
) or regional level (
Ghent
Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded i ...
and
Antwerp
Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504, ) or nationally competitive (
Anderlecht
Anderlecht (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and Saint-Gilles, as well as the ...
and
Standard Liège).
Anderlecht
The rivalry between Club Brugge and
Anderlecht
Anderlecht (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and Saint-Gilles, as well as the ...
has developed since the 1970s. At that time, the
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
-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 together with clashes between the other two members of the
Big Three - Anderlecht and
Standard Liège.
Cercle Brugge
The
Bruges Derby is seen as one of the most important games of the season for a lot of fans from both teams. Every season, the game attracts a huge deal of fans which results in huge choreographies on both sides.
Tifos, flags and banners made specifically for this confrontation and accompanied by
flares
A flare, also sometimes called a fusée, fusee, or bengala in some Latin-speaking countries, is a type of pyrotechnic that produces a bright light or intense heat without an explosion. Flares are used for distress signaling, illumination, ...
and smoke bombs aren't a rare sight in and around the stadium. The winner of this derby is crowned "de Ploeg van Brugge''",'' which translates to "the team of Bruges". It has become a tradition for the winning side to plant a flag with the club's crest or colours on the center spot after the game.
R. Antwerp FC
The rivalry between the oldest clubs in Flanders and Belgium, is one that dates back to the 1900s. In 1908, due to Bruges supporters attacking Antwerp players after they had lost 2-1 to what we'll later call Club Brugge, one of the biggest and fiercest rivalries in Europe came to be. Confrontations between the two sides bring a lot of fighting and havoc to the stadium and the surrounding neighbourhoods. This hatred has reached new highs ever since Antwerp gained promotion back to the first division.
Honours
Domestic
*
Belgian First Division
**Winners (18):
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,
2017–18,
2019–20,
2020–21
The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...
,
2021–22
**Runners-up (23):
1898–99,
1899-00,
1905–06
Nineteen or 19 may refer to:
* 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20
* one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019
Films
* ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film
* ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film
Music ...
,
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,
2016–17,
2018–19
*
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 (record)
**Runners-up (8): 1913–14, 1978–79, 1982–83,
1993–94,
1997–98,
2004–05,
2015–16,
2019–20
*
Belgian Super Cup
**Winners (17): 1980, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996,
1998,
2002
File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
,
2003
File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A ...
,
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...
,
2005
File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...
,
2016,
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
,
2021,
2022 (record)
**Runners-up (3): 1995,
2007
File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...
,
2015
File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...
International
*
European Cup
**Runners-up:
1977–78
*
UEFA Cup
**Runners-up:
1975–76
**Semi-finalists:
1987–88
*
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tourn ...
**Semi-finalists:
1991–92
Minor
*
Kirin Cup
The is an association football tournament organised in Japan by the Kirin Brewery Company. The host, Japan, is a participant in every edition. The tournament was founded in 1978 then known as Japan Cup (International competition which nationa ...
**Winners: 1981
*
Amsterdam Tournament
**Winners: 1990
Results
Players
First-team squad
Out on loan
Club NXT (Reserves and Youth Academy)
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.''
Former players
Club captains
Coaching staff
First-team staff
Reserves staff
Club Academy staff
Board of Directors
See also
*
Club YLA (Club Brugge women)
References
Bibliography
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brugge KV, Club
Association football clubs established in 1891
1891 establishments in Belgium
Football clubs in Bruges
Organisations based in Belgium with royal patronage
Belgian First Division A clubs