K.R.C. Mechelen is a Belgian association football club from

Mechelen Mechelen (; french: Malines ; traditional English name: MechlinMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical contex ...

in the

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,

province. It is a long-time rival of KV Mechelen. The club's best position ever is a second place in the first division 1951–52. KRC Mechelen also reached the final of the

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (french: link=no, Coupe de Belgique; nl, Beker van België []; german: link=no, Belgischer Fußballpokal) is the main Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in Belgium, run by the Belgia ...

in 1954. However, the team has been falling through the

Belgian football league system The Belgian football league system is a series of interconnected leagues for club football in Belgium. Men's system The league system underwent restructuring which was approved by the Royal Belgian Football Association. One important step was the ...

since 2015 and in the 2017–18 season it will be playing in the Belgian Provincial Leagues for the first time since 1906.

History

Founded in July 1904 as Racing Club de Malines, the club registered with the federation two years later on 22 June 1906 and received the

matricule Association football is the most popular sport in Belgium, which has been played since the end of the 19th century. The national association was founded in 1895 with the intention of bringing some order and organization to the sport. The firs ...

n°24. The name of the club changed three times: first the suffix Société Royale was added (1929), then the name was translated into

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

becoming

Koninklijk or (, Dutch for 'royal') is an honorary title given to certain companies and non-profit organisations in the Netherlands and to a lesser extent Belgium, by the monarchs of each country. It was first introduced by Louis Bonaparte in 1807, then Ki ...

e Racing Club Mechelen (1937). Racing Mechelen played its first season in the first division in 1910–11 and finished 8th of 12 teams. By this time, rival FC Malines, later called KV Mechelen, was playing in

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. The following season, Racing ended 11th just one point away from Beerschot and was relegated. Just before World War I, Racing finished second in their division while FC Malines was third (8 points away). Thus RC Malines were promoted, playing the following season in the first division, which was played in 1919–20. They ended in 6th place. Two years after that FC Malines was playing in the first division too. In 1929 and 1930 after having spent one year in the second division (1924), the club grabbed third place in the first division. A record it would beat in 1952 with a second place after a new sequence of two third places (1950 and 1951). In 1954 it qualified for the final game of the

. Afterwards, the club fell to the second division and has rarely played at a higher level in recent decades.

Stadium

The Oscar Vankesbeeckstadion is a football stadium in the

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

city of

. The stadium is located just to the north of the centre of town over the

River Dijle The Dyle (french: Dyle ; nl, Dijle ) is a river in central Belgium, left tributary of the Rupel. It is long. It flows through the Belgian provinces of Walloon Brabant, Flemish Brabant and Antwerp (province), Antwerp. Its source is in Houtain-le ...

. It was built in 1923 and is named after the former president of the club: Oscar Van Kesbeeck (1886–1943) who was a

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

Liberal Politician. The current capacity of the stadium is 6,123.stadion
, racingmechelen.be (last check 30 March 2018) The Oscar Vankesbeeckstadion is located just under a mile away from

Argosstadion Achter de Kazerne The AFAS Stadion is a football stadium in Mechelen, Belgium. It is used for football matches and is the home ground of KV Mechelen. Currently, the ground has a capacity of 16,672. The stadium is called ''Achter de Kazerne'', which means "Behin ...

, which is home to rivals KV Mechelen.

Honours

Belgian First Division The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...

: **Runners-up (1): 1951–52 **Third place (4): 1928–29, 1929–30, 1949–50, 1950–51 *

Belgian Second Division The Belgian Second Division (known as the Proximus League for sponsorship reasons) was the second-highest division in the Belgian football league system, one level below the Belgian Pro League. It was founded by the Royal Belgian Football Associa ...

: **Winners (4): 1909–10, 1947–1948, 1974–1975, 1987–1988 **Runners-up (5): 1913–1914, 1924–1925, 1938–1939, 1945–1946, 1984–1985 *

Belgian Third Division The Belgian Third Division ( nl, Derde klasse, french: Division III) was the third highest level in Football in Belgium, Belgian football. It had two leagues of 18 teams each (Belgian Third Division A, A and Belgian Third Division B, B) at the sam ...

: **Winners (4): 1961–1962, 1965–1966, 1968–1969, 2013–2014 *

: **Runners-up (1): 1953–1954

Current squad

On loan

Managers

{, , valign="top", * 1919–56:

Jan Dogaer Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Numb ...

* 1956–57: Richard Gedopt * 1957–58: Janos Pintye * 1958–58: Guillaume Placklé * 1958–61: Marcel Bruyninckx * 1961–62:

Albert Herremans Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia * Albert Productions, a record label * Albert ...

* 1962–63: Marius Mondele * 1963–64: Gérard Engelen * 1964–65: Jean Hamers * 1965–68: Rik Van Herp * 1968–68: Jos De Winne * 1968–68: Emile Deghislage * 1968–72: Rik Matthys * 1972–72: Oliver Gaspar * 1972–76: Ernst Künnecke * 1976–77: Bob Maertens * 1977–81: Raoul Peeters * 1981–83: Jean-Pierre Borremans * 1983–85: Albert Bers * 1985–86:

Włodzimierz Lubański Włodzimierz 'Włodek' Leonard Lubański (Polish pronunciation: ; born 28 February 1947 in Gliwice-Sośnica) is a former Polish football striker, the second all-time highest goal scorer for the Polish national team. For his national team, L ...

* 1986–89: Rik Pauwels , valign="top", * 1989–90: Raoul Peeters * 1990–91:

Guy Mangelschots Guy Mangelschots (born 8 April 1941) is a Belgian football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that ...

* 1991–92:

Albert Van Marcke Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia * Albert Productions, a record label * Albert ...

* 1992–93: Jan Ceuleers/ Piet Demol * 1992–93: Piet Demol * 1993–94: Piet Demol/ Rik Pauwels * 1994–97:

* 1998–98: Marc Huysmans * 1998–98:

* 1998–98:

David Kipiani David Kipiani ( ka, დავით ყიფიანი; 18 November 1951 – 17 September 2001) was a Georgian football midfielder and manager. Kipiani principally played as a playmaker and is considered one of Georgia's greatest player ...

* 1999–01: Patrick Hantson * 2001–03: Marc Ghys * 2003–04: Marc Ghys/{ Joël Crahay * 2004–05: Joël Crahay/ Patrick Asselman * 2005–06: Patrick Asselman/

Colin Andrews Colin may refer to: * Colin (given name) * Colin (surname) * ''Colin'' (film), a 2008 Cannes film festival zombie movie * Colin (horse) (1905–1932), thoroughbred racehorse * Colin (humpback whale), a humpback whale calf abandoned north of Sydney, ...

* 2006–07:

* 2007–09:

Regi Van Acker Regi Van Acker (born 25 April 1955 in Beveren, Belgium) is a Belgian footballer and coach who is currently managing Dender in Belgian First Division B. He is known for his career as a football technician. He has coached KV Courtrai, Royal Ant ...

* 2009–10:

/ Luc Leys/

Danny Hoekman Danny Hoekman is a footballer who played as a midfielder in the Football League for Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to ...

/ Marc Ghys * 2010–11: Raoul Peeters * 2011–12: Marc Ghys/

Sadio Ba Sadio Ba (born 24 January 1973) is a retired Belgian football player and currently football coach. He played as a right midfielder. Ba previously played with K.V.C. Westerlo for several seasons in the Belgian First Division. Honours Westerlo * ...

* 2012–:

Thierry Pister Thierry Pister (born 2 September 1965 in Belgium) is a former Belgian footballer and manager. Honours Standard Liège * Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (french: link=no, Coupe de Belgique; nl, Beker van België []; german: link=no, Belgischer Fu� ...

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mechelen Football clubs in Belgium Association football clubs established in 1904 1904 establishments in Belgium

K.R.C. Mechelen K.R.C. Mechelen is a football in Belgium, Belgian association football club from Mechelen in the Antwerp (province), Antwerp province. It is a long-time rival of KV Mechelen. The club's best position ever is a second place in the Belgian First Di ...

Organisations based in Belgium with royal patronage Belgian Pro League clubs