Koninklijke Racing Club Mechelen, simply known as Racing Mechelen or KRC Mechelen, is a Belgian association football club from

Mechelen Mechelen (; ; historically known as ''Mechlin'' in EnglishMechelen 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 context. T ...

in the

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

province. It is a long-time rival of

KV Mechelen Yellow Red Koninklijke Voetbalclub Mechelen (), often called KV Mechelen (, KVM) or simply by their former French name Malinois /ˌmalɪˈnwɑː/, is a Belgian professional association football, football club based in Mechelen in the Antwerp (pr ...

. The club's best position ever is a second place in the

first division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

1951–52. KRC Mechelen also reached the final of the

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (; ; ) is the main knockout football competition in Belgium, run by the Royal Belgian FA. The competition started in 1908 with provincial selections as the "Belgian Provinces Cup". Starting from 1912 only actual clubs were allowed ...

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 The Belgian Provincial leagues are the lower leagues for Belgian football. Until 2016, these were at levels 5-8 in the Belgian football league system however as part of the reform an extra level was created causing the provincial leagues to drop ...

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 fir ...

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 or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

becoming

Koninklijk (, 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 Kin ...

e Racing Club Mechelen (1937). Racing Mechelen played its first season in the

in 1910–11 and finished 8th of 12 teams. By this time, rival FC Malines, later called

, was playing in second division. The following season, Racing ended 11th just one point away from

Beerschot Koninklijke Beerschot Voetbalclub Antwerpen (), or simply Beerschot, is a Belgian professional football club located in Antwerp, that competes in the top tier Pro League after promotion from second tier in 2023–24 season. In 2013, KFCO Wil ...

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 city of

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

River Dijle The Dyle (; ) 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. Its source is in Houtain-le-Val, near Nivelles in Walloon Brabant. Th ...

. 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 may refer to: * Flemish, adjective for Flanders, Belgium * Flemish region, one of the three regions of Belgium *Flemish Community, one of the three constitutionally defined language communities of Belgium * Flemish dialects, a Dutch dialec ...

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, which is home to rivals

Honours

Belgian First Division The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023– ...

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

Belgian Second Division The Belgian Second Division 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 Association in 1909 and folded in 2016, when it was replace ...

: **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 (, ) 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 same level. This competition, originall ...

: **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 Num ...

* 1956–57:

Richard Gedopt Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...

* 1957–58:

Janos Pintye Janos or János may refer to: People * János, male Hungarian given name, a variant of John (given name), John * Jesse Ventura, James Janos (born 1951), legal birth name of Jesse Ventura Places

* Janos Municipality, a municipality of Chihuah ...

* 1958–58:

Guillaume Placklé Guillaume may refer to: People * Guillaume (given name), the French equivalent of William * Guillaume (surname), the French equivalent of Williams Places * Guillaume (crater), Moon, Earth-Moon System, Solar System * Guillaumes, Vence, Nice, Alpes ...

* 1958–61: Marcel Bruyninckx * 1961–62: Albert Herremans * 1962–63: Marius Mondele * 1963–64:

Gérard Engelen Gérard ( French: ) is a French masculine given name and surname of Germanic origin, variations of which exist in many Germanic and Romance languages. Like many other early Germanic names, it is dithematic, consisting of two meaningful constitu ...

* 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 Ernst is both a surname and a given name, the German, Dutch, and Scandinavian form of Ernest. Notable people with the name include: Surname * Adolf Ernst (1832–1899) German botanist known by the author abbreviation "Ernst" * Anton Ernst (born 1 ...

* 1976–77:

Bob Maertens Robert Maertens (24 January 1930 – 11 January 2003) was a Belgian international association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. Career Born in Boom, Belgium, Boom, Maertens played club football for Royal Antwerp F.C., Royal Antwe ...

* 1977–81: Raoul Peeters * 1981–83:

Jean-Pierre Borremans Jean-Pierre or Jean Pierre may refer to: People * Karine Jean-Pierre b.1977, White House Deputy Press Secretary for President Joe Biden 2021- * Jean-Pierre, Count of Montalivet (1766–1823), French statesman and Peer of France * Eugenia Pierre ( ...

* 1983–85: Albert Bers * 1985–86:

Włodzimierz Lubański Włodzimierz 'Włodek' Leonard Lubański (Polish pronunciation: ; born 28 February 1947 in Gliwice-Sośnica) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is the second-highest all-time goal scorer for the Poland na ...

* 1986–89: Rik Pauwels , valign="top", * 1989–90: Raoul Peeters * 1990–91: Guy Mangelschots * 1991–92: Albert Van Marcke * 1992–93:

Jan Ceuleers 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 Num ...

/ Piet Demol * 1992–93: Piet Demol * 1993–94: Piet Demol/ Rik Pauwels * 1994–97: Albert Van Marcke * 1998–98: Marc Huysmans * 1998–98: Albert Van Marcke * 1998–98:

David Kipiani David Kipiani ( ka, დავით ყიფიანი; 18 June 1951 – 17 September 2001) was a Georgian and Soviet football midfielder and manager, who played for the USSR national team. Kipiani principally played as a playmaker an ...

/ Albert Van Marcke * 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 * 2006–07: Colin Andrews * 2007–09: Regi Van Acker * 2009–10: Regi Van Acker/ Luc Leys/ Danny Hoekman/ Marc Ghys * 2010–11: Raoul Peeters * 2011–12: Marc Ghys/ Sadio Ba * 2012–: Thierry Pister

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mechelen Football clubs in Belgium Association football clubs established in 1904 1904 establishments in Belgium K.R.C. Mechelen Organisations based in Belgium with royal patronage Belgian Pro League clubs