SC Eendracht Aalst is a Belgian football club based in Aalst,

East Flanders , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Province of Belgium , image_flag = Flag of Oost-Vlaanderen.svg , flag_size = , image_shield = Wapen van O ...

History

During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, citizens from Aalst played football matches to raise money for prisoners of war. In 1919 Sport-Club Eendracht Aalst became an official football team. After some friendly games in 1923, SC Eendracht Aalst joined the regional competition. They quickly moved their way up through the regional divisions and after moving the stadium to the current location in 1928, the team made it into the national competition in 1932. Only seven years later, in 1939, Aalst were promoted to the Eredivisie (the current

Belgian Pro League 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 ...

). Due to the

second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

competition was not played for two years, so it wasn't until 1942 Aalst finished its first season in the Eredivisie. In 1946 the chairman died and it was decided to rename the stadium to honour him, from then on it was called the Pierre Cornelis Stadium. That year was the beginning of a very dark period for Eendracht Aalst. Due to changes in the competition format, they were forced into relegation. After this they played in the lower division for more than 30 years. In 1960 they managed to get back into the Eredivisie, but in 1962 they ended last and were relegated again. In 1965, after a bribery affair, Aalst was relegated to the lowest national division. In 1977 they made it back into the second division, with

Paul Van Himst Paul Van Himst (born 2 October 1943) is a Belgian former football player and a football manager who played as a forward, most notably for R.S.C. Anderlecht. Career Van Himst was nicknamed ''Polle Gazon'' (''Polle'' is Paul in Brussels dialect ...

in the team. In 1994 the team finally joined the first division again.

Jan Ceulemans Jan Anna Gumaar Ceulemans (; born 28 February 1957) is a Belgian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. A prolific goalscorer, Ceulemans was known for his stamina, aerial ability and technique. He was also known ...

(manager),

Godwin Okpara Godwin Okpara (born 20 September 1972) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a defender. He was part of the Nigeria national team squads that participated in the 1998 FIFA World Cup, 2000 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2000 ...

and

Gilles De Bilde Gilles De Bilde (born 9 June 1971) is a retired Belgian footballer who played as a striker. He played club football for Eendracht Aalst, Anderlecht, PSV, Sheffield Wednesday, Aston Villa, Lierse and Willebroek-Meerhof. He was capped by Be ...

were some of the most important factors towards success. In 1995 a new climax was reached when they were allowed to enter the European competition and even survived the first round against

Levski Sofia Levski Sofia ( bg, Левски София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was founded on 24 May 1914 b ...

. It changed its name in 2002 after former

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 ...

club K.S.C. Eendracht Aalst had gone into liquidation. So they could not get the

license A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

and the new team began at the third division level. They played the next two seasons 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 ...

(2003–2005) and are now back to the third division and they are at the 3rd place. While the 2004–05 championship was over, the club needed to know if first division side F.C. Brussels and second division side

R.E. Virton Royal Excelsior Virton is a Belgian association football, football club, based in the city of Virton, in Luxembourg (Belgium), Luxembourg province. The club will participate in Belgian National Division 1 from 2023–24 after relegation from Cha ...

were to receive the professional football license to know where they would play next season. While 17th

K. Patro Maasmechelen Koninklijke Patro Eisden Maasmechelen is a Belgian football club from the municipality of Maasmechelen in Limburg. The original club name was ''V.V. Patro Eisden'' until 1992 when they changed to ''K. Patro Eisden''. In 1998, it changed to ''K ...

had no license, they were obviously relegated. So if one of the two submentionned clubs were refused the license, Aalst would have had played the third division playoffs while if they were both refused the license, Aalst would have remained in second division. Finally, both clubs did receive it so the team was relegated. In 2011, the name of the team got changed back to S.C. Eendracht Aalst. They've also requested to change the name back to the former K.S.C. Eendracht Aalst, which will be possible in 2012, if they receive good advice from the Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA).

Stadium

The Pierre Cornelisstadion is located in Bredestraat, Aalst, near the city center. The Stadium has a capacity of 4,500. It was built in the early 1930s.

Honours

Belgian Second Division Final Round The Belgian Second Division play-offs were a series of playoff matches to decide promotion to the Belgian Pro League, organised between 1974 and 2015. Following a large reform of the Belgian football league system at the end of the 2015–16 season ...

: **Winners (2): 1991, 1994 *

Belgian Promotion B The Belgian Fourth Division B was one of the four leagues at the fourth level of the Belgian football league system, the other ones being the Belgian Fourth Division A, C and D. This division existed from the 1952–53 to 2015–16 seasons and ...

: **Champions: 2006–07 *

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 ...

: **Champions: 2010–11

UEFA cup history

Current squad

''Updated 18 October 2022''

Previous trainers

Wim De Coninck Wim De Coninck (born 23 June 1959) is a retired Belgian footballer. During his career he played for K.S.V. Waregem, Royal Antwerp F.C., K.A.A. Gent, and R.S.C. Anderlecht. He participated in UEFA Euro 1984, but did not earn any senior inter ...

Maurice De Schrijver Maurice may refer to: People *Saint Maurice (died 287), Roman legionary and Christian martyr *Maurice (emperor) or Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus (539–602), Byzantine emperor * Maurice (bishop of London) (died 1107), Lord Chancellor and L ...

Patrick De Wilde Patrick De Wilde (born 19 April 1964) is a Belgian football manager who works as technical director of Lithuania. Career In 2007, De Wilde was appointed assistant manager of Ukrainian side Metalurh (Donetsk) after managing Eendracht Aalst ...

* Etienne De Wispelaere * Manu Ferrera *

Georges Heylens Georges Heylens (born 8 August 1941 in Etterbeek) is a Belgian former footballer. He played with R.S.C. Anderlecht and the Belgium national football team. He took part in the match between Belgium and the Netherlands in 1964, with 10 teammates ...

Urbain Haesaert Urbain Haesaert (born 5 May 1941) is a Belgian football scout and former football manager. Haesaert started coaching at Lokeren. Together with Josef Vacenovský, he reached the quarter-finals of the 1980–81 UEFA Cup with Lokeren, and was vice-ch ...

* Luc Limpens * Alain Merckx *

Lorenzo Staelens Lorenzo Jules Staelens (; born 30 April 1964) is a Belgian professional football manager and former player. He most recently coached Dutch club HSV Hoek. Having started his career as a defensive midfielder, he finished it as a sweeper at nearl ...

Gilbert Bodart Gilbert Bodart (born 2 September 1962) is a Belgian football manager and former player. Playing career Bodart was born in Ougrée, Belgium. A goalkeeper, he played a long time with Standard Liège. Bodart also played 12 times with Belgium from ...

Gaston Van Der Elst Gaston is a masculine given name of French origin and a surname. The name "Gaston" may refer to: People First name *Gaston I, Count of Foix (1287–1315) *Gaston II, Count of Foix (1308–1343) *Gaston III, Count of Foix (1331–1391) *Gaston I ...

* Geert Van Roy * Michel Verschueren (physical trainer) * Laszlo Fazekas *

Henk Houwaert Henk Houwaart (born August 31, 1945) is a Dutch association football, football coach (sport), manager and a former football player. Born in the Hague, Houwaart began his career in 1963 as a footballer playing for ADO Den Haag until 1967, when he ...

Barry Hulshoff Bernardus Adriaan “Barry” Hulshoff (30 September 1946 – 16 February 2020) was a Dutch footballer who played for Ajax Amsterdam and was part of their European Cup victories in 1971, 1972 and 1973. He earned 14 caps for the Netherlands na ...

Tomislav Ivic Tomislav (, ) is a masculine given name of Slavic origin, that is widespread amongst the South Slavs. The meaning of the name ''Tomislav'' is thought to have derived from the Old Slavonic verb "'' tomiti''" or "'' tomit" meaning to "''languish ...

Women football

The female team of Eendracht Aalst plays currently in the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

. and played his homematches in the Jeugdcentrum Zandberg.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eendracht Aalst Association football clubs established in 1919 Association football clubs established in 2002 Football clubs in Belgium 1919 establishments in Belgium Sport in East Flanders

SC Eendracht Aalst SC Eendracht Aalst is a Belgian football club based in Aalst, East Flanders. History During World War I, citizens from Aalst played football matches to raise money for prisoners of war. In 1919 Sport-Club Eendracht Aalst became an official f ...

Belgian First Division A clubs