Koninklijke Stade Leuven was 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 is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club from the city of

Leuven Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic ...

Flemish Brabant Flemish Brabant ( nl, Vlaams-Brabant ; french: Brabant flamand ) is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on (clockwise from the North) the Belgian provinces of Antwerp, Limburg, Liège, Walloon Brabant, Haina ...

that existed between 1903 and 2002.

History

The club was founded as Stade Louvaniste and wore 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°18. It was admitted to the first season ever of the

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 ...

in 1910–11. It left the second division in 1949 to play in the first division for one season. The club was eventually relegated to the

third division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

in 1953. It played in the second division again from 1981 to 1983 and from 1988 to 1991. In 2002 K. Stade Leuven as it was named since 1967 merged with F.C. Zwarte Duivels Oud-Heverlee (''Zwarte Duivels'' means Black Devils) and

Daring Club Leuven Daring Club Leuven, was a Belgium, Belgian football club from the city of Leuven, Flemish Brabant that existed between 1922 and 2002, when it merged with K. Stade Leuven, Stade Leuven and F.C. Zwarte Duivels Oud-Heverlee to form Oud-Heverlee Leuve ...

to become

Oud-Heverlee Leuven Oud-Heverlee Leuven (), also called OH Leuven or OHL, is a Belgian football club from the city of Leuven. It was created in 2002 from the merger of three clubs, '' F.C. Zwarte Duivels Oud-Heverlee'', whose registration number it inherited, '' ...

with the matricule n°6142 of the "Black Devils". Belgium national team player

Dries Mertens Dries Mertens (; born 6 May 1987), nicknamed "Ciro", is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a striker or winger for Süper Lig club Galatasaray and the Belgium national team.

, who is from Leuven, started his career at Stade Leuven as a boy.

References

Belgian football clubs history

nbsp;– 1st and 2nd division final tables Defunct football clubs in Belgium Association football clubs established in 1903 Association football clubs disestablished in 2002 1903 establishments in Belgium 2002 disestablishments in Belgium Organisations based in Belgium with royal patronage

K. Stade Leuven Koninklijke Stade Leuven was a Belgian association football, football club from the city of Leuven, Flemish Brabant that existed between 1903 and 2002. History The club was founded as Stade Louvaniste and wore the matricule n°18. It was admit ...

Belgian Pro League clubs Stade Leuven {{Belgium-footyclub-stub