Racing White Daring de Molenbeek 47, also known as RWD Molenbeek and often referred to as RWDM, is a Belgian professional

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 founded in 1951 as Standaard Wetteren. In 2015, Wetteren folded and merged with another club, liberating the matricule which was sold to people wanting to revive the former

RWDM RWDM may refer to: * Royal White Daring Molenbeek, a former football club which dissolved in 2002 after financial difficulties. * RWDM47, a football club founded in 2015 to reinstate the history of the former club. See also * R.W.D.M. Brussels F.C. ...

with matricule 47 which folded in 2002. As such the new club was named RWDM47. The club has been on the rise ever since winning two consecutive promotions from the fifth tier to the fourth and fourth to third. In December 2021, the club announced that it had come under the ownership of American business executive

John Textor John Textor (born September 30, 1965) is an American businessman. He is the retired Executive Chairman of fuboTV, Inc. (following its merger with Textor's Facebank Group, Inc.), a sports-centric OTT streaming company. Featured by Forbes in 2016 as ...

, who also holds stakes in English side

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

, Brazilian side

Botafogo Botafogo (local/standard alternative Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: ) is a beachfront neighborhood (''bairro'') in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a mostly upper middle class and small commerce community, and is located between the hills of M ...

and French side

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

. RWDM's academy is considered one of the best in Belgium, and many footballers have come from there, notably Adnan Januzaj and

Michy Batshuayi Michy Batshuayi-Atunga (born 2 October 1993) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Süper Lig club Fenerbahçe and the Belgium national team. Batshuayi began his professional career at Standard Liège in 2011, scorin ...

to name a few Belgian internationals as well as a few internationals for other countries. The club currently plays in the Belgian First Division B. It participated in the 2015–16 Belgian Cup, where it reached the fourth round.

Rivalries and fanbase

RWDM's traditional rival is

Union Saint-Gilloise Royale Union Saint-Gilloise , abbreviated to Union SG or USG, unofficially simply called Union, is a Belgian football club originally located in the municipality of Saint-Gilles, in Brussels, although since the 1920s it has been based at the Jo ...

, which goes back to the 19th century when RWDM were known as Daring Club. RWDM also have a rivalry with

RSC Anderlecht ; french: Les Mauves et Blancs) , short name = R.S.C.A. , founded = , ground = Constant Vanden Stock Stadium , capacity = 22,500 , owntitle = Chairman , owner = Wouter Vandenhaute , manager = Brian Riemer ...

, with just 3 kilometres separating the two clubs and the fixtures often taking over the mantle of the "Derby of Brussels" in the professional era due to Union's relative decline. RWDM also have rivalries with Eendracht Aalst, Lierse and

RFC Liège Royal Football Club de Liège (more commonly known as RFC Liège) is a professional football club based in Liège, Belgium. It currently plays in the Belgian First Amateur Division. Its matricule is 4, meaning that it was the fourth club to regi ...

. RWDM drew support from across the Belgian capital due to its merger of 4 teams, as well as in the

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, where many ''Brusseleirs'' migrated to, in contrast to the more locally based Saint-Gilles support and the nationwide Anderlecht support. It had high attendances for a big part of its existence as

, until financial troubles and the subsequent changeover with Johan Vermeesch in charge of the new club led to the name change to

FC Brussels Racing White Daring Molenbeek Brussels F.C., often simply referred to as RWDM Brussels, F.C. Brussels or simply Brussels was a Belgian association football club based in the municipality of Molenbeek in the Brussels Capital-Region. They last pl ...

, and caused a split in the fanbase. During their years as FC Brussels, the

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group Brussels Power 05 emerged, while many of the "old school" casuals "Brussels Boys" boycotted. These days both supporter groups sit in the same ''Bloc A''.

Players

First-team squad

Out on loan

Club staff

References

External links

Official website
{{Belgian First Division B teamlist Football clubs in Belgium Association football clubs established in 1951 1951 establishments in Belgium Molenbeek-Saint-Jean Football clubs in Brussels