Royal Antwerp F.C.

**Royal Antwerp Football Club** is a Belgian football club from  Antwerp. Founded in 1880 as the _Antwerp Cricket Club_ by English students, the club is regarded as the oldest club in Belgium. The football division was founded in 1887 and named the _Antwerp Football Club_.

## History

Royal Antwerp has won four Belgian league titles as well as three Belgian Cups.  In 1900 most of the players left the club to K. Beerschot V.A.C.. This was the start of a long rivalry between the two clubs.

The club is the last Belgian team to reach a UEFA competition final. In the 1993 European Cup Winners' Cup Final they lost 3–1 against Parma at Wembley Stadium.

Royal Antwerp had a partnership with the English club Manchester United An example is Dong Fangzhuo. He was unable to play for United immediately due to work permit problems and was loaned to Antwerp.

Although the club is on Belgium's best-supported  they reached no trophies.  They have not won a league title since 1957 and also spent several seasons in the second division.  They were promoted to the top flight in 2000 and relegated in 2004. They returned to the first division after 13 years in 2017. In August 2020 they won the first title since 1957. They won the Belgian Cup versus Club Brugge .

## Stadium

Royal Antwerp plays their home matches at the Bosuilstadion since 1923.

### National

**Belgian First Division**
- **Champions:** 1928–29, 1930–31, 1943–44, 1956–57

**Belgian Second Division**
- **Champions:** 1999–2000, 2016–17

**Belgian Cup**
- **Winners:** 1954–55, 1991–92, 2019–20, 2022/23
- Runners-up: 1974–75

**Belgian Super Cup**
- Runners-up**:** 1992

### International

**Challenge International du Nord**
- **Winners:** 1902, 1906

**European Cup Winners' Cup**
- Runners-up: 1992–93

## Coaching staff

|Position|Name|
| --- | --- |
|Manager|Mark van Bommel|
|Assistant Manager|Andries Ulderink|
|Assistant Manager|John Stegeman|
|Assistant Coach|Jürgen Dirkx|
|Assistant Coach|Egid Kiesouw|
|Goalkeeping Coach|Brian Vandenbussche|
|Fitness Coach|Peter Catteeuw|
|Match Analyst|Jerry Vanacker|

## Manchester United Players loan partnership

_This is a list of former players on-loan via Manchester United's partnership with Royal Antwerp from 1998 to 2013._

- Jamie Wood
- Dong Fangzhuo
- Fraizer Campbell
- Luke Chadwick
- John Cofie
- Jimmy Davis
- Sylvan Ebanks-Blake
- Adam Eckersley
- David Fox
- Luke Giverin
- Colin Heath
- Tom Heaton
- Kirk Hilton
- Eddie Johnson
- Ritchie Jones
- Michael Lea
- Lee Martin
- Paul Rachubka
- Ryan Shawcross
- Danny Simpson
- Alan Tate
- Ronnie Wallwork
- Neil Wood
- Arthur Gómez
- Danny Higginbotham
- Darron Gibson
- John O'Shea
- Gyliano van Velzen
- Craig Cathcart
- Jonny Evans
- Phil Bardsley
- David Gray
- Souleymane Mamam

## Infobox (football club)

- **clubname**: Royal Antwerp
- **fullname**: Royal Antwerp Football Club
- **nickname**: _The Great Old, The Reds_
- **ground**: Bosuilstadion
Antwerp, Belgium
- **capacity**: 16,144
- **owner**: House of Orange-Nassau
- **chairman**: Piet van Boldwijn
- **manager**: Mark van Bommel
- **current**: 2022–23 Royal Antwerp F.C. season
- **league**: Belgian First Division A
- **season**: 2021-22 Belgian First Division A, 2021–22
- **position**: Belgian First Division A, 4th
- **website**: https://royalantwerpfc.be/
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