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| Full name | Koninklijke Beerschot Antwerpen Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | De Mannekes, De Ratten | ||
| Founded | 1920 (Germinal Ekeren) 1999 (merger; as Germinal Beerschot) | ||
| Dissolved | 2013 | ||
| Ground | Olympisch Stadion, Antwerp | ||
| Capacity | 12,771 | ||
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Koninklijke Beerschot Antwerpen Club (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈkoːnɪŋkləkə ˈbeːrsxɔt ˈɑntʋɛrpə(ŋ) ˈklʏp]), simply known as Beerschot AC, was a Belgian football club based in southern Antwerp. Beerschot played in the Belgian Pro League from 1999–2000 (as Germinal Beerschot) until 2012–13, when they were relegated not only through their league position, but also lost their professional licence through financial issues, being officially declared bankrupt on 21 May 2013 – one week after the season had ended.
K.F.C. Germinal Ekeren, established in 1920, rebranded themselves as Germinal Beerschot in 1999, retaining the matricule number and history but adopting some of the identity of K Beerschot VAC, seven-times Belgian champions but struggling with financial problems in the third division. Germinal Ekeren had been a first division club for the past decade, and were Belgian Cup winners in 1997.
Following the merger in 1999, the club moved from the Veltwijckstadion in the municipality of Ekeren to the Olympisch Stadion in the Kiel neighbourhood in Antwerp. Their outfits mixed the yellow and red of Germinal Ekeren with the purple of Beerschot. Their biggest rival was Royal Antwerp F.C. They won the Belgian Cup in 2005.
On 17 May 2011, the club changed its name again to Koninklijke Beerschot Antwerpse Club or Beerschot AC. The name change was the result of an internal struggle which split the board of directors which ended with the former Germinal Ekeren board members vacating their position, giving a free path to remove the mention of Germinal[1] in the team's name by the new directors as part of a business plan to restore the former K. Beerschot V.A.C. to its former glory. In addition, the club set its motto to the Latin phrase 'Tene Quod Bene', which translates as 'keep what is good', again referring to the fact that only the "Beerschot" part was kept. After being relegated in 2012–13, the club went bankrupt at the end of the season, was removed from competition altogether and folded shortly afterwards. In June 2013, K.F.C.O. Wilrijk unofficially integrated Beerschot AC's identity into theirs to become FCO Beerschot Wilrijk, moving to Beerschot AC's vacated stadium.[2] This new club started in the first division of the Belgian Provincial leagues.[2]
The youth academy of Beerschot produced the likes of Thomas Vermaelen, Mousa Dembélé, Radja Nainggolan, Jan Vertonghen, and Toby Alderweireld.