Lierse S.K. (1906)

This article is about the defunct men's football team. For the women's football team, see Lierse SK (women).
Not to be confused with Lierse S.K. (2018).

K. Lierse S.K.
Lierse S.K.
Full nameKoninklijke Lierse Sportkring
Nickname(s)De Pallieters
Founded6 March 1906; 118 years ago (6 March 1906)
Dissolved9 May 2018; 6 years ago (9 May 2018)
GroundHerman Vanderpoortenstadion, Lier
Capacity14,538[1]
OwnerMaged Samy
LeagueProximus League

4th of 8 (folded)
Websitehttp://www.lierse.com
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Koninklijke Lierse Sportkring (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈkoːnɪŋkləkə ˈliːrsə ˈspɔrtkrɪŋ]), often simply known as Lierse, was a Belgian professional football club from the city of Lier in the Antwerp province. Lierse have won four championship titles and two Belgian Cups. Lierse was one of the seven Belgian clubs to have played in the UEFA Champions League group stage, the others being Anderlecht, Antwerp, Club Brugge, Genk, Standard Liège and KAA Gent.

The club was founded in 1906 and was initially promoted to the first division in 1927–28. Lierse was relatively successful in the first division until the end of World War II, winning two titles and finishing only four times outside the top five. At the end of the 1947–48 season, they were relegated to the second division. Lierse enjoyed two more spells at the highest level, each time with a championship win (between 1953–54 and 1985–86 and between 1988–89 and 2006–07). Lierse spent five more years in the first division between 2010–11 and 2014–15, but then played in the second division until it was dissolved.

Lierse played their home matches at the Herman Vanderpoortenstadion in Lier, which is also known as Het Lisp, because the stadium is located in a neighbourhood named Lisp. Both the logo and home kit featured the club colours of yellow and black. The club was bought by Egyptian businessman Maged Samy, who also owns KV Turnhout and Wadi Degla in Egypt.

The most capped player at the club was Bernard Voorhoof with 61 caps for Belgium, all when he was at Lierse. With 30 goals, he was the topscorer of the Belgium national football team together with Paul Van Himst, until Romelu Lukaku (who played in Lierse's youth squads) surpassed this record.

On 9 May 2018, the team announced that it requested bankruptcy.[2][3]

After the bankruptcy of the team, negotiations started with Lyra and Oosterzonen. Eventually two teams with the name Lierse were formed: K. Lyra-Lierse and K. Lierse Kempenzonen.[4] K. Lierse Kempenzonen currently plays with the old Lierse S.K. logo at the Herman Vanderpoortenstadion.[5]

  1. ^ Het Herman Vanderpoortenstadion Archived 20 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine lierse.com (last check 30 March 2018)
  2. ^ "Lierse is failliet, stamnummer 30 verdwijnt: "Game over"". sporza.be. 9 May 2018. Archived from the original on 7 November 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  3. ^ "K. Lierse S.K. CVBA heeft het faillissement aangevraagd – Lierse SK". www.lierse.com. Archived from the original on 21 June 2018. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  4. ^ "Oosterzonen heeft akkoord over stadion Lierse: Lierse Kempenzonen komt eraan". 1 June 2018. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  5. ^ "Privacy settings". www.hln.be. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2018.