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| Full name | Royal Antwerp Football Club | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Great Old, The Reds | |||
| Founded | 1880 | |||
| Ground | Bosuilstadion | |||
| Capacity | 16,144[1] | |||
| Owner | Paul Gheysens | |||
| Chairman | Paul Gheysens | |||
| Manager | Jonas De Roeck | |||
| League | Belgian Pro League | |||
| 2023–24 | Belgian Pro League, 6th of 16 | |||
| Website | https://royalantwerpfc.be/ | |||
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Royal Antwerp Football Club (commonly referred to as Royal Antwerp or simply Antwerp) is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Antwerp. They compete in the Belgian Pro League, the top flight of Belgian football. The club was founded around 1880 as Antwerp Cricket Club by English students residing in Antwerp, 15 years before the creation of the Royal Belgian Football Association; Antwerp is regarded as the oldest club in Belgium.[2] At first there was no organised football played by its members, until 1887 when the football division was founded with its own board, named Antwerp Football Club. Being the oldest active club at the time, it was the first club to register to the Association in 1895. Consequently, when matricule numbers were introduced in 1926, the club received matricule number one.[3][4]
The team has won the Belgian league title five times and the Belgian Cup four times, including a double in 2022–23. In European competitions, it reached the final of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1992–93 and qualified for the Group stage of UEFA Champions League for the first time in 2023.
- ^ Bosuil mag voortaan 16.144 supporters ontvangen Archived 2 September 2018 at the Wayback Machine GVA, 7 April 2018
- ^ "Blow for Royal Antwerp FC, Belgium's oldest football club". VRT. 14 May 2020. Archived from the original on 30 June 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
- ^ "125 years football history". rafc.be. Archived from the original on 8 December 2008. Retrieved 7 February 2011.
- ^ "Wist je dat: de KBVB stamnummers uitvond?". voetbalkrant.com. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2013.