K.V. Mechelen

History

Early days

The club was founded in 1904, a few months after the birth of city rival KRC Mechelen. The club had a first successful period in the 1940s. During World War II, in 1943, the club won their first domestic title. The second title came a few years later, in 1946, and in 1948 the club was successful again. After that, the club fell back. In 1954, they managed to finish third, only one point behind champions Anderlecht, but that was their last good season. Two years later, Mechelen was relegated to second division. During the 1960s and the 1970s, Mechelen went up and down between the first and second division.

High days

The club enjoyed a spell of both domestic and European success in the period from 1987 to 1992. During these five seasons, Mechelen won one Belgian championship and one Belgian cup title. They also finished second in the Belgian league twice and lost the Belgian Cup final twice. After winning the domestic cup title in 1987, and hence qualifying for the European Cup Winners' Cup, they completed the extraordinary achievement of winning this tournament in 1988. Coached by Aad de Mos, the well balanced team with international players like Michel Preud'Homme, Lei Clijsters, Erwin Koeman, Marc Emmers and Eli Ohana defeated Ajax in the final 1–0. In the 1988–89 season, the team also won the European Super Cup against another Dutch side, PSV Eindhoven. Mechelen are the last Belgian team that has won a European trophy.

KV Mechelen seemed to be on its way to becoming one of the top clubs in Belgium, but quickly declined when their chairman John Cordier (who owned the rights to most of their players) was forced to sell many players due to his company's bad results. A few years in a row, Anderlecht, located in nearby Brussels, attracted top players from Mechelen such as Graeme Rutjes, Johnny Bosman, Marc Emmers, Bruno Versavel, Philippe Albert and Glen de Boeck. Coach de Mos also made the switch.

In 1997, Mechelen finished second to last again, and was therefore relegated to the Second Division.

Since 2000

On 10 June 2007, the team achieved promotion to the Belgian First Division. Two years later in 2009, KV Mechelen played the final of the Belgian Cup, losing it 2–0 to Genk. One year after that, they stranded in the semi-finals with a 2–2 draw and a 1–0 loss against KAA Gent.

After a successful 2010 and four seasons for the yellow reds, coach Peter Maes decided to leave Malinwa and signed a four-year contract with Lokeren. Malinwa made a deal with Marc Brys to take over from Maes. Marc Brys was coach of FC Den Bosch, a second division team in the Netherlands. After two seasons he was sacked and Harm Van Veldhoven was appointed for the 2012–13 season. Van Veldhoven also could not lead KV Mechelen to Play-off 1, the clubs' recent unspoken ambition. He was fired in December 2013. At the end of the 2013–14 season KV Mechelen appointed Aleksandar Janković as head coach. Despite Janković's inability to lead the club to Play-off 1, Janković left for topclub Standard Liège and Mechelen had to appoint a new manager. The club ended up choosing Yannick Ferrera for the vacant job, who had just been fired as manager of Standard Liège.

Match-fixing and 2017–19 Belgian football fraud scandal

2017 through 2019 proved to be a tumultuous period for the club. After eleven seasons at the highest level, the club was relegated on the last day of the 2017–18 season as a 2–0 win over Waasland-Beveren left them in last place on goal difference, due to Eupen beating Moeskroen by a bigger margin (4–0). During the following season, while the club was very successful on the pitch, winning both the 2018–19 Belgian First Division B and the 2018–19 Belgian Cup, the 2017–19 Belgian football fraud scandal emerged in which the club was accused of match-fixing their final match of the 2017–18 season, allegedly having attempted to bribe certain players and officials of Waasland-Beveren.

In March 2019, the club was found guilty and forced to relegate back to the First Division B despite winning promotion, and also denied to take part in the 2019–20 Belgian Cup and 2019–20 UEFA Europa League, the latter for which they had qualified by winning the cup. The club appealed the decision at the Belgian Arbitration Court for Sports which ruled on 10 July 2019 that, in accordance with the rules set by the Royal Belgian Football Association, relegation was not a possible punishment in the circumstances. As a result, the club was punished with a one-season ban from European football and the Belgian Cup. The proceedings were plagued with controversy, with evidence (including witness statements) from an investigation into financial crimes in Belgian football not being made available during these disciplinary proceedings, as well as the impartiality of the prosecutor being called into question.

Second Belgian Cup

In May 2019, more than 30 years after their last major trophy, second division side Mechelen won the Belgian Cup after a 2-1 victory over Gent in the final at the King Baudouin Stadium. Germán Mera scored the winning goal after Nikola Storm made the equalizer.

Rivalries

KV Mechelen's most traditional rival is Racing Mechelen. However the two have sparingly met in the modern era, the last time in 2005, where the game had to be stopped due to crowd violence. Traditionally KV Mechelen was the club of the catholic elite in the city while Racing was set up by the secular, liberal classes, with nationalist sympathies. KV Mechelen has since taken on a more broader support from the Antwerp province and beyond while Racing's support has died down due to being in inferior divisions.

KV Mechelen also have a rivalry with football clubs from the neighbouring town of Lier (mainly Lierse SK and its successors). They additionally have a rivalry with Beerschot Antwerp, which was heightened during the Match fixing scandal of 2017–2019, due to Mechelen's promotion instead of Beerschot despite being found guilty of match fixing in the previous season.

Honours

Domestic

• Belgian First Division A
  • Champions (4): 1942–43, 1945–46, 1947–48, 1988–89
• Belgian Cup
  • Winners (2): 1986–87, 2018–19
• Belgian Second Division
  • Winners (7): 1925–26, 1927–28, 1962–63, 1982–83, 1998–99, 2001–02, 2018–19
• Belgian Second Division final round
  • Winners: 1981, 2007, 2019
• Belgian Third Division
  • Winners: 2004–05

International

• European Cup Winners Cup
  • Winners: 1987–88
• European Super Cup
  • Winners: 1988

European record

KV Mechelen's Belgian Cup win in 1987 saw the club participate in UEFA club competition for the first time in their history, entering the 1987–88 European Cup Winners' Cup. It proved to be a highly successful campaign, with Mechelen reaching the final undefeated by winning seven of their eight matches en route. They then went on to defeat Ajax 1–0 in the final, Piet den Boer scoring the decisive goal early in the second half. The following season Mechelen played 1988 European Cup winners PSV in the UEFA Super Cup, and defeated the Dutch side 3–1 on aggregate. Mechelen remain the last Belgian club team to have won a European club competition.

:As of December 2008.

A = appearances, GP = games played, W = won, D = drawn, L = lost, GF = goals for, GA = goals against.

Results

• Q = qualification round
• PO = play-off
• R = round
• Group = group stage / Group 1 = first group stage / Group 2 = second group stage
• 1/8 = eighth finals / 1/4 = quarter-finals / 1/2 = semi-finals
• F = final

Summary of best results

European Cup/UEFA Champions League: :- Quarter-finalists in 1990 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (1): :- Winners in 1988 :- Semi-finalists in 1989 UEFA Super Cup (1): :- Winners in 1988

Players

Current squad

Out on loan

Notable former players

;Africa ;Algeria

• ALG Sofiane Hanni
• ALG Islam Slimani Burkina Faso
• Burkina Faso Hassane Bandé ;DR Congo
• DRC Roger Lukaku

;Asia ;Indonesia

• IDN Sandy Walsh

;Europe ;Belgium

• Belgium Albert De Cleyn

• BEL Marino Sabbadini

• BEL Michel Preud'homme

• Belgium Lei Clijsters

• Belgium Koen Sanders

• Belgium Philippe Albert

• BEL Theo Custers

• BEL Marc Wilmots

• BEL Christian Kabasele

• BEL Bjorn Vleminckx

• BEL Mats Rits

• BEL Christian Benteke ;Bosnia and Herzegovina

• BIH Edin Cocalić

• BIH Boris Pandža

• BIH Marijo Dodik

• BIH Senad Karahmet ;Croatia

• CRO Ljuban Crepulja ;Denmark

• DEN Nicklas Pedersen ;Greece

• GRE Sotiris Ninis Israel

• Israel Eli Ohana ;Montenegro ;* MNE Fatos Bećiraj ;Portugal ;* POR Sérgio Oliveira ;Sweden ;* Sweden Klas Ingesson ;* Sweden Kennet Andersson ;The Netherlands ;* The Netherlands Piet Den Boer ;* The Netherlands Erwin Koeman ;* The Netherlands Graeme Rutjes ;* The Netherlands John Bosman ;* The Netherlands René Eijkelkamp ;* The Netherlands Wim Hofkens ;* The Netherlands Michael Verrips

Coaching staff

Coaching history

• Belgium Désiré Bourgeois (1947–53), (1954–55)
• Belgium Albert De Cleyn (1955–57)
• Belgium Émile Stijnen (1959–61)
• Romania Oliver Gaspar (1960–64)
• Hungary András Dolgos (1965–68)
• Belgium Piet Teughels (1968–69)
• England Keith Spurgeon (1969–70)
• Belgium Staf Van den Bergh (1970–75)
• Belgium André Bollen (1975–77)
• England John Talbut (1977–78)
• Belgium Piet Teughels (1979)
• Yugoslavia Nedeljko Bulatović (1979–81)
• Belgium Kamiel Van Damme (1981–82)
• Netherlands Leo Canjels (1982–85)
• Germany Ernst Künnecke (1985–86)
• Netherlands Aad de Mos (1 February 1986 – 30 June 1989)
• Netherlands Ruud Krol, Belgium Fi Van Hoof (1 July 1989 – 14 January 1990)
• Belgium Fi Van Hoof (1990–91)
• Belgium Georges Leekens (1 July 1991 – 30 June 1992)
• Belgium Fi Van Hoof (1992–94)
• Belgium Walter Meeuws (1 July 1994 – 1 August 1995)
• Belgium Walter Meeuws, Belgium Willy Reynders (1995–96)
• Belgium Willy Reynders, Belgium Georges Heylens (1996–97)
• Belgium Franky Vercauteren (1997 – June 30, 1998)
• Belgium Rudy Verkempinck, Belgium Gunther Jacob & Belgium Valère Billen (1998–99)
• Belgium Gunther Jacob (1999–00)
• Belgium L. Clijsters, Belgium V. Billen & Netherlands B. Hulshoff (1 July 2000 – 30 June 2001)
• Netherlands Barry Hulshoff, Belgium Fi Van Hoof (2001–02)
• Belgium Stéphane Demol, Belgium Alex Czerniatynski (30 November 2002 – 30 June 2003)
• Belgium Alex Czerniatynski (2003–04)
• Belgium Rik Vande Velde, Serbia Živica Kanački (1 July 2004 – 25 January 2005)
• Netherlands André Wetzel, Serbia Živica Kanački (2005 – June 30, 2006)
• Belgium Peter Maes (1 July 2006 – 30 June 2010)
• Belgium Marc Brys (1 July 2010 – 30 June 2012)
• Belgium Harm van Veldhoven (1 July 2012 – 30 December 2013)
• Belgium Franky Vercauteren (5 January 2014 – 5 May 2014)
• Serbia Aleksandar Janković (8 May 2014 – 6 September 2016)
• Belgium Yannick Ferrera (12 September 2016 – 22 October 2017)
• Serbia Aleksandar Janković (2 November 2017 – Jan 2018)
• Netherlands Dennis van Wijk (Jan 2018 – Aug 2018)
• Belgium Wouter Vrancken (Aug 2018 – May 2022)
• Netherlands Danny Buijs (1 June 2022 – 17 October 2022)
• Belgium Steven Defour (17 October 2022 – 2 November 2023)
• KosovoAlbania Besnik Hasi (8 November 2023 – 3 March 2025)
• Belgium Fredje "the beast" vanderbiest (aug 2025)

Chairmen history

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References

References

1. [https://www.kvmechelen.be/afasstadion/ Het AFAS-stadion Achter de Kazerne] {{Webarchive. link. (5 May 2020 kvmechelen.be (last check 30 March 2018))
2. "INFO EN CONTACT".
3. (6 January 2023). "Hoogtepunten geschiedenis Malinwa en Racing". stadsarchief.mechelen.be.
4. (31 December 2024). "K.V. Mechelen : Palmares". /kvmechelen.be.
5. (11 May 2018). "KV Mechelen in 1988: de laatste Belgische club die een Europese beker mocht vasthouden".
6. (4 May 2022). "KV Mechelen in 1988: de laatste Belgische club die een Europese beker won". [[Knack (magazine).
7. (15 February 2020). "Michel Verschueren verdedigt zich voor leeghalen KV Mechelen dertig jaar geleden: "We hebben niks gepikt"". voetbalkrant.com.
8. (13 December 2022). "Sportman en -vrouw van het Jaar". voetbalbelgie.be.
9. (1 June 2019). "Dossier matchfixing: KV Mechelen veroordeeld tot degradatie, Waasland-Beveren gaat vrijuit".
10. (23 May 2019). "KV Mechelen vangt bot bij rechter in zaak matchfixing". [[De Tijd]].
11. (1 May 2020). "RETRO: 1 jaar geleden won KV Mechelen als tweedeklasser de beker". [[Sporza]].
12. (26 April 2023). "Vier jaar geleden won KV Mechelen de beker… als tweedeklasser: “We hadden krampen tot achter onze oren”".
13. (8 January 2017). "Streek-/Stadsderby's België: #1 KV Mechelen vs. Racing Mechelen".
14. (March 1, 2003). "From Factions to Fusions?: The Rise and Fall of Two-Club Rivalries in Belgian Football". International Review for the Sociology of Sport.
15. (9 April 2017). "Specialist Vitas bezorgt Lierse koude douche in sfeervolle derby in Mechelen".
16. (21 October 2018). "Beerschot Wilrijk-fans zwaaien met geld voor derby tegen van matchfixing beschuldigde KV Mechelen". Gazet Van Antwerpen.
17. (7 October 2019). "Beerschot klaagt licentie KV Mechelen aan: 'It's a long shot'". Knack.
18. (17 May 2006). "11 mai 1988 à la Meinau : Mechelen-Ajax".
19. (9 February 2015). "Leeds, Aston Villa and River Plate among the Top 10 dramatic declines".
20. "Selectie". K.V. Mechelen.