Luca Schelfhout

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Royal Antwerp

Full name	Royal Antwerp Football Club
Nicknames	The Great Old, The Reds
Founded	1880; 146 years ago (1880)
Ground	Bosuilstadion
Capacity	21,000
Owner	Paul Gheysens [nl]
Chairman	Paul Gheysens
Head coach	Marvin Compper
League	Belgian Pro League
2025–26	Belgian Pro League, 11th of 16
Website	www.rafc.be
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

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. The team competes in the Belgian Pro League, the top tier of the Belgian football league system. Founded in 1880, it is the oldest football club in Belgium.

The club has won five Belgian league championships and four Belgian Cup titles, including a domestic double in the 2022–23 season. In European competition, Antwerp reached the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1993 and qualified for the UEFA Champions League group stage for the first time in the 2023–24 season.

Antwerp's traditional kit colours are red and white. Since 1923, the club has played its home matches at the Bosuilstadion, located in the Deurne district of Antwerp.

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The Antwerp Football and Cricket Club was founded in 1880 by British workers based in Antwerp, 15 years before the creation of the Royal Belgian Football Association. Initially focused on cricket and general athletic activities, the club did not establish organized football until 1887, when the football division was founded with its own board and named Antwerp Football Club. As the oldest active club at the time, it was the first to register with the Association in 1895. Consequently, when matricule numbers were introduced in 1926, the club received matricule number one.

In 1900, many of the players left Royal Antwerp for the new club of Beerschot A.C. based in the Kiel neighborhood, igniting the start of a long rivalry between both clubs. Royal Antwerp became the most recent Belgian team to reach a European final when it advanced to the 1993 European Cup Winners’ Cup Final. Facing Parma at London’s Wembley Stadium on 12 May 1993, striker Francis Severeyns equalized early, but Antwerp ultimately lost 3–1.

Royal Antwerp had a long-term partnership with English club Manchester United from 1998 to 2015, taking their young players on loan to give them first-team experience. Players who required European work permits also benefited from Belgium's more relaxed regulations. An example of the latter was Chinese international Dong Fangzhuo, who was unable to play for United immediately due to work permit issues and was loaned to Antwerp to gain first-team experience.

Despite being one of Belgium's best-supported clubs, Antwerp spent several seasons in the lower divisions during the early 21st century. The club earned promotion back to the top flight in 2000, only to suffer relegation again in 2004. After 13 years in the second tier, Antwerp returned to the First Division A in 2017, securing a 5–2 aggregate victory over Roeselare in the promotion playoff.

After achieving promotion back to the top flight, the club appointed experienced Romanian manager László Bölöni, and demoted his predecessor Wim De Decker to assistant. In his second season, 2018–19, the club qualified for the UEFA Europa League, its first European competition in 25 years. Antwerp won 3–2 in the playoff final against Charleroi, who had led 2–0 after 12 minutes. Their European campaign began with a win over Viktoria Plzeň on the away goals rule in the third qualifying round, followed by a 5–2 loss to AZ Alkmaar of the Netherlands in the playoff.

In May 2020 Bölöni left at the end of his contract. Four months later, under coach Ivan Leko, Antwerp captured their first major trophy in nearly 30 years by defeating Club Brugge 1–0 in the 2020 Belgian Cup final. Israel's Lior Refaelov, a former Brugge player, scored the decisive goal. Ivan Leko led the team through the Europa League group stage in second place, with four wins including one over José Mourinho's Tottenham Hotspur. He left for Shanghai Port at the end of 2020.

Former Netherlands international Mark van Bommel was appointed manager in May 2022. He brought in several compatriots, including Vincent Janssen, who scored the first goal of a 2–0 win over neighbours Mechelen in the 2023 Belgian Cup final.

A major milestone in the club's resurgence occurred on 4 June 2023, when captain Toby Alderweireld scored a 94th-minute equalizer in a 2–2 draw at Genk. The goal secured Antwerp's first national championship in 66 years, ending a title drought since 1957.

Antwerp qualified for the UEFA Champions League group stage for the first time on 30 August 2023. They sealed the achievement by overcoming AEK Athens 3–1 on aggregate in the playoff round, with Michel-Ange Balikwisha scoring late in Athens to send the club into the competition proper.

Antwerp's first UEFA Champions League group stage campaign, in 2023–24, ended with a 3–2 victory over Barcelona at the Bosuilstadion, their first-ever win in the competition. They finished bottom of Group H that season. On the domestic front, they placed 6th in the Pro League and were beaten finalists in the Belgian Cup, losing 1–0 to Union Saint‑Gilloise in May 2024.

Royal Antwerp have played their home matches at the Bosuilstadion since 1923.

Royal Antwerp share a fierce rivalry with city neighbours Beerschot A.C. (now known as K Beerschot VA). Although in the 2000s and 2010s the two clubs met sparingly, their encounters often involved fan violence. Royal Antwerp are often seen as a culture club with a diverse, cross-class support across the city while Beerschot have either heavily working class or upper class support, locally based in South Antwerp. Beerschot supporters often refer to RAFC fans as "joden" or "Jews" as the RAFC fans must pass through the Jewish district to arrive at Antwerp's stadium, while Great Old supporters refer to Beerschot followers as "the rats".^{[citation needed]}

RAFC also have developed a long-standing rivalry with Club Brugge. They also have a local rivalry with KV Mechelen, although there is mutual respect due to a shared hatred of Beerschot.

The best football players of Antwerp and Rotterdam contested a yearly match between 1909 and 1959 for the Meuse- and Scheldt Cup (Maas- en Schelde Beker). It was agreed to play the game at Antwerp's stadium De Bosuil in Belgium and at Sparta Rotterdam's Het Kasteel stadium in the Netherlands. The cup was provided in 1909 by P. Havenith from Antwerp and Kees van Hasselt from Rotterdam.

• Challenge International du Nord
  • Winners (2): 1902, 1906
• European Cup Winners' Cup
  • Runners-up: 1992–93

As of 4 September 2026

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 3 DF  ESP Álvaro Cortés 4 DF  JPN Yuto Tsunashima 5 DF  BEL Daam Foulon 6 MF  MTN Bahmed Deuff (on loan from Nantes) 8 MF  ARG Mauricio Benítez 9 FW  SUI Michael Frey 14 MF  BEL Xander Dierckx 15 GK  BEL Yannick Thoelen 16 MF  BEL Louie Van Gelder 17 DF  BEL Semm Renders 19 FW  UZB Mukhammadali Urinboev 20 DF  BEL Rein Van Helden 22 MF  CIV Farouck Adekami 23 FW  JPN Koki Ando 24 DF  BEL Thibo Somers

No. Pos. Nation Player 25 MF  CIV Modibo Fofana 27 DF  BEL Eran Tuypens 28 DF  BEL Luca Schelfhout 29 FW  BEL Jeff Godelaine 30 MF  GER Christopher Scott 33 FW  ECU Snayder Porozo 41 GK  JPN Taishi Nozawa 43 MF  MAR Youssef Hamdaoui 44 DF  BEL Maxime Busi 48 MF  BEL Arthur Vermeeren (on loan from RB Leipzig) 77 FW  MAR Ibrahim Salah (on loan from Basel) 80 FW  ECU Carlos Mejía 81 GK  BEL Niels Devalckeneer 99 FW  GHA Luis Narh

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  BEL Andreas Verstraeten (at VVV-Venlo until 30 June 2027) — FW  NGR Gabriel Jesus David (at SKN St. Pölten until 30 June 2027)

No. Pos. Nation Player — FW  BEL Gerard Vandeplas (at Dender EH until 30 June 2027)

As of 11 February 2025

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 47 DF  BEL Mathijs Gielkens 51 GK  BEL Marcel Van Dijck 56 DF  BEL Eran Tuypens 60 MF  BEL Idrissa Keita 61 GK  BEL Lowie Piselé 63 FW  BEL Paco Avoki 64 MF  BEL Nano Schoenaerts 66 MF  BEL Toon Franssen 67 DF  CIV Arouna Koné 68 FW  BEL Khoi Pham Anh 69 FW  BEL Luka Vereecken 70 DF  BEL Luca Schelfhout 71 GK  BEL Matti Merckx 72 DF  BEL Dries Verdonck

No. Pos. Nation Player 74 FW  BEL Lennox Valhelmont 75 FW  KEN Wilkims Ochieng 76 FW  NGR Orseer Achihi 77 MF  BEL Milo Horemans 79 FW  BEL Gerard Vandeplas 80 FW  BEL Richmond Fordjour 81 GK  BEL Niels Devalckeneer 82 MF  BEL Louie Van Gelder 83 FW  BEL Jeff Godelaine 84 DF  BEL Jediaél Mbambi 87 FW  TOG Abdel-Malik Aziz 88 MF  BEL Jef Luyckx 93 MF  BEL Mohamed Waki 99 FW  BEL Caua Foroni

Position	Name
Head coach	Joseph Oosting
Assistant coach	Faris Haroun Robert Molenaar Nicky Hofs
Goalkeeping coach	Brian Vandenbussche
Fitness coach	Shaun Huygaerts Thomas Carpels
Match analyst	Jonas Dioos
Physiotherapist	Dries Meeusen
Technical director	Marc Overmars

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

• Club of Pioneers
• Royal Antwerp F.C. in European football

• Official website (in Dutch)
• Media related to Royal Antwerp FC at Wikimedia Commons