Matteo Heremans

Oud-Heverlee Leuven

Full name	Oud-Heverlee Leuven
Short name	OHL, OH Leuven
Founded	2002; 24 years ago (2002)
Ground	Den Dreef
Capacity	10,020
Owner	King Power
Chairman	Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha
Head coach	Timmy Simons
League	Belgian Pro League
2025–26	Belgian Pro League, 12th of 16
Website	ohleuven.com
Home colours Away colours
Current season

Oud-Heverlee Leuven (Flemish pronunciation: [ʌut ˈɦeːvərˌleː ˈløːvə(n)]), also called OH Leuven or OHL, is a Belgian professional football club from the city of Leuven. It was created in 2002 from the merger of three clubs, F.C. Zwarte Duivels Oud-Heverlee, whose registration number it inherited, Daring Club Leuven, and Stade Leuven. The club's home ground is Den Dreef, located in Heverlee. The club currently plays in the country's first division, the Belgian Pro League.

F.C. Zwarte Duivels Oud-Heverlee was founded in 1957, climbing out of the provincial leagues in 1996 and winning the Belgian Fourth Division title during the 1999–2000 season. Promoted to the Belgian Third Division they joined their Leuven neighbours Stade Leuven, founded in 1905, which had played over 30 seasons in the Belgian Second Division and one year in the First in the 1949–50 season. As of 2002^[update], F.C. Zwarte Duivels Oud-Heverlee was in bad financial shape, moving up and down between third and fourth division since 1991.

In 2002, the city of Leuven decided that both Third division teams, Zwarte Duivels Oud-Heverlee and K. Stade Leuven, would merge also with the third club from Leuven, K. Daring Club Leuven, which was at that time playing at the fifth level of the league. Daring Club Leuven was founded in 1922, had played several seasons in the Belgian Second Division, and after being the leading club from the Leuven region between 1958 and 1964, had dropped down into the provincial leagues in 1979 and stayed there since. The new club took over the registration of Zwarte Duivels Oud-Heverlee, and started playing in the Belgian Third Division under the name Oud-Heverlee Leuven.

At the end of its first season, the club narrowly lost out on promotion, going down on penalty kicks to Eendracht Aalst in the Third division play-off final, after finishing 2nd in the 3rd division B, 5 points behind champions Tubize. After a 3rd place in the same division in season 2003–04, Oud-Heverlee Leuven finished 2nd once again in season 2004–05 and this time they did win the promotion play-off and entered the second division in the 2005–06 season. After two seasons finishing 6th and 5th, OH Leuven finished 3rd in the 2007–08 Belgian Second Division season with 61 points. This allowed them to take part in the promotion playoffs where the team finished as the bottom 4th after losing all six games to Tubize, Antwerp, and Lommel United.

Two seasons with the team finishing 9th and 14th were followed by a second division title on Sunday 24 April 2011, when Oud-Heverlee Leuven secured the 2010–11 2nd division championship and gained promotion to the First division for the season 2011–12, following a 2–2 draw at Antwerp. The team rounded off the season the following Sunday with a 2–0 home win against Lommel United, gathering a total of 73 points from 34 games and finishing 8 points ahead of 2nd placed Lommel United. Their promotion brought First division football to the city of Leuven for the first time since the 1949–50 season, when Stade Leuven had finished bottom of the league and were relegated.

OH Leuven secured its top flight status following a 0–0 draw at home against Lierse on 3 March 2012, marking the first time a team from the city of Leuven managed to remain at the highest level of Belgian football for more than a single season. In the 2013–14 season, OH Leuven was relegated after losing the 2014 promotion/relegation play-offs. Although finishing 6th, the team was promoted next year via the 2015 promotion/relegation play-offs, but it was immediately relegated again after finishing last in the 2015–16 season.

In September 2016, OH Leuven were caught up in a scandal affecting football in England. In relation to allegations made against individuals within English football, OH Leuven chairman Jimmy Houtput was alleged to have offered up the club as a "conduit" to allow third-party companies to gain ownership of football players in England. Houtput claimed he was "merely trying to obtain the identity of the possible investor(s) and would never take part in illegal activities to circumvent the third-party ownership", but subsequently resigned as OH Leuven chairman on 30 September.

Later that season, with the club struggling financially, OH Leuven was taken over by the Thai duty-free retailer King Power, led by chairman and CEO Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, who already owned Leicester City.

In July 2018, OH Leuven reclaimed the registration number that originally belonged to K. Stade Leuven, to "reclaim the glorious past", thus dropping registration number 6142 (originally belonging to F.C. Zwarte Duivels Oud-Heverlee) and reverting to 18.

On 27 October 2018, the club's chairman, Vichai, died in a helicopter crash following Leicester City's home match against West Ham United.

Green denotes the highest level of football in Belgium; yellow the second highest; red the third highest.

• Belgian Second Division
  • Winners (1): 2010–11
• Belgian Second Division play-offs
  • Winners (1): 2015

Upon its foundation in 2002, white was chosen as the club color, with the logo of the new club combining the green of Stade Leuven, the black of Zwarte Duivels Oud-Heverlee and the red of Daring Leuven. Throughout the years, the home shirt has remained white, often decorated with a few red or green stripes or colored sleeves. The away shirt color has alternated mostly between red and green but has been black, yellow and blue as well.

Seasons	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
2002–03	Erima	Speedy
2003–06		Vandezande
2006–08		Option
2008–15	Vermarc
2015–16		Just Eat
2016–17		Leuven Klimaatneutraal 2030
2017–19		King Power
2019–22	Adidas
2022–25	Stanno	Starcasino (until end of 2024) one.com (from 2025)
2025–26		Starsport TV
2026–	Jako

Their stadium is called Stadion Den Dreef and is situated on Kardinaal Mercierlaan in the south Leuven suburb of Heverlee (not to be confused with 'Oud-Heverlee' in the club name, which is in fact a separate municipality). The entrance for visiting fans is on Tervuursevest.

As of 14 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 1 GK  NED Dani van den Heuvel 3 DF  BEL Noë Dussenne 4 MF  BEL Birger Verstraete 5 DF  GER Jamie Lawrence 6 MF  BEL Wouter George 7 MF  GHA Emmanuel Addai 8 MF  BEL Siebe Schrijvers 9 FW  GUI Abdoul Karim Traoré 10 FW  BEL Thibaud Verlinden 11 FW  GER Henok Teklab 13 GK  BEL Kiany Vroman 15 DF  CRO Viktor Damjanić 17 FW  BEL Kyan Vaesen 18 FW  BEL Robin Mirisola (on loan from Genk) 19 FW  NGR Chukwubuikem Ikwuemesi 20 FW  JPN Shin Yamada (on loan from Celtic) 21 FW  COD William Balikwisha

No. Pos. Nation Player 24 MF  POL Łukasz Łakomy 25 MF  BEL Manuel Osifo 26 DF  JPN Takuya Ogiwara (on loan from Urawa Red Diamonds) 27 DF  ESP Óscar Gil 28 DF  BEL Ewoud Pletinckx 30 DF  ITA Alessandro Fontanarosa (on loan from Avellino) 34 DF  SUI Roggerio Nyakossi 42 MF  TUR Hasan Bulut 48 MF  USA Bryang Kayo 61 GK  BEL Owen Jochmans 63 DF  BEL Christ Souanga 72 MF  BEL Sebastian Murru 77 DF  BEL Thibault Vlietinck 80 MF  BEL Matteo Heremans 81 GK  BEL Marcel Van Dijck 89 FW  BEL Chike Van De Ven 99 DF  BEL Davis Opoku

As of 10 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 43 DF  IRL Liam McAlinney 45 GK  BEL Keano Dekeyser 47 DF  BEL Orin Reinat 50 MF  BEL Steve Likebeli 51 MF  BEL Aboubacar Conte 53 DF  HUN Dániel Kovács 55 DF  BEL Oscar Olivier 59 MF  BEL Kristen Ngandimoun 60 MF  BEL Yassine Azzouz 61 GK  BEL Owen Jochmans 64 DF  BEL Mathéo Gérard 66 DF  BEL Anthony Willems 67 FW  BEL Amadou Diallo 70 MF  BEL Ryane Redouane

No. Pos. Nation Player 71 DF  BEL Olsen Djédjé 73 DF  BEL Yann Sikorski 76 DF  BEL Tijn Janssen 78 MF  BEL Femi Siwoku 79 FW  BEL Lukas Cakoni 82 MF  BEL Victor Vanden Driessche 84 DF  BEL Daan Braspenning 85 DF  BEL Lucca Darcon 88 MF  BEL Jahir Da Costa 90 FW  BEL Mohamed Amine Moustache 91 GK  BEL Luwe Van Looy 93 DF  BEL Milan Gigot 96 DF  BEL Aaron Wiggers 97 FW  BEL Iliano Remans

As of 29 July 2026^[update]

• Jean-Pierre Vande Velde (2002–2004)
• Guido Brepoels (2004–2007)
• Rudi Cossey (2007 – 27 August 2008)
• Marc Wuyts (27 August 2008 – 3 March 2009)
• Jean-Pierre Vande Velde (4 March 2009 – 2010)
• Ronny Van Geneugden (2010 – 21 January 2014)
• Herman Vermeulen (21 January 2014 – 25 February 2014)
• Ivan Leko (25 February 2014 – 28 November 2014)
• Hans Vander Elst ^(caretaker) (28 November 2014 – 26 December 2014)
• Jacky Mathijssen (26 December 2014 – 24 November 2015)
• Emilio Ferrera (26 November 2015 – 15 January 2017)
• Dennis van Wijk (19 January 2017 – 22 September 2017)
• Nigel Pearson (22 September 2017 – 3 February 2019)
• Vincent Euvrard (8 February 2019 – 9 June 2020)
• Marc Brys (16 June 2020 – 13 October 2023)
• Eddy Vanhemel ^(caretaker) (13 October 2023 – 5 November 2023)
• Óscar García (5 November 2023 – 22 November 2024)
• Hans Somers ^(caretaker) (22 November 2024 – 1 December 2024)
• Chris Coleman (2 December 2024 – 11 June 2025)
• David Hubert (16 June 2025 – 13 October 2025)
• Hans Somers ^(caretaker) (13 October 2025 – 26 October 2025)
• Felice Mazzù (26 October 2025 – 27 May 2026)
• Timmy Simons (23 June 2026 – )

The following list the top scorers for OH Leuven per season, counting only goals scored during official matches: league, cup and playoffs.

Player	Goals	Season
Sory Kaba	9	2025–26
Siebe Schrijvers	8	2024–25
Youssef Maziz	8	2023–24
Mario González	15	2022–23
Sory Kaba	12	2021–22
Thomas Henry	21	2020–21
Thomas Henry	16	2019–20
Frédéric Duplus and Mathieu Maertens	7	2018–19
Yannick Aguemon	13	2017–18
Esteban Casagolda	8	2016–17
Yohan Croizet and Leandro Trossard	9	2015–16
Jovan Kostovski	14	2014–15
Bjorn Ruytinx	11	2013–14
Ibou	19	2012–13
Jordan Remacle	16	2011–12
Hamdi Harbaoui	28	2010–11
Cédric Bétrémieux	13	2009–10
Frederik Vanderbiest	9	2008–09
Toni Brogno and Bjorn Ruytinx	16	2007–08
Toni Brogno	14	2006–07
Samuel Remy	14	2005–06
François Sterchele	32	2004–05
Kristof De Voeght	15	2003–04
Hans Goethuys	12	2002–03

The list below consists of current and former players of OH Leuven who have gained caps for their national team.

Flags indicate national teams they played for.

Only players obtaining first team caps are included, U21 or unofficial matches are not.

Member associations are listed in order of most to least amount of current and former OH Leuven players represented Internationally

Total national team players by confederation

Confederation	Total	(Nation) Association
AFC	8	Japan (3), Thailand (2), Iran (1), Jordan (1), Malaysia (1)
CAF	22	Democratic Republic of the Congo (2), Ghana (2), Guinea (2), Ivory Coast (2), Morocco (2), Nigeria (2), Algeria (1), Benin (1), Burkina Faso (1), Cameroon (1), Madagascar (1), South Africa (1), The Gambia (1), Togo (1), Tunisia (1), Zimbabwe (1)
CONCACAF	4	Curaçao (2), Canada (1), Martinique (1)
CONMEBOL	2	Uruguay (1), Venezuela (1)
OFC	0
UEFA	38	Belgium (15), Iceland (3), Bulgaria (2), Scotland (2), Serbia (2), Austria (1), Bosnia and Herzegovina (1), Croatia (1), Czech Republic (1), Finland (1), Georgia (1), Hungary (1), Israel (1), North Macedonia (1), Poland (1), Spain (1), Turkey (1), Ukraine (1), Wales (1)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Oud-Heverlee Leuven.

• Official website (in Dutch)