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Liège
Full name	Royal Football Club de Liège
Nickname(s)	Les Sang et Marine; (The Blood and Marine)
Founded	1892
Ground	Stade de la rue Gilles Magnée,; Ans; (Capacity: 2,500 (500 seats))
Chairman	Jules Dethier
Manager	Raphaël Quaranta
League	Belgian Second Division
2008-09	Belgian Second Division, 11th
Home colours	Away colours

Royal Football Club de Liège (RFC Liège) is a Belgian football club from the city of Liège. It currently plays in the Belgian Second Division. Its matricule is 4, meaning that it was the fourth club to register with the country's national federation, and the club was the first Belgian champion in history (5 Championships & 1 Cup). The club is also known today for being 'homeless' and for its refusal to release Jean-Marc Bosman after his contract ran out in 1990, which in turn led to the Bosman ruling, a European Court of Justice decision that caused major changes to the structure of European football. The 'philosophy' of the club is based on integration of local young players and on popular and faithful support.

[edit] History

It was founded in 1892 as "Liège Football Club" and became a member of the Belgian Football Association as "Football Club Liégeois" when it was founded in 1895. The club is the first Belgian Champion (1896) and is still the only club that has played all seasons at a national level (106 seasons in 2008-09). In 1920 the prefix Royal was added to the name of the club that already had won 3 championships (1896, 1898, 1899). In 1952 and 1953, the RFC Liège won two more championships, being at that time the only team which was able to contest the undisputed domination of Anderlecht. In 1964 Football Club Liégeois reached the Fairs Cup 1/2 finals, losing in 3 games against the winner of the Cup, Real Zaragoza. Between 1965 and 1985, there were poor results, and the club survived with the help of its own tradition: young players coming from inside the club, and faithful supporters.

At the end of the 1980s, the RFC Liège played in European competitions (notably against Benfica, Juventus, Rapid Vienna, Hibernian, Werder Bremen and Athletic Bilbao) and also won a Belgian Cup in 1990. Unfortunately, after that, bankruptcy was inevitable, and the stadium was sold and destroyed to build a movie theatre. The team joined with R.F.C. Tilleur-Saint-Nicolas, (a team from the suburb of Liège) in 1995, to become R. Tilleur F.C. de Liège.

The club went down from the first division (which it hadn't left since 1945) to the third division. The word Tilleur was finally excluded from the team name in 2000, coming back to "RFC de Liège". Since 1995, the club is moving between the second and fourth divisions, with two titles of 3rd division Champions in 1996 and 2008. In 2008-09 the club plays in the Belgian Second Division.

[edit] Stadium

Not having its own stadium after Rocourt (Liège) was destroyed is the biggest problem for the RFC Liège, also well-known as 'homeless'. After having played during 4 years at rue Gilles Magnée, in Ans where a temporary stand was built, the RFC Liège is actually playing in Seraing (Pairay Stadium) and could move for the next two seasons in Tilleur (Buraufosse Stadium). The new stadium could be ready for the 2010-11 season in Ans.

[edit] Current squad

No.		Position	Player
		GK	Jonathan Ayed
		GK	Patrick Telemans
		DF	David Aktan
		DF	Gaëtan Audoor
		DF	Patrick Bollue
		DF	Domenico Bruzzese
		DF	Stéphane Callegari
		DF	Hans Dibi
		DF	Laurent Gomez
		DF	Nicolas Lacroix
		DF	Miany Mwanga
		DF	Arnaud Winandts
		MF	Kris Buvens

No.		Position	Player
		MF	Giuseppe Canale
		MF	Sofiene El Khadri
		MF	Niko Gkionis
		MF	Sébastien Gonzatti
		MF	Marlone Gualda
		MF	Christophe Kinet
		MF	Jean-Sébastien Legros
		MF	Benjamin Maréchal
		MF	Rodrigue Piette
		FW	Wilfrid Grandisson
		FW	Guillaume Legros
		FW	Bryan Mélisse
		FW	Joseph Zappia

[edit] Trivia

RFC de Liège other "names" are: Liège, RFC Liège, RTFCL, Football Club Liégeois, Club Luik (in Dutch), FC Liegi (Italian), FC Lieja (Spanish) and FC Lüttich (German).

First Belgian champion, RFC Liège is still the 8th team in all time Belgian ranking (results) and 5th in terms of victories in Championship (5 titles), behind Anderlecht (29), FC Bruges (13), Union St Gilloise (11) and Standard (9).

(7th including two clubs that no longer exist, Beerschot (7) and Racing de Bruxelles (6))

RFC Liege was founded in 1892 by the members of Liège Cyclist's Union, who organised a few months later the now classic Liège Bastogne Liège with the Pesant Club Liégeois.

RFC Liège could be the only club to be champion in 3 different centuries.

Jean Loos is the only Walloon coach to be a two-time Belgian champion (1952 and 1953 with RFC Liège).

the club played 67 seasons in 1st Division 1, 50 of which were consecutive (1950-1995) for a total of 106 seasons at a national level (1892-2009, Belgian record).

[edit] Former players

Pol Anoul
Robert Waseige (player in the 60's, coach in the 80's)
Victor Wégria
Jean-Marc Bosman
Benoît Thans
Eric Deflandre
Jean-François De Sart
Danny Boffin
Danny Veyt
Guillaume Gillet
Gaëtan Englebert
Sébastien Bruzzese
Alloy Agu
Victor Ikpeba
Sunday Oliseh
Cvijan Milosevic
Ranko Stojic
Sead Susic
Zvonko Varga
Khalilou Fadiga

[edit] Honours

Belgian First Division:
- Winners (5): 1895-96, 1897-98, 1898-99, 1951-52, 1952-53
- Runners-up (3): 1896-97, 1958-59, 1960-61
Belgian Cup:
- Winners (1): 1989-90
- Runners-up (1): 1986-87
Belgian Second Division:
- Winners (3): 1911-12, 1922-23, 1943-44
Belgian Third Division:
- Winners (3): 1942-43, 1995-96, 2007-08

[edit] References

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