Théo Verbeeck, who founded Anderlecht, is probably satisfied by what his team realised. In this section, you are able to read the life stories of Anderlecht's best players. People who shaped the history of our club and made sure it became a legend throughout Europe.
Founded as Sporting Club Anderlechtois in 1908 by some football fans at the Concordia café (rue d'Aumale in Anderlecht, a municipality of Brussels), the club beat Institut Saint-Georges in its first match (11-8). As they were winning most of their matches, the secretary decided to join the official competition in 1909. They began at the regional level and at the end of the season, they had already qualified to play in the higher division. In 1913, they reached the national level, gaining promotion to the second division. They ended the season in fourth place.
Because of World War I, the championship was stopped until 1919. However, with the popularity of the team increasing, in 1917 it was decided that Anderlecht would play at the Parc Astrid (known as Parc du Meir at that time) in a new stadium. They baptized the stadium Stade Emile Versé in honor of the club's first major patron, the industrialist Emile Versé, who also allegedly chose the team colours (purple and white). In 1919-1920, they finished third but failed to qualify for the top division. Nonetheless, at the end of that season, the Belgian Football Association decided to let two more clubs play in the first division which meant that the three top clubs in the second division would be promoted. Three teams finished with 22 points behind Tilleur and Standard Liège: Anderlecht, T.S.V. Lyra and F.C. Liégeois. A play-off match was organized, which was won by Anderlecht.
The first season at the top level was tough as the club finished in 12th place. With only 15 points from 26 matches (a win being worth two points at the time) at the end of the 1922-1923 season, they were unable to secure their status in the first division. They managed to win the second division in the following season and finished 9th in first division in 1925, but were relegated again in 1926. In total, they were relegated four times in ten years to the second division (1923, 1926, 1928 and 1931), earning themselves the mockery of local rival clubs Union Saint-Gilloise and Daring de Bruxelles. They achieved their best league position up to that point in reaching fifth spot in 1930. 25 years after their formation, the club changed its name to Royal Sporting Club Anderlechtois in 1933. In 1935, they won one of the two tiers of the second division competition (the other one was won by Club Brugge) and were promoted to the first division again, where they have remained since.
Since then, they have only finished outside the top 5 of the Belgian first division twice, in 1952 and 1973, finishing in sixth place on each occasion. They have been in the first division since 1935-1936. There were also European successes in 1976, 1978 and 1983 and many many Belgian titles and Cups!
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