Koninklijke
(, Dutch language, Dutch for 'royal') is an Title of honor, honorary title given to certain companies and non-profit organisations in the Netherlands and to a lesser extent Belgium, by the monarchs of each country. It was first introduced by Lou ...
Sint-Truidense Voetbalvereniging (), commonly known as Sint-Truiden or STVV () or by their nickname De Kanaries (), is a Belgian professional
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
club located in the city of
Sint-Truiden
Sint-Truiden (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality located in the Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg, Flemish Region, Belgium. With more than 41,500 inhabitants, it is on ...
in
Limburg
Limburg or Limbourg may refer to:
Regions
* Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium
* Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands
* Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...
. Sint-Truiden plays in the
Belgian Pro League
The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023 ...
.
Their best ranking was a second place in
1965–66. They also reached the final of the
Belgian Cup
The Belgian Cup (; ; ) is the main knockout football competition in Belgium, run by the Royal Belgian FA. The competition started in 1908 with provincial selections as the "Belgian Provinces Cup". Starting from 1912 only actual clubs were allowed ...
twice. The club was founded in 1924. They are
matricule number 373. The club colours are yellow and blue, hence their nickname ''De Kanaries'', meaning 'The Canaries'. They have played their home games at the
Stayen
Stayen is a football stadium in Sint-Truiden, Belgium. It is the home ground of K. Sint-Truidense V.V., STVV. The stadium holds 14,600 after its most recent rebuild.
The original stadium was built in 1927. The name "Stayen" is a local dialec ...
since 1927.
History

The club was created in 1924 following the merger between FC Union and FC Goldstar, two clubs from Sint-Truiden. The colors of the club were chosen to be yellow and blue, to match the colors of the city, and it was named Sint-Truidense Voetbal Vereeniging. The first game of the team, against Cercle Tongeren, was played in front of only 9 attendees. In the late 1930s,
Léopold Appeltans
Pol Appeltans (30 March 1922 – 30 June 2001) was a Belgian footballer. He played in one match for the Belgium national football team
The Belgium national football team has represented Belgium in men's international Association footb ...
was the leading player of Sint-Truidense. On 21 November 1948 he became the first capped player for
Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
while playing at this club. In the late 1940s it qualified for the
second division. It also changed its name to Sint-Truidense Voetbalvereniging in 1947. Five years later it finished second in the second division and thus promoted to the
first division. Successful manager
Raymond Goethals arrived at Sint-Truiden in 1959. Under his management, the team finished second of the top division in 1966.
The former Sint-Truidense goalkeeper
Jacky Mathijssen became the manager of the club in 2001 and remained at the helm for three seasons after which he left for
Charleroi
Charleroi (, , ; ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It is the largest city in both Hainaut and Wallonia. The city is situated in the valley of the Sambre, in the south-west of Belgium, not ...
. He was replaced by
Marc Wilmots
Marc Robert Wilmots (born 22 February 1969) is a Belgian professional football manager and former player who is the sporting director of Standard Liège.
During his club career as an attacking midfielder, he won trophies with KV Mechelen, Stand ...
, who was fired shortly after. The team finished the season under the coaching of the trio
Guy Mangelschots,
Eddy Raymaekers and
Peter Voets. At the end of the
2004–05 season the board of directors hired
Oostende manager
Herman Vermeulen
Herman Vermeulen (born 10 November 1954) is a Belgian football manager who is assistant manager at Waasland-Beveren
Sportkring Beveren (SK Beveren) is a Belgian professional association football club based in Beveren, East Flanders. The cl ...
but he was dismissed on 9 February 2006 as the club languished in seventeenth position. In 2008 the women's team of
FCL Rapide Wezemaal joined STVV.
Honours
*
Belgian First Division
The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023– ...
**Runners-up (1):
1965–66
*
Belgian Second Division
The Belgian Second Division was the second-highest division in the Belgian football league system, one level below the Belgian Pro League. It was founded by the Royal Belgian Football Association in 1909 and folded in 2016, when it was replace ...
**Winners (4): 1986–87, 1993–94, 2008–09,
2014–15
*
Belgian Cup
The Belgian Cup (; ; ) is the main knockout football competition in Belgium, run by the Royal Belgian FA. The competition started in 1908 with provincial selections as the "Belgian Provinces Cup". Starting from 1912 only actual clubs were allowed ...
**Runners-up (2): 1970–71, 2002–03
*
Belgian League Cup The Belgian League Cup was a Belgian association football cup created in 1973. The competition was held from 1973 by eleven clubs wanting to increase professionalism in Belgian football but lasted only three seasons before being disbanded. The tourn ...
**Winners (1): 1998–99
European record
:''As of 5 March 2006:''
Current squad
Coaching and medical staff
*Head coach:
Wouter Vrancken
Wouter Vrancken (born 3 February 1979) is a Belgian football manager and a former defensive midfielder. He currently coaches Sint-Truidense after previously making his name at KV Mechelen and Genk.
Playing career
Wouter Vrancken started his pl ...
*Assistant head coach: Sil Rouvrois, Dries Van Meirhaeghe
*Physical coach: Stefan Winters
*Team manager:
Peter Delorge
*Goalkeeping coach: Jurgen De Braekeleer
*Team representative: Romain Proesmans
*Kit men: Benny Liebens & Valere Stevens
*Club Doctors: Pieter Bormans & Peter Bollars
*Physiotherapists: Wouter Robijns & Par Vandenborne
*Masseur: Roger Reniers
Managers
*
Raymond Goethals (1959–66)
*
Ward Volckaert (1966–69)
*
Marcel Vercammen (1971–73)
*
Gerard Bergholtz
Gerard "Pummy" Bergholtz (born 29 August 1939 in Maastricht) is a retired association football player and manager from the Netherlands.
Playing career Club
He played for Rapid, Kimbria Maastricht, MVV and Feijenoord, before moving abroad to play ...
(1979–81)
*
Wilfried Van Moer
Wilfried van Moer (1 March 1945 – 24 August 2021) was a Belgian association football, footballer who won the Belgian Golden Shoe three times, first in 1966 while at R. Antwerp F.C., Antwerp then in 1969 and in 1970 while at Standard Liège.
...
(1982–84)
*
Eric Vanlessen (1984–85)
*
Guy Mangelschots (1986–90)
*
Walter Meeuws (1990–91)
*
Odilon Polleunis
Odilon Polleunis (1 May 1943 – 20 September 2023), nicknamed Lon, was a Belgian footballer who won the Belgian Golden Shoe in 1968 while at Sint-Truiden. He played 22 matches and scored 10 goals for the Belgium national team between 1968 an ...
(1991–92)
*
Rudy Liebens &
Marek Dziuba (1992)
*
Albert Van Marcke (1992)
*
Martin Lippens (1992–93)
*
Guy Mangelschots (1992–96)
*
Wilfried Sleurs (1996)
*
Freddy Smets (1996–97)
*
Guy Mangelschots (1997)
*
Barry Hulshoff
Bernardus Adriaan "Barry" Hulshoff (30 September 1946 – 16 February 2020) was a Dutch footballer who played for Ajax Amsterdam and was part of their European Cup victories in 1971, 1972 and 1973. He earned 14 caps for the Netherlands national ...
(1997–98)
*
Poll Peters (1998–99)
*
Willy Reynders (1999–2001)
*
Jules Knaepen (2001)
*
Jacky Mathijssen (2001–04)
*
Marc Wilmots
Marc Robert Wilmots (born 22 February 1969) is a Belgian professional football manager and former player who is the sporting director of Standard Liège.
During his club career as an attacking midfielder, he won trophies with KV Mechelen, Stand ...
(2004–05)
*
Herman Vermeulen
Herman Vermeulen (born 10 November 1954) is a Belgian football manager who is assistant manager at Waasland-Beveren
Sportkring Beveren (SK Beveren) is a Belgian professional association football club based in Beveren, East Flanders. The cl ...
(2005–06)
*
Eddy Raeymaekers &
Peter Voets (2006)
*
Thomas Caers
Thomas Caers (born 14 January 1973) is a Belgian football manager and former player. He was the manager of Sint-Truiden from February 2006 to November 2006, when he resigned.
Caers played for MVV Maastricht in the Dutch Eerste Divisie and K.A.A ...
(2006)
*
Peter Voets (2006)
*
Henk Houwaart
Henk Houwaart (born August 31, 1945) is a Dutch football manager and a former football player.
Playing career
Born in the Hague, Houwaart began his career in 1963 as a footballer playing for ADO Den Haag until 1967, when he left the club to play ...
(2006–07)
*
Valère Billen (2007)
*
Peter Voets (2007)
*
Dennis Van Wijk
Dennis Johannes van Wijk (; born 16 December 1962) is a Dutch association football, football coach and former football player.
Van Wijk was a left-back who began his career in the youth system of Ajax Amsterdam. He was unable to break into the ...
(2007–08)
*
Guido Brepoels
Guido Brepoels (born 7 June 1961) is a Belgian football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), ...
(2008–11)
*
Franky Van der Elst (2011–12)
*
Guido Brepoels
Guido Brepoels (born 7 June 1961) is a Belgian football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), ...
(2012–13)
*
Yannick Ferrera (2013–15)
*
Chris O'Loughlin (2015–16)
*
Ivan Leko (2016–17)
*
Tintín Márquez
Bartolomé "Tintín" Márquez López (born 7 January 1962) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder, currently a manager.
His career was closely associated to Espanyol, as both a player and coach.
Pl ...
(2017)
*
Jonas De Roeck (2017–18)
*
Marc Brys (2018–19)
*
Miloš Kostić (2020)
*
Kevin Muscat
Kevin Vincent Muscat (born 7 August 1973) is an Australian former association football player and he is the currently head coach of Chinese Super League club Shanghai Port. As a player, he played as a defender, and represented the Australia n ...
(2020)
*
Peter Maes (2020–21)
*
Bernd Hollerbach (2021–23)
*
Thorsten Fink
Thorsten Fink (born 29 October 1967) is a German football coach and a former footballer, who is the head coach of Belgian Pro League club KRC Genk.
Playing career
Fink began his career with Borussia Dortmund's reserve squad before moving to S ...
(2023–24)
References
External links
*
UEFA page
{{Belgian Pro League
Association football clubs established in 1924
Football clubs in Belgium
1924 establishments in Belgium
Sport in Sint-Truiden
Belgian Pro League clubs