K.F.C. Turnhout is a Belgian football club, from the municipality of

Turnhout Turnhout () is a Belgian municipality and city located in the Flemish province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises only the city of Turnhout proper. In 2021, Turnhout had a total population of 45,874. The total area is . The agglomeration, how ...

History

K.F.C. Turnhout was founded as ''Turnhout Sport'' in 1912 with

matricule Association football is the most popular sport in Belgium, which has been played since the end of the 19th century. The national association was founded in 1895 with the intention of bringing some order and organization to the sport. The firs ...

n°148. After World War I, the club was refounded as ''F.C. Turnhout'' with the same matriculation. Turnhout managed to advance through the lower leagues, to play twice in the first division: in 1931 and 1936. The second division was their main stay afterwards, until the club was relegated to the third division in 1952. That same year the club was awarded the Royal title ''

Koninklijke or (, Dutch for 'royal') is an 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 Louis Bonaparte in 1807, then ...

'', and was called ''K.F.C. Turnhout'' onwards. In 1963, again promotion to the first division was achieved, as second division club Thor Waterschei that came in second that year was faced with a bribery scandal. However, the next year, Turnhout itself came under suspicion, and the club was relegated from the top flight even though it finished third last in the standings that year. The next seasons, Turnhout played in the second division, until it was relegated in 1977 to the third division, where they would stay until 1990. In 1991, the 25-year top scorer of the club and second division,

Luc De Rijck Luc De Rijck (18 August 1965 – 4 April 1991) was a Belgian professional football player. He died at the age of 25 after suffering a heart attack. De Rijck was a leading top-scorer for his club and in the second division at the time of his de ...

, suffered a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which m ...

while visiting the club's physician. It became apparent later that the doctor had applied

blood doping Blood doping is a form of Doping in sport, doping in which the number of red blood cells in the bloodstream is boosted in order to enhance athletic performance. Because such blood cells carry oxygen from the lungs to the muscles, a higher concentr ...

to the player, but because of a wrongful connection in the machinery, an

air embolism An air embolism, also known as a gas embolism, is a blood vessel blockage caused by one or more bubbles of air or other gas in the circulatory system. Air can be introduced into the circulation during surgical procedures, lung over-expansion ...

developed in the player's body. The doctor later faced a

criminal conviction In law, a conviction is the verdict reached by a court of law finding a defendant guilty of a crime. The opposite of a conviction is an acquittal (that is, "not guilty"). In Scotland, there can also be a verdict of " not proven", which is ...

. During the 1990s, the club came close on several occasions to win promotion again to the first division, but failed each time in the play-offs. After financial problems, the club degraded to the fourth division, and the club's old ground, the ''Villapark'', had to be sold. New management took over the club, and the club was renamed to ''K.V. Turnhout''. In 2007, the club was sold to the Wadi Degla company of Egypt, which also owns

Lierse S.K. Koninklijke Lierse Sportkring (), often simply known as Lierse, was a Belgian professional football club from the city of Lier in the Antwerp province. Lierse have won four championship titles and two Belgian Cups. Lierse was one of the six ...

During the 2009–10 season, both Turnhout and Lierse played in the second division, therefore Wadi Degla suspended sponsorship of Turnhout for a year.

Notable coaches

Fuat Çapa Fuat Çapa (born 15 August 1968) is a Turkish football manager. Career Çapa coached in Belgium before moving on to Turkey. His career in Belgium spanned four years as he held positions with K.V. Turnhout, K. Patro Maasmechelen, K. Beringen-H ...

(2001–04) *

René Desaeyere René Desaeyere (born 14 September 1947) is a Belgian former football player and former manager of Muangthong United. Career Desaeyere played for Beerschot, Daring Club Bruxelles, Royal Antwerp, R.W.D. Molenbeek, Berchem Sport and Dessel S ...

(2006–09) *

Luc Beyens Luc Beyens (born 27 March 1959) is a Belgian footballer. He played in two matches for the Belgium national football team The Belgium national football teamfrench: Équipe nationale belge de footballgerman: Belgische Fußballnationalmanns ...

(2009–)

Current squad

''As of 25 February 2018.'' ---- ---- ----

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turnhout Association football clubs established in 1912 Football clubs in Belgium 1912 establishments in Belgium Organisations based in Belgium with royal patronage

K.V. Turnhout K.F.C. Turnhout is a Belgian football club, from the municipality of Turnhout. History K.F.C. Turnhout was founded as ''Turnhout Sport'' in 1912 with matricule n°148. After World War I, the club was refounded as ''F.C. Turnhout'' with the sam ...

Belgian Pro League clubs