Royal FC Mandel United, commonly known as RFC Mandel United, formerly KFC Mandel United, is a

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 based in

Izegem Izegem (; ) is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Izegem proper and the towns of Emelgem and Kachtem. Emelgem was added to Izegem in 1965, Kachtem in 1977. Izegem itse ...

, Belgium which is located in the Flemish Region. The club set to competing in the

Belgian Division 2 The Belgian Division 2, commonly referred to as simply Tweede Afdeling (in Dutch) or Division 2 (in French) is the fourth-highest division in the Football in Belgium, Belgian football Belgian football league system, league system, one level below ...

from 2025–26, the fourth tier of Belgian football after promotion from

Belgian Division 3 The Belgian Division 3, commonly referred to as simply Derde Afdeling (in Dutch) or Division 3 (in French) is the fifth-highest division in the Belgian football league system, one level below the Belgian Division 2. It was created by the Royal Be ...

in 2024–25. The club was originally founded in 1926.

History

KFC Izegem

KFC Izegem was founded as Football Club Izegem in 1926 and joined the Belgian Football Federation one year later. FC Izegem started in the regional divisions. At the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, in 1945, Izegem was promoted to the national series for the first time. From that season on, they played in the

national league National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

s. Izegem soon performed well and finished the next seasons ranked at the top of the league every time. In 1950, FC Izegem finally managed to win its series. For the first time in its history, the club was promoted to the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. After some major league reforms, a large number of second division teams had to drop a level. In 1953, the club received the royal title. In the sixties, after having been relegated twice, Izegem climbed back to the national divisions. The following decades, however, it went up and down between the lower national divisions and the highest provincial series. Most of the seventies and eighties, they played in the

Belgian Third Division The Belgian Third Division (, ) was the third highest level in Football in Belgium, Belgian football. It had two leagues of 18 teams each (Belgian Third Division A, A and Belgian Third Division B, B) at the same level. This competition, originall ...

. In the first season in the third division, Izegem finished second, barely one point behind series winner Aalst, and so missed the chance to advance to the second division. KFC Izegem returned to the Third Division in 2012 and from then onwards, they managed to stay in that division.

OMS Ingelmunster

OMS Ingelmunster was founded in 2003 after the disappearance of the first football club in the municipality, KSV Ingelmunster. OMS Ingelmunster was already founded in 1930 and played after the Second World War as SV Olympic Ingelmunster. At that time, Molen Sport Ingelmunster also played in the municipality. Both clubs continued together from 1962 onwards as KSV Ingelmunster. This club had risen to the national series in the 1990s, even to Second Division. After a not so successful merge with the team of

Harelbeke Harelbeke (; ) is a municipality and city located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Harelbeke proper and the towns of Bavikhove and Hulste. On January 1, 2019, Harelbeke had a total population of 28 ...

, a new club was founded to continue the long history of Ingelmunster football. The new club was called Olympic Molen Sport Ingelmunster, a name that refers to the two former clubs of Ingelmunster, Olympic and Molen Sport. OMS Ingelmunster joined the Belgian Football Federation with matricule number 9441 and adopted the yellow and red colors of the former KSV Ingelmunster. The club started in the very lowest provincial series but was soon able to move up in the following years. Thanks to a championship title in the Second Provincial in 2009, the club advanced to the highest provincial level that year, where it immediately made it to the final round in 2010. Ingelmunster became champions in 2012, and played in the fourth division for the first time.

Mandel United

The two clubs of KFC Izegem and OMS Ingelmunster merged in the spring of 2017 and began play in the 2017–18 season as KFC Mandel United. KFC Mandel United finished second three times in the

Belgian Second Amateur Division The Belgian Division 2, commonly referred to as simply Tweede Afdeling (in Dutch) or Division 2 (in French) is the fourth-highest division in the Belgian football league system, one level below the Belgian National Division 1. It was created by ...

and ultimately was promoted in 2020–2021 to

National First Division The South African Championship, officially known as the Motsepe Foundation Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest league of South African football after the South African Premiership. Both the South African Championship and ...

, where the team currently plays. During the 2018–19 season, the team made an impressive run in 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 ...

. KFC Mandel United knocked out top-tier club

Waasland-Beveren Sportkring Beveren (SK Beveren) is a Belgian professional association football club based in Beveren, East Flanders. The club is affiliated with the founded number 4068 and has yellow and blue as its colours. The team was founded in 1936 in H ...

to reach the round of sixteen as one of few teams outside the first division to do so. After a strong game in

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 ...

, another First Division team, Mandel lost 3–2.

Merger

Formed through the merger of KFC Izegem and OMS Ingelmunster in 2017, Strive Football Group took a major share in the newly created

public limited company A public limited company (legally abbreviated to PLC or plc) is a type of public company under United Kingdom company law, some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth jurisdictions, and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is a limited liability co ...

in April 2021, changing the name of the club from KFC Mandel United to Royal FC Mandel United. The

venture capital Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to start-up company, startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in ...

stated that the acquisition of the club "is fully part of Strive Football Group’s ambition to develop the best football talent, providing players with the best exposure opportunities worldwide".

Grounds

KFC Mandel United played its home matches at OMS Ingelmunster Stadion for the 2017–18 and 2018–19 seasons. The team then moved to Skyline Arena in Izegem beginning in the 2019–20 season. Skyline Arena has a capacity of 2,200 spectators. Skyline Arena is used by all Royal FC Mandel United Academy teams for all training sessions and games. It has two artificial grass fields and two natural grass fields and extended hospitality options.

Youth academy

Royal FC Mandel United has academy teams from U7 to U19. The team has set up a cooperation with two local fitness clubs and is working together with most of the schools of

. the season 2024-2025 the U17 and U19 were champions. Two of the club's development pillars are to develop the club into an international platform for the development of young talents and to offer young Belgian players unique international career development opportunities through the integrated Strive Football Group network, increasing the club's attractiveness for young talents.

Crest and colours

Royal FC Mandel United's colors are red, black, and a hint of yellow, which are the historical colors of the club. The logo features a crown, representing the title of "Royal", a favour bestowed on the club by the

King of Belgium The monarchy of Belgium is the constitutional and hereditary institution of the monarchical head of state of the Kingdom of Belgium. As a popular monarchy, the Belgian monarch uses the title king/queen of the Belgians and serves as the ...

thanks to its 50 years of existence. The logo includes KFC Izegem's year of inception: 1926. The flag of the city of Izegem, a Dutch-speaking city in

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 ...

located in the

Flemish Region The Flemish Region (, ), usually simply referred to as Flanders ( ), is one of the three communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium—alongside the Wallonia, Walloon Region and the Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region. ...

where the club is based, is also featured in the logo. It represents the city's coat of arms since the 19th century with the cross and 12 blackbirds. The waves in the logo symbolise the Mandel River, where the city of Izegem and the club are located on its southern bank. The name of the merged club, Mandel United, refers to a tributary of the Lys, the small river Mandel. The logo aims to mark the club's history, while giving it a new impulse, following the involvement of Strive Football Group. The slogans of the club, 'Oes jeun', 'goestèhn' and 'goaze gevn', mean having fun, having the desire and giving everything.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mandel United, KFC Association football clubs established in 1926 Football clubs in Belgium 1926 establishments in Belgium

Mandel Mandel is a surname (and occasional given name) that occurs in multiple cultures and languages. It is a Dutch, German and Jewish surname, meaning "almond", from the Middle High German and Middle Dutch ''mandel''.''Dictionary of American Family Name ...