Koninklijk (, 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 Kin ...

e Sporting Club Hasselt was a Belgian

football club In association football, a football club (or association football club, alternatively soccer club) is a sports club that acts as an entity through which association football teams organise their sporting activities. The club can exist either as ...

. The

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 fir ...

No. 37 was erased in 2001 after the merge with K.S.K. Kermt to become K.S.K. Kermt-Hasselt. The club played one season in the

first division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

in 1979–80. Excelsior FC Hasselt was founded in 1906. The club joined UBSSA and acquired a licence and number. Excelsior FC Hasselt was promoted to Second Division in 1911 and played there for 3 seasons, until World War I. The club returned to Second Division from 1921 to 1924–25. At the end of the season, E.F.C. Hasselt was demoted. The club played in Third Division from 1925 to 1930. Hasselt promoted to Second Division and stayed there till 1933. In 1933 the club received the royal title and became Royal Excelsior FC Hasselt. In 1938 Hasselt regained its spot in Second Division. Royal Excelsior FC Hasselt degraded to Third Division in 1951 and continued to drop next season. A new division was added to the Belgian football league in 1952. Hasselt played in Fourth Division until 1955, when the club demoted again to First Provincial League. It won promotion back to the Fourth Division after two seasons in the Provincial League. In 1964 Excelsior FC Hasselt merged with Hasseltse VV. Hasseltse VV was founded in 1916 and used number 65. The new fusion-club was named Sporting Club Hasselt, which continued to play with number 37. Club colors became green, white and blue. The club started off in the Fourth Division. S.C. Hasselt ended second and was promoted to the Third Division. In 1977 S.C. Hasselt won its series and moved up to Second Division. The club played in First Division during the 1979–80 season, but ended last and demoted to Second Division again the next season. Hasselt managed to stay in Second Division until 1989. In 1996 S.C. Hasselt was degraded to Fourth Division. Two seasons later, the club was demoted to the Provincial Leagues. In 2001 K.S.C. Hasselt merged with KSK Kermt (number 3245). The fusion-club continued as KS Kermt-Hasselt with number 3245 and used the accommodation in Kermt. The club name changed to KSK Hasselt in 2003 when KS Kermt-Hasselt returned to Hasselt. The season that they were playing in the first division, they were playing with Dutch players

Peter Ressel Peter Helmut Ressel (born 4 December 1945 in Krommenie, North Holland) is a retired football winger from the Netherlands, who obtained three caps for the Netherlands national team. He won the UEFA Cup with Feyenoord Rotterdam in 1974 by defeati ...

and

Horst Blankenburg Horst Blankenburg (born 10 July 1947) is a German former professional footballer, who played as a sweeper. He is best known for the early 1970s period, during which he played for Ajax and won the European Cup three times (1971, 1972, 1973), the ...

, who played for the national team. Some other well-known players played in Hasselt: former coach of the Belgium national team,

René Vandereycken René Vandereycken (born 22 July 1953) is a Belgian retired professional footballer and manager. During his playing career, he played as a midfielder. He was the head coach of the Belgium national team from 2006 to 2009. Club career Vandereyc ...

. He also played in Hasselt: father of Stijn Stijnen: Jean-Pierre Stijnen.

Honours

Belgian Second Division final round The Belgian Second Division play-offs were a series of playoff matches to decide promotion to the Belgian Pro League, organised between 1974 and 2015. Following a large reform of the Belgian football league system at the end of the 2015–16 seaso ...

: **Winners (1): 1979

References

Belgian football clubs history

nbsp;– 1st and 2nd division final tables {{DEFAULTSORT:Hasselt Defunct football clubs in Belgium Association football clubs established in 1906 Association football clubs disestablished in 2001 1906 establishments in Belgium 2001 disestablishments in Belgium Organisations based in Belgium with royal patronage K.S.C. Hasselt Belgian Pro League clubs