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 ...

Sporting Club Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen (), often simply called Sporting Lokeren or Lokeren, was 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 based in the city of

Lokeren Lokeren () is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality located in the Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of East Flanders, and belongs to the Waasland, also called ''Land van Waas'', of which it is the second ...

, in the province of

East Flanders East Flanders ( ; ; ; ) is a Provinces of Belgium, province of Belgium. It borders (clockwise from the North) the Netherlands, Dutch province of Zeeland and the Belgian provinces of Antwerp (province), Antwerp, Flemish Brabant, Hainaut (provinc ...

. The club was founded in 1923 but ceased to exist in 2020 after going bankrupt.Sporting Lokeren failliet verklaard – rechtbank stelt curatoren aan
hln.be, Yannick De Spiegeleir, 20 April 2020 . A few days after the bankruptcy, the club announced that rather than dissolving entirely, it would merge with KSV Temse to form Lokeren-Temse, starting 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 ...

(fourth level).Sporting Lokeren wordt na fusie met Temse KSC Lokeren-Temse
sporza.be, 22 April 2020 Lokeren first reached the first division in 1974–75. Since then, it had a short spell in 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 ...

between 1993–94 and 1995–96. Lokeren had its most successful period in the 1980s, achieving second place in the league in 1980–81 as well as a

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 ...

final the same year. Its best European result was reaching the quarter-final of the

1980–81 UEFA Cup The 1980–81 UEFA Cup was the 10th edition of the UEFA Cup, the third-tier club football competition organised by UEFA. The final was played over two legs at Portman Road, Ipswich, England, and at the Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam, Netherlands. It ...

. In the year 2000, the club merged with K Sint-Niklase SKE. They were registered to the

Royal Belgian Football Association The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA; ; ; ) is the governing body of football in Belgium. It was a founding member of FIFA in 1904 and UEFA in 1954 and was based in Brussels, not far from the King Baudouin Stadium. Since October 2021, th ...

with the matricule number 282. Lokeren's colours were white, black and yellow. They played their home games at the

Daknamstadion Daknamstadion is a football stadium in the village Daknam, municipality Lokeren (Belgium). The stadium is the home ground of Lokeren-Temse and was the stadium of Sporting Lokeren before the club went bankrupt in 2020. Around 1980 the stadiu ...

. In 2012, Sporting Lokeren won the Belgian Cup, the club's first-ever honours, after beating

KV Kortrijk Koninklijke Voetbalclub Kortrijk (often simply called KV Kortrijk or KVK) is a Belgian professional football club based in Kortrijk, West Flanders. They play in the Belgian First Division, and they achieved their best ranking ever during the 20 ...

in the Cup Final. They won their second Cup just two years later, after beating Zulte Waregem 1–0.

History

The matricule No. 282 was given in

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen in Finland, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its ow ...

to a club named Football Club Racing Club Lokeren (nicknamed Racing FC), but the team stopped its activity the next year. On 22 January 1923 Racing Club Lokeren was founded. Between

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat. Events World War II will be ...

and

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

, it had a slight name change (to Racing Athletiek- en Football Club Lokeren) and the new name since 1951 was Koninklijke Racing Club Lokeren. Due to financial problems, the fusion with the other team from the town (Koninklijke Standaard FC Lokeren) became necessary in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

. The new club was then named Koninklijke Sporting Club Lokeren. In 2000, the club merged with Koninklijke Sint-Niklaas SKE to form Sporting Lokeren Sint-Niklaas Waasland. The latest name change occurred in

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, with the province name added to the club name. In 2018, Sporting Lokeren were relegated to the First Division B, the second tier of Belgian football. In 2019, the club was taken over by a group led by Louis de Vries and Alexander Janssen, taking the positions of president and CEO respectively. On 20 April 2020, the club was declared bankrupt during the 2019–20 season. Lokeren had outstanding debts of €5 million and was not able to pay its staff and players anymore. On 22 April 2020, Lokeren agreed to merge with KSV Temse to form a new club in

K.S.C. Lokeren-Temse Koninklijke Sporting Club Lokeren, commonly referred to as KSC Lokeren, Sporting Lokeren or simply Lokeren, is a Belgian professional association football, football club based in Lokeren, East Flanders. The team competes in the Challenger Pro Le ...

and to start in the Second Amateur Division, the national fourth level.

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): 1980–81 *

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 (1): 1995–96 *

: **Winners (2): 2011–12, 2013–14 **Runners-up (1): 1980–81 *

Belgian Super Cup The Belgian Super Cup ( ; ; ), ''Pro League Supercup'', is a Belgian club competition played as a single match between the Belgian Pro League champions (also received the Super Cup host) and the Belgian Cup winners. If both teams are the same, ...

: **Runners-up (2):

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

European record

Final squad

Notable players

The following is a provisional list of notable players who played for Lokeren, sorted by nationality.

Managers

Guy Thys Guy Jean-Leonard Thys (6 December 1922 – 1 August 2003) was a Belgian football manager, mostly known for being the most successful manager in the history of the Belgium national football team as he managed to lead the national side to the ...

(1 July 1958 – 30 June 1959) * Frans De Bruyne (1970–71) *

Armand Jurion Armand Joseph Jurion (born 24 February 1937), nicknamed Jef, is a Belgian former professional footballer who played for the Belgium national team from 1955 to 1967. Jurion spent most of his club career at R.S.C. Anderlecht where he won nine ch ...

(1971–74) *

Ladislav Novák Ladislav Novák (5 December 1931 – 21 March 2011) was a Czech football defender and later a football manager. He played 75 matches for Czechoslovakia, 71 of them as a team captain.

(1974–77) *

Han Grijzenhout Han Grijzenhout ( – 18 December 2020) was a Dutch 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 (wo ...

(1977–78) * Leon Nollet (1978) *

Urbain Braems Urbain Braems (10 November 1933 – 9 September 2021) was a Belgian association football, football player and manager. He played for K.S.V. Sottegem, K.R.C. Mechelen, Club Brugge K.V., Club Brugge and R. Daring Club Molenbeek, Daring Club Bruxel ...

(1978–79) *

Urbain Haesaert Urbain Haesaert (born 5 May 1941) is a Belgian football scout and former football manager. He started coaching at Lokeren. Together with Josef Vacenovský, he reached the quarter-finals of the 1980–81 UEFA Cup with Lokeren, and was vice-champion ...

Josef Vacenovský Josef Vacenovský (9 July 1937 – 4 December 2023) was a Czech football forward who played for Czechoslovakia in the 1960 European Nations' Cup. He also played for Dukla Prague. Life Vacenovský was born on 9 July 1937 in Ratíškovice. He di ...

(1979–81) *

Robert Waseige Robert Waseige (26 August 1939 – 17 July 2019) was a Belgian football manager and player. Career While managing R.F.C. de Liège he helped them win the 1989–90 Belgian Cup. He became the coach of Belgium before Euro 2000 and led Belgium to ...

(1 July 1981–83) *

Dimitri Davidovic Dimitri, Dimitry, Demetri or variations thereof may refer to: __NOTOC__ People Given name * Dimitri (clown), Swiss clown and mime Dimitri Jakob Muller (1935–2016) * Dimitri Atanasescu (1836–1907), Ottoman-born Aromanian teacher * Dimitri Ayo ...

(1 July 1983 – 30 June 1985) *

Aimé Anthuenis Aimé Anthuenis (born 21 December 1943) is a Belgian former professional Association football, football player and manager. He managed the Belgium national football team between 2002 and 2005. After a career as a defender, Anthuenis moved into ...

(1985–87) *

Wim Jansen Wilhelmus Marinus Antonius "Wim" Jansen (; 28 October 1946 – 25 January 2022) was a Dutch professional association football, football player and manager. As a midfielder or defender (association football), defender, he spent most of his caree ...

Włodzimierz Lubański Włodzimierz 'Włodek' Leonard Lubański (Polish pronunciation: ; born 28 February 1947 in Gliwice-Sośnica) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is the second-highest all-time goal scorer for the Poland na ...

(1 July 1987–88) *

(1 July 1988–92) *

(1992 – Jan 93) * Chris van Puyvelde (1993–94) * Fi Van Hoof (1995 – Aug 97) * Willy Reynders (1997 – Aug 99) * R. Cossey & R. Van Geneugden ''(int.)'' (Aug 1999) *

Georges Leekens Georges Leekens (born 18 May 1949) is a Belgian football manager and former player. During his managerial career, he was in charge of four national teams: the Belgian, Tunisian, Algerian and Hungarian national football teams. He also manage ...

(Sept 10, 1999– 30 June 2001) *

Paul Put Paul Put (born 26 May 1956) is a Belgian football coach who manages the Uganda national team. Career Put was manager of the Gambian national team between 2008 and 2011, before being appointed as manager of Burkina Faso in March 2012. He had pr ...

(1 July 2001 – 27 Oct 2003) *

Franky Van der Elst Franky Van der Elst (born 30 April 1961) is a Belgian retired professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He later worked as a manager. During a 21-year professional career he played mainly with Club Brugge, being regarded a ...

(27 Oct 2003 – 20 Dec 2004) *

Slavoljub Muslin Slavoljub Muslin ( sr-Cyrl, Славољуб Муслин, ; born 15 June 1953) is a Serbian football manager and former player. Muslin began his head coaching career in 1988 and has since had stints in France, Morocco, Serbia, Bulgaria, Ukraine ...

(24 May 2005 – 31 Dec 2005) *

(1 Jan 2006 – 26 Feb 2006) *

Rudi Cossey Rudi Cossey (born 2 August 1961) is a Belgian football coach and former player. He was assistant coach of KSC Lokeren OV from 1995 to 2007, and in this team, he could also take a few times the responsibility of the interim head coach. Later on, ...

(26 Feb 2006 – 30 June 2006) *

Ariël Jacobs Ariël Jacobs (; born 25 July 1953) is a Belgian association football, football manager and former player who most recently managed Ligue 1 side Valenciennes FC and is currently employed as Director of Football at Oud-Heverlee Leuven. Managerial ...

(1 July 2006 – 29 Oct 2006) *

''(interim)'' (Nov 2006) *

(26 Nov 2006 – 30 June 2007) *

(1 July 2007 – 31 March 2009) * Freddy Heirman ''(interim)'' (1 April 2009 – 7 April 2009) * Aleksandar Janković (7 April 2009 – 25 Oct 2009) *

Jacky Mathijssen Jacky Mathijssen (; born 20 July 1963) is a Belgian football coach and former player. Following his playing career as a goalkeeper, he transitioned into coaching. In his most recent managerial role, Mathijssen was in charge of the Belgium U21 sq ...

(25 Oct 2009 – 25 Jan 2010) *

Emilio Ferrera Emilio Ferrera (born 19 June 1967) is a Belgian football manager and former player, who manages the U21 squad of Gent. His last former club was OH Leuven in the Belgian First Division B. Before he also worked at Genk, where he was fired after ...

(28 Jan 2010 – 30 June 2010) * Peter Maes (1 July 2010 – 30 June 2015) *

Bob Peeters Bob Peeters (born 10 January 1974) is a Belgian football executive and former player and manager. He currently serves as sporting director of Challenger Pro League club Beveren. Club career Lierse Noted for his large stature, measuring 1.96 m ...

(1 July 2015 – 25 Oct 2015) *

(25 Oct 2015 – 25 Nov 2016) *

Rúnar Kristinsson Rúnar Kristinsson (born 5 September 1969) is an Icelandic former professional footballer who played for Lokeren, Lillestrøm SK, Örgryte IS and KR Reykjavík. He is the current manager of Fram. His son, Rúnar Alex Rúnarsson, is a goalkeepe ...

(28 Oct 2016 – 9 Aug 2017) * Peter Maes (9 Aug 2017 – 28 October 2018) *

Trond Sollied Trond Johan Sollied (born 29 April 1959) is a Norwegian football manager and former player. He last managed Lokeren. During his playing career, Sollied was a defender who won the Norwegian top flight five times. He also played for Norway's na ...

(30 October 2018 – 20 January 2019) * Glen De Boeck (20 January 2019 – 17 November 2019) * Stijn Vreven (19 November 2019 – 20 April 2020)