K.R.C. Mechelen is a Belgian association football club from

Mechelen Mechelen (; french: Malines ; traditional English name: MechlinMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical contex ...

in the Antwerp province. It is a long-time rival of KV Mechelen. The club's best position ever is a second place in the first division 1951–52. KRC Mechelen also reached the final of the

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (french: link=no, Coupe de Belgique; nl, Beker van België []; german: link=no, Belgischer Fußballpokal) is the main Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in Belgium, run by the Belgia ...

in 1954. However, the team has been falling through the

Belgian football league system The Belgian football league system is a series of interconnected leagues for club football in Belgium. Men's system The league system underwent restructuring which was approved by the Royal Belgian Football Association. One important step was th ...

since 2015 and in the 2017–18 season it will be playing in the Belgian Provincial Leagues for the first time since 1906.

History

Founded in July 1904 as Racing Club de Malines, the club registered with the federation two years later on 22 June 1906 and received 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 firs ...

n°24. The name of the club changed three times: first the suffix Société Royale was added (1929), then the name was translated into

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

becoming Koninklijke Racing Club Mechelen (1937). Racing Mechelen played its first season in the first division in 1910–11 and finished 8th of 12 teams. By this time, rival FC Malines, later called KV Mechelen, was playing in second division. The following season, Racing ended 11th just one point away from

Beerschot Koninklijke Beerschot Voetbalclub Antwerpen, or simply Beerschot, is a Belgian professional football club located in Antwerp, that competes in the second-tier First Division B after relegating from the top tier in the 2021–22 season. In 201 ...

and was relegated. Just before World War I, Racing finished second in their division while FC Malines was third (8 points away). Thus RC Malines were promoted, playing the following season in the first division, which was played in 1919–20. They ended in 6th place. Two years after that FC Malines was playing in the first division too. In 1929 and 1930 after having spent one year in the second division (1924), the club grabbed third place in the first division. A record it would beat in 1952 with a second place after a new sequence of two third places (1950 and 1951). In 1954 it qualified for the final game of the

. Afterwards, the club fell to the second division and has rarely played at a higher level in recent decades.

Stadium

The Oscar Vankesbeeckstadion is a football stadium in the

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

city of

. The stadium is located just to the north of the centre of town over the River Dijle. It was built in 1923 and is named after the former president of the club: Oscar Van Kesbeeck (1886–1943) who was a

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium ...

Liberal Politician. The current capacity of the stadium is 6,123.stadion
, racingmechelen.be (last check 30 March 2018) The Oscar Vankesbeeckstadion is located just under a mile away from

Argosstadion Achter de Kazerne The AFAS Stadion is a football stadium in Mechelen, Belgium. It is used for football matches and is the home ground of KV Mechelen. Currently, the ground has a capacity of 16,672. The stadium is called ''Achter de Kazerne'', which means "Behind ...

, which is home to rivals KV Mechelen.

Honours

Belgian First Division The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 tea ...

: **Runners-up (1): 1951–52 **Third place (4): 1928–29, 1929–30, 1949–50, 1950–51 *

Belgian Second Division The Belgian Second Division (known as the Proximus League for sponsorship reasons) 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 Asso ...

: **Winners (4): 1909–10, 1947–1948, 1974–1975, 1987–1988 **Runners-up (5): 1913–1914, 1924–1925, 1938–1939, 1945–1946, 1984–1985 *

Belgian Third Division The Belgian Third Division ( nl, Derde klasse, french: Division III) was the third highest level in Belgian football. It had two leagues of 18 teams each ( A and B) at the same level. This competition, originally known as the Belgian Promotion ...

: **Winners (4): 1961–1962, 1965–1966, 1968–1969, 2013–2014 *

: **Runners-up (1): 1953–1954

Current squad

On loan

Managers

{, , valign="top", * 1919–56: Jan Dogaer * 1956–57:

Richard Gedopt Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'str ...

* 1957–58:

Janos Pintye János or Janos may refer to: * János, male Hungarian given name, a variant of John Places * Janos Municipality, a municipality of Chihuahua ** Janos, Chihuahua, town in Mexico ** Janos Biosphere Reserve, a nature reserve in Chihuahua * Janos ...

* 1958–58:

Guillaume Placklé Guillaume may refer to: People * Guillaume (given name), the French equivalent of William * Guillaume (surname) Other uses * Guillaume (crater) See also * '' Chanson de Guillaume'', an 11th or 12th century poem * Guillaume affair, a Cold War ...

* 1958–61:

Marcel Bruyninckx Marcel may refer to: People * Marcel (given name), people with the given name Marcel * Marcel (footballer, born August 1981), Marcel Silva Andrade, Brazilian midfielder * Marcel (footballer, born November 1981), Marcel Augusto Ortolan, Brazilian ...

* 1961–62: Albert Herremans * 1962–63:

Marius Mondele Marius may refer to: People * Gaius Marius (157 BC-86 BC), Roman statesman, seven times consul. Arts and entertainment * ''Marius'' (play), a 1929 play by Marcel Pagnol * "Marius" (short story), a 1957 story by Poul Anderson * ''Marius'' (19 ...

* 1963–64:

Gérard Engelen Gérard (French: ) is a French masculine given name and surname of Germanic origin, variations of which exist in many Germanic and Romance languages. Like many other early Germanic names, it is dithematic, consisting of two meaningful constitu ...

* 1964–65:

Jean Hamers Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * J ...

* 1965–68: Rik Van Herp * 1968–68:

Jos De Winne Jos is a city in the north central region of Nigeria. The city has a population of about 900,000 residents based on the 2006 census. Popularly called "J-Town", it is the administrative capital and largest city of Plateau State. During British ...

* 1968–68:

Emile Deghislage Emil or Emile may refer to: Literature *''Emile, or On Education'' (1762), a treatise on education by Jean-Jacques Rousseau * ''Émile'' (novel) (1827), an autobiographical novel based on Émile de Girardin's early life *''Emil and the Detective ...

* 1968–72:

Rik Matthys Rik Matthys (9 September 1925 – 13 October 1999) was a Belgian footballer. He played in two matches for the Belgium national football team The Belgium national football teamfrench: Équipe nationale belge de footballgerman: Belgisch ...

* 1972–72: Oliver Gaspar * 1972–76:

Ernst Künnecke Ernst is both a surname and a given name, the German, Dutch, and Scandinavian form of Ernest. Notable people with the name include: Surname * Adolf Ernst (1832–1899) German botanist known by the author abbreviation "Ernst" * Anton Ernst (1975-) ...

* 1976–77:

Bob Maertens Robert Maertens (24 January 1930 – 11 January 2003) was a Belgian international footballer who played as a midfielder. Career Born in Boom, Maertens played club football for Royal Antwerp and Olympic de Charleroi-Marchienne. He earned a t ...

* 1977–81:

Raoul Peeters Raoul Peeters (born 1 January 1947) is a Belgian former football player and manager. References

1947 births Living people Belgian men's footballers Belgian football managers K.R.C. Mechelen managers K. Berchem Sport managers K.V. Oost ...

* 1981–83:

Jean-Pierre Borremans Jean-Pierre or Jean Pierre may refer to: People * Karine Jean-Pierre b.1977, White House Deputy Press Secretary for President Joe Biden 2021- * Jean-Pierre, Count of Montalivet (1766–1823), French statesman and Peer of France * Eugenia Pierre ...

* 1983–85:

Albert Bers Albert Bers (11 December 1931 – 25 February 2021) was a Belgian football player and coach. He became the first coach of the Belgium women's national football team in 1976 and was the coach until 1990. He became also coach of several Belgian c ...

* 1985–86:

Włodzimierz Lubański Włodzimierz 'Włodek' Leonard Lubański (Polish pronunciation: ; born 28 February 1947 in Gliwice-Sośnica) is a former Polish football striker, the second all-time highest goal scorer for the Polish national team. For his national team, ...

* 1986–89: Rik Pauwels , valign="top", * 1989–90:

Raoul Peeters Raoul Peeters (born 1 January 1947) is a Belgian former football player and manager. References

1947 births Living people Belgian men's footballers Belgian football managers K.R.C. Mechelen managers K. Berchem Sport managers K.V. Oost ...

* 1990–91:

Guy Mangelschots Guy Mangelschots (born 8 April 1941) is a Belgian football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that ...

* 1991–92: Albert Van Marcke * 1992–93:

Jan Ceuleers Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article N ...

Piet Demol Piet may refer to: People * Piet (given name), a common name in the Netherlands and South Africa * Henri Piet (1888–1915), French lightweight boxer * Tony Piet (1906–1981), American Major League Baseball player Schools * Purushottam Institut ...

* 1992–93:

* 1993–94:

/ Rik Pauwels * 1994–97: Albert Van Marcke * 1998–98:

Marc Huysmans Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system ...

* 1998–98: Albert Van Marcke * 1998–98:

David Kipiani David Kipiani ( ka, დავით ყიფიანი; 18 November 1951 – 17 September 2001) was a Georgian football midfielder and manager. Kipiani principally played as a playmaker and is considered one of Georgia's greatest play ...

/ Albert Van Marcke * 1999–01:

Patrick Hantson Patrick may refer to: *Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name *Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People *Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint * Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick o ...

* 2001–03:

Marc Ghys Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system ...

* 2003–04:

/{ Joël Crahay * 2004–05: Joël Crahay/

Patrick Asselman Patrick Asselman (born 30 October 1968) is a Belgian former football player and currently assistant coach of Anderlecht in the Belgian Pro League. Honours Standard Liège * Belgian Cup: 1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year star ...

* 2005–06:

/ Colin Andrews * 2006–07: Colin Andrews * 2007–09: Regi Van Acker * 2009–10: Regi Van Acker/

Luc Leys Luc or LUC may refer to: Places * Luc, Hautes-Pyrénées, France, a commune * Luc, Lozère, France, a commune * Le Luc, France, a commune * Luč, Baranja, Croatia, a settlement People and fictional characters * Luc (given name) * Luc (surname) ...

/ Danny Hoekman/

* 2010–11:

Raoul Peeters Raoul Peeters (born 1 January 1947) is a Belgian former football player and manager. References

1947 births Living people Belgian men's footballers Belgian football managers K.R.C. Mechelen managers K. Berchem Sport managers K.V. Oost ...

* 2011–12:

/ Sadio Ba * 2012–: Thierry Pister

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mechelen Football clubs in Belgium Association football clubs established in 1904 1904 establishments in Belgium

K.R.C. Mechelen K.R.C. Mechelen is a Belgian association football club from Mechelen in the Antwerp province. It is a long-time rival of KV Mechelen. The club's best position ever is a second place in the first division 1951–52. KRC Mechelen also reached th ...

Organisations based in Belgium with royal patronage Belgian Pro League clubs