BELGIAN CUP

The 'Belgian Cup' (; ) is the main ''knockout'' football competition in Belgium. It was founded in 1911. The most successful cup club is Club Brugge K.V. with 10 titles followed by R.S.C. Anderlecht (8) and R. Standard de Liège (5).

Contents

The competition

History

Past finals

Performance by club

References

The competition

The first stage comprises 5 matchdays (in one leg each). The third division teams enter the competition on the third matchday (76 teams). The 18 second division teams enter it on the fourth one along with the 38 winners of the previous matchday, which makes 56 teams. The 28 winners all enter the last matchday.
The second stage reunites the 14 lower level teams qualified from the first stage with the 18 Jupiler League teams. The rounds of 32 and 16 are played in one match (as well as the final game) while the quarter finals and semi finals are played in two legs. The final game takes place at the Stade Roi Baudouin, Brussels.

History

The first cup competition in Belgium was held in 1907-08 but the teams were not actual teams but were provincial selections. The province of West-Vlaanderen won to that of Antwerp by 6-2. The next year, the province of Antwerp beat that of Brabant by 5-2. Then the cup was suspended for two years. The competition began with clubs in 1911 but was soon stopped due to World War I. The interruption lasted until the season 1926-27 but again, the cup fell into disgrace among the leading clubs at the time. In 1953 the competition was finally back on the football calendar. Three years later, a poll was organized after which the Belgian cup was stopped. In 1964, with the birth of the European Cup Winners Cup, the competition was organized once again, in order for Belgian football to be represented at that level.
Another cup competition called Belgian League Cup was held between 1997 and 2000. The winning team was qualified for the UEFA Intertoto Cup but the biggest clubs were denying this competition and were playing it with B teams. This, and the poor attendance during the matches were among the major arguments to stop the competition after three seasons. The winners were successively Lommel, Sint-Truiden and Anderlecht.

Past finals

Year	Winner	Runner-up	Score
1912	Racing Club de Bruxelles	Racing Club de Gand	1 - 0
1913	Union Saint-Gilloise	C.S. Brugeois	3 - 2
1914	Union Saint-Gilloise	F.C. Brugeois	2 - 1
1927	R.C.S. Brugeois	Tubantia F.A.C.	2 - 1
1935	Daring Club de Bruxelles S.R.	K.M. Lyra	3 - 2
1954	R. Standard Club Liégeois	R.C. Mechelen K.M.	3 - 1
1955	R. Antwerp F.C.	K. Waterschei S.V. Thor	4 - 0
1956	R.R.C. Tournaisien	R.C.S. Verviétois	2 - 1
1964	A.R.A. La Gantoise	K.F.C. Diest	4 - 2 (aet)
1965	R.S.C. Anderlecht	R. Standard Club Liégeois	3 - 2 (aet)
1966	R. Standard Club Liégeois	R.S.C. Anderlecht	1 - 0
1967	R. Standard Club Liégeois	K.V. Mechelen	3 - 1 (aet)
1968	Club Brugge K.V.	R. Beerschot A.C.	1 - 1 (aet) ; 8 - 6 (pen)
1969	K. Lierse S.K.	R. Racing White	2 - 0
1970	Club Brugge K.V.	R. Daring Club de Bruxelles	6 - 1
1971	K. Beerschot V.A.V.	K. Sint-Truidense V.V.	2 - 1 (aet)
1972	R.S.C. Anderlecht	R. Standard Club Liégeois	1 - 0
1973	R.S.C. Anderlecht	R. Standard de Liège	2 - 1
1974	K.S.V. Waregem	K.S.K. Tongeren	4 - 1
1975	R.S.C. Anderlecht	R. Antwerp F.C.	1 - 0
1976	R.S.C. Anderlecht	K. Lierse S.K.	4 - 0
1977	Club Brugge K.V.	R.S.C. Anderlecht	4 - 3
1978	K.S.K. Beveren	R. Charleroi S.C.	2 - 0
1979	K. Beerschot V.A.V.	Club Brugge K.V.	1 - 0
1980	K.S.V. Waterschei Thor Genk	K.S.K. Beveren	2 - 1
1981	R. Standard de Liège	K.S.C. Lokeren	4 - 0
1982	K.S.V. Waterschei Thor Genk	K.S.V. Waregem	2 - 0
1983	K.S.K. Beveren	Club Brugge K.V.	3 - 1
1984	K.A.A. Gent	R. Standard de Liège	2 - 0
1985	Cercle Brugge K.S.V.	K.S.K. Beveren	1 - 1 (aet) ; 5 - 4 (pen)
1986	Club Brugge K.V.	Cercle Brugge K.S.V.	3 - 0
1987	K.V. Mechelen	R.F.C. Liégeois	1 - 0
1988	R.S.C. Anderlecht	R. Standard de Liège	2 - 0
1989	R.S.C. Anderlecht	R. Standard de Liège	2 - 0
1990	R.F.C. Liégeois	K.F.C. Germinal Ekeren	2 - 1
1991	Club Brugge K.V.	K.V. Mechelen	3 - 1
1992	R. Antwerp F.C.	K.V. Mechelen	2 - 2 (aet) ; 9 - 8 (pen)
1993	R. Standard de Liège	R. Charleroi S.C.	2 - 0
1994	R.S.C. Anderlecht	Club Brugge K.V.	2 - 0
1995	Club Brugge K.V.	K.F.C. Germinal Ekeren	3 - 1
1996	Club Brugge K.V.	Cercle Brugge K.S.V.	2 - 1
1997	K.F.C. Germinal Ekeren	R.S.C. Anderlecht	4 - 2 (aet)
1998	K.R.C. Genk	Club Brugge K.V.	4 - 0
1999	K. Lierse S.K.	R. Standard de Liège	3 - 1
2000	K.R.C. Genk	R. Standard de Liège	4 - 1
2001	K.V.C. Westerlo	K.F.C. Lommel S.K.	1 - 0
2002	Club Brugge K.V.	R.E. Mouscron	3 - 1
2003	R.A.A. Louviéroise	K. Sint-Truidense V.V.	3 - 1
2004	Club Brugge K.V.	K.S.K. Beveren	4 - 2
2005	K.F.C. Germinal Beerschot	Club Brugge K.V.	2 - 1
2006	S.V. Zulte-Waregem	R.E. Mouscron	2 - 1
2007	Club Brugge	Standard Liege	1 - 0

Performance by club

Club	Winners	Runners-up	Winning Year(s)
Club Brugge	10	6	1968, 1970, 1977, 1986, 1991, 1995, 1996, 2002, 2004, 2007
Anderlecht	8	3	1965, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1988, 1989, 1994
Standard Liège	5	9	1954, 1966, 1967, 1981, 1993
Cercle Brugge	2	3	1927, 1985
Beveren	2	3	1978, 1983
Germinal Beerschot	2	2	1997, 2005
Antwerp	2	1	1955, 1992
Lierse	2	1	1969, 1999
Beerschot	2	1	1971, 1979
Genk	2	0	1998, 2000
Gent	2	0	1964, 1984
Union Saint-Gilloise	2	0	1913, 1914
Waterschei	2	0	1980, 1982
KV Mechelen	1	3	1987
Daring de Bruxelles	1	1	1935
FC Liégeois	1	1	1990
Waregem	1	1	1974
Racing de Bruxelles	1	0	1912
La Louvière	1	0	2003
R.R.C. Tournaisien	1	0	1956
Westerlo	1	0	2001
Zulte-Waregem	1	0	2006

References

★ Belgian football history

★ The Belgian Football Association Official Site

★ A Belgian football site