Royal Antwerp Football Club, often referred to as Royal Antwerp or simply Antwerp, is a Belgian professional football club. The reigning champions of Belgium, RAFC is based in the city of Antwerp. Founded around 1880 as Antwerp Cricket Club by English students residing in Antwerp, 15 years before the creation of the Royal Belgian Football Association, Antwerp is regarded as the oldest club in Belgium. At first there was no organised football played by its members, until 1887 when the football division was founded with its own board, named Antwerp Football Club. Being the oldest active club at the time, it was the first club to register to the Association in 1895. Consequently, when matricule numbers were introduced in 1926, the club received matricule number one.
Lior Refaelov is an Israeli professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or as a winger for Israeli club Maccabi Haifa.
Wouter Vrancken is a Belgian football manager and a former defensive midfielder. He is the head coach of Genk.
The 2010–11 season of the Belgian Pro League is the 108th season of top-tier football in Belgium. It began on 30 July 2010 with the first match of the regular season and ended in May 2011 with the last matches of the playoff rounds. Anderlecht were the defending champions.
The 2011–12 season was Oud-Heverlee Leuven's 10th competitive season since the 2002 fusion between Stade Leuven, Daring Club Leuven and Zwarte Duivels Oud-Heverlee. It was their first season in the Belgian Pro League after being promoted from the Belgian Second Division and the first time in 61 years a team from the city of Leuven played in the highest division. OH Leuven finished in 14th place, one place clear of the relegation zone, thereby prolonging their stay at the top flight. Their cup run was unsuccessful, losing out to Rupel Boom form the third division in round 6, which was the round where the team entered the cup.
The 2013–14 season was Oud-Heverlee Leuven's 12th competitive season in professional football and the team's third season in the Belgian Pro League. After struggling the whole season, OH Leuven ended 15th in the league and was forced to play the relegation playoffs against Mons. They did get past Mons but were eventually relegated as they did not manage to win the Belgian Second Division final round. OH Leuven also had a mediocre cup run, struggling past Belgian Second Division team Visé before falling 3-0 to Gent.
Louis Verstraete is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Beveren.
The 2018–19 Belgian First Division A was the 116th season of top-tier football in Belgium.
Jean Butez is a French professional footballer who plays for Belgian club Antwerp as a goalkeeper. A prospect of the Lille academy, Butez made his breakthrough with Mouscron and signed with Antwerp in 2020.
The 2019 Belgian Cup final, named Croky Cup after the sponsor, was the 64th Belgian Cup final and took place on 1 May 2019 between Gent and KV Mechelen. KV Mechelen was the first team from outside the top division to qualify for the cup final since the 2001 Belgian Cup Final when Belgian Second Division champions Lommel lost to Westerlo. KV Mechelen won the cup by two goals to one.
The 2019–20 Belgian First Division A was the 117th season of top-tier football in Belgium.
The 2020–21 Belgian First Division A was the 118th season of top-tier football in Belgium. As part of a proposal by the Jupiler Pro League's board of directors accepted by the General Assembly on 15 May 2020, the 2020–21 season would involve shortened playoffs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Only the top four teams would play for the title, while teams five through eight would play for the remaining ticket into Europe. The league fixtures were announced on 8 July 2020. Club Brugge successfully defended their title from the previous season, finishing level on points in the title play-offs with Racing Genk, as regular season runners-up Royal Antwerp's challenge faded.
The 2021–22 Belgian Pro League was the 119th season of top-flight football in Belgium. Club Brugge completed their first league Championship hat-trick since the 1970s by edging out long-time leaders Union Saint-Gilloise, who had led for 200 days until losing twice to Club in the title play-offs. Had Union achieved their unlikely success, they would have been the first newly promoted side to win the Belgian League, and the first to claim a top-20 ranked European league since FC Kaiserslautern's 1997-98 Bundesliga triumph in Germany.
The 2020–21 season was the 117th season in the existence of Royal Antwerp F.C. and the club's fourth consecutive season in the top flight of Belgian football. In addition to the domestic league, Antwerp participated in this season's editions of the Belgian Cup, of which they were the reigning champions, the Belgian Super Cup and participated in the UEFA Europa League. The season covered the period from 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021.
Christopher Gavin Scott is a German professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for 2. Bundesliga club Hannover 96, on loan from Antwerp.
The 2022–23 Belgian Pro League was the 120th season of top-tier football in Belgium.
Willian Joel Pacho Tenorio is an Ecuadorian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt and the Ecuador national team.
Arthur Denis Vermeeren is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Royal Antwerp and the Belgium national team.
The following article is a summary of the 2022–23 football season in Belgium, which is the 120th season of competitive football in the country and will run from July 2022 until June 2023.
