Beveren

Koninklijke Sportkring Beveren (Royal Sporting Club of Beveren) is a Belgian association football club from the town of Beveren in East Flanders. KSK Beveren was particularly successful during the late 1970s and early 1980s in which it won two national championships and two Belgian Cups. In 1979 the club became the first champion of Belgium from the East Flanders province. KSK Beveren is up to the present day the only Belgian champion that is based in a municipality instead of a city. The club came into financial decline in the late 1990s and almost went bankrupt in 2010. The club's male first team ceased all footballing activities in May 2010 to (unofficially) merge with KV Red Star Waasland, becoming KV Red Star Waasland-Beveren. A small fraction of fans started a new club in Belgium's lowest division, called YB SK Beveren. Both teams claim to be the rightful heir of KSK Beveren. However, the original KSK Beveren is still in existence and has a ladies' team, which as of 2018 will play in the highest provincial league in women's football.

History

1922–1949 Origins and early years

Association football has a history in Beveren that goes back to the year 1922 when a local team called 'Standaard Beveren' was founded under the influence of local businessman Paul Verhaert. The club became a member of the Belgian Football Association and received the 'Matricule 737' (the federation's registration number). Financial problems led to the dissolution of the club in May 1931.

A few years later, with football booming all over Europe, the foundations were laid for what would become KSK Beveren. On 23 July 1934 a local pub ('De Graanmaat') owner received a request from a club of the nearby Municipality of Temse to form a team of players of the former 'Standaard' team and play a game against them.

This page also has a version in other languages :  Беверен (russian)