Standard Liege

Royal Standard de Liege, commonly referred to as Standard Liege (French: [stɑ̃daʁ ljɛʒ]; Dutch: Standard Luik [ˈstɑndɑrt ˈloyk]; German: Standard Luttich [ˈstandaʁt ˈlʏtɪc, ˈʃtan-]), is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liege. They are one of the most successful clubs in Belgium, having won the Belgian league on ten occasions, most recently in 2007–08 and 2008–09. They have been in the top flight without interruption since 1921, longer than any other Belgian side. They have also won eight Belgian Cups, and in 1981–82 they reached the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup, which they lost 2–1 against Barcelona.

Standard players are nicknamed les Rouches [le ʁuʃ] because of their red jerseys. The French word for red, rouge, when pronounced with a Liege accent, sounds like rouche.

History

On the first day of school in September 1898, the pupils of College Saint-Servais in Liege started a football club, which they called Standard of Liege in reference to Standard Athletic Club of Paris. Standard, whose official name is Royal Standard Club of Liege, was based in Cointe and Grivegnee before settling permanently in 1909 in Sclessin, an industrial neighbourhood in Liege. Standard initially joined the Belgian First League in 1909 before returning to the lower leagues a few years later. The club then gained promotion back to the top division in 1921 and has never been relegated since.

Shortly after World War II, Roger Petit, a former player and team captain, became general secretary of the club. Petit worked alongside President Henrard Paul to establish Standard among the elite of Belgian football. In 1954, Standard won their first club trophy, the Belgian Cup, which was soon followed by a first national title in 1957–58.

At European level, in the 1960s, the club reached the semi-finals of the European Cup in 1961–62, falling to beaten finalists Real Madrid 0–6 on aggregate, and the same stage of the Cup Winners' Cup in the year 1966–67, losing to eventual champio

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