S.C. Eendracht Aalst

Eendracht Aalst
Full name	Sporting Club Eendracht Aalst
Nickname(s)	De Ajuinen (The Onions), Den Iendracht
Founded	25 June 1919; 105 years ago
Ground	Pierre Cornelisstadion, ; Aalst
Capacity	4,500
Chairman	Frank De Roose
Manager	Yannick Van Aken
Coach	Regi Van Acker
League	Belgian Provincial Leagues
2023–24	Belgian Division 2 VV A, 1st of 18
Home colours	Away colours

SC Eendracht Aalst is a Belgian football club based in Aalst, East Flanders. The club currently play in Belgian Division 2 where they are the defending champions in their region.

History

During World War I, citizens from Aalst played football matches to raise money for prisoners of war. In 1919 Sport-Club Eendracht Aalst became an official football team. After some friendly games in 1923, SC Eendracht Aalst joined the regional competition. They quickly moved their way up through the regional divisions and after moving the stadium to the current location in 1928, the team made it into the national competition in 1932. Only seven years later, in 1939, Aalst were promoted to the Eredivisie (the current Belgian Pro League). Due to the second World War competition was not played for two years, so it wasn't until 1942 Aalst finished its first season in the Eredivisie. In 1946 the chairman died and it was decided to rename the stadium to honour him, from then on it was called the Pierre Cornelis Stadium. That year was the beginning of a very dark period for Eendracht Aalst. Due to changes in the competition format, they were forced into relegation. After this they played in the lower division for more than 30 years. In 1960 they managed to get back into the Eredivisie, but in 1962 they ended last and were relegated again. In 1965, after a bribery affair, Aalst was relegated to the lowest national division. In 1977 they made it back into the second division, with Paul Van Himst in the team. In 1994 the team finally joined the first division again. Jan Ceulemans (manager), Godwin Okpara and Gilles De Bilde were some of the most important factors towards success. In 1995 a new climax was reached when they were allowed to enter the European competition and even survived the first round against Levski Sofia.^{[citation needed]}

It changed its name in 2002 after former Belgian First Division club K.S.C. Eendracht Aalst had gone into liquidation. So they could not get the license and the new team began at the third division level. They played the next two seasons in second division (2003–2005) and are now back to the third division and they are at the 3rd place. While the 2004–05 championship was over, the club needed to know if first division side F.C. Brussels and second division side R.E. Virton were to receive the professional football license to know where they would play next season. While 17th K. Patro Maasmechelen had no license, they were obviously relegated. So if one of the two submentionned clubs were refused the license, Aalst would have had played the third division playoffs while if they were both refused the license, Aalst would have remained in second division. Finally, both clubs did receive it so the team was relegated. In 2011, the name of the team got changed back to S.C. Eendracht Aalst. They've also requested to change the name back to the former K.S.C. Eendracht Aalst, which will be possible in 2012, if they receive good advice from the Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA).^{[citation needed]}

In 2023–24, Eendracht Aalst won their region of Belgian Division 2 and would have been promoted, however the club was refused a licence to play in Belgian National Division 1.^[2] They were also refused a license to participate in Division 2 and Division 3 and were forced to relegate down to the Belgian Provincial Leagues.^[3] Eventually, due to not having a ground to play in, Eendracht Aalst were expelled from the first provincial league and will be forced to relegate down to the second provincial league for the 2025-26 season.^[4]^[5]

Stadium

The Pierre Cornelisstadion is located in Bredestraat, Aalst, near the city center. The Stadium has a capacity of 4,500.^[1] It was built in the early 1930s.

Honours

Belgian Second Division final round:
- Winners (2): 1991, 1994
Belgian Promotion B:
- Champions: 2006–07
Belgian Third Division:
- Champions: 2010–11
Belgian Division 2:
- Champions: 2023–24

UEFA cup history

Season	Competition	Round	Country	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
1995–96	UEFA Cup	1		Levski Sofia	1–0^[6]	2–1^[6]	3–1
1995–96	UEFA Cup	2		Roma	0–0^[7]	0–4^[7]	0–4

Current squad

Updated 18 October 2022

Number	Name	Date of birth
Goalkeepers
1	Zvonimir Mikulić	5 February 1990
NA	Zeb Van Gerven	13 April 1997
NA	Robbe Beerens	5 July 2004
Defenders
2	Yassine Razzi	12 May 1997
19	Steve Ryckaert	29 June 1998
3	Andreas Burssens	17 March 1999
5	Lars Wantens	9 August 1993
12	Jari De Vriendt	28 November 2001
18	Falko Geenens	8 April 1995
NA	Gaël Kakudi	6 July 1999
Midfielders
4	Jilke Deconinck	9 January 1995
6	Samuel Fabris	30 January 1991
20	Arne Van Den Eynde	25 July 1995
16	Rubin Belesi	20 August 2001
NA	Ben Yagan	9 February 1995
NA	Maciej Niewiadomski	27 May 2004
NA	Nathan Deneef	19 May 2004
Attackers
7	Mitch Dekuyper	2 November 1993
9	Ibrahima Mbaye	28 April 1992
19	Jonathan Lufulu-Onia	12 July 2001
24	Quentin Panneel	4 January 1994
8	Dylan George	27 Juni 1998
NA	Tommy Collard	17 July 2002