Standard Liège

Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (French: [stɑ̃daʁ ljɛʒ]; Dutch: Standard Luik [ˈstɑndɑrt ˈlœyk]; German: Standard Lüttich [ˈstandaʁt ˈlʏtɪç, ˈʃtan-]), is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. 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.[2]

Standard Liège

Full name	Royal Standard de Liège
Nickname(s)	Les Rouches ("The Reds")
Founded	1898
Ground	Stade Maurice Dufrasne
Capacity	27,670[1]
Chairman	Bruno Venanzi
Manager	Mbaye Leye
League	Belgian First Division A
2019–20	Belgian First Division A, 5th
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours

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

Flag waving in the Stade Maurice Dufrasne

History

On the first day of school in September 1898, the pupils of Collège Saint-Servais in Liège started a football club, which they called Standard of Liège in reference to Standard Athletic Club of Paris.[3] Standard, whose official name is Royal Standard Club of Liège, was based in Cointe and Grivegnée before settling permanently in 1909 in Sclessin, an industrial neighbourhood in Liège.[3] 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.[3][4]

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,[5] and the same stage of the Cup Winners' Cup in the year 1966–67, losing to eventual champions Bayern Munich.[6] The 1960s and early 1970s brought much success to the club, as Standard won six Belgian First Division titles, two Belgian Cups and a League Cup.

Standard fan group, Ultras Inferno 96, celebrating their 15-year anniversary in July 2012.

Driven by the Austrian Ernst Happel, Standard won the Belgian Cup again in 1981. The following year, Raymond Goethals took control of the team. Playing by the "Raymond Science" philosophy of football, the club was twice the champions of Belgium, twice winners of the Belgian Supercup (in three appearances) and reached the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1982. Standard played against Barcelona in the final at the Camp Nou on 12 May 1982, losing the match 1–2 to the Spaniards.[3][7]

In 1984, these exploits were tainted by the revelation of the Standard-Waterschei Affair. Just days before the match against Barcelona, to secure the championship of Belgium and guard against injuries last minute, Standard had approached Roland Janssen, the captain of Thor Waterschei, to ensure that Thor players' threw the final game of the season.[3] This scandal involved several players, including Eric Gerets, and coach Raymond Goethals, who fled to Portugal to escape suspension.[3] In compensation the Standard players gave their game bonuses to the Waterschei players.[3] Following the scandal, Standard was deprived of many of its playing staff due to long-term suspensions and it took the club several years to recover from the incident.

On 6 June 1993, Standard won the Belgian Cup for the fifth time in its history, defeating Robert Waseige's Charleroi at the Constant Vanden Stock Stadium in Brussels.[8] This led to another appearance in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, ending in a record 10–0 aggregate defeat to Arsenal— having lost 3–0 at Highbury in London, Standard were humiliated 0–7 in the second leg at home.

Following the scandal of 1982, it took 25 years before Standard won the Belgium Championship again, lifting the title on 20 April 2008.[3] The club won the Belgian league again the following year, securing the club's tenth league title on 24 May 2009 after a home-and-away game against rivals Anderlecht.[3] Standard won the national cup once more in 2011, defeating Westerlo 2–0 in the final at the King Baudouin Stadium on 21 May 2011.[8] The club was bought by businessman Roland Duchatelet on 23 June 2011,[9] who then took over English club Charlton in December 2013, creating an affiliation between the two clubs.[10]

On 20 October 2014, Guy Luzon resigned as manager of Standard with the club sitting in 12th position in the Pro League standings and having taken only two points from three UEFA Europa League matches.[11] Luzon later became head coach of Charlton.[12] Assistant and former midfielder Ivan Vukomanović took over as caretaker-manager.[11]

In April 2020, the Belgian Football Association announced that they had revoked Standard Liège's professional football licence, due to "poor financial management".[13][14]

Name history

• 1898: Standard Football Club (Standard FC)
• 1899: Standard FC Liégeois (Standard FCL)
• 1910: Standard Club Liégeois (Standard CL)
• 1923: Royal Standard Club Liège (R. Standard CL)
• 1952: Royal Standard Club Liégeois (R. Standard CL)
• 1972: Royal Standard de Liège

Golden Shoe

On nine occasions, Standard players have won the Belgian Golden Shoe as the best player in the domestic league.[15] Jean Nicolay won the award in 1963, Wilfried Van Moer in 1969 and 1970, Christian Piot in 1972, Eric Gerets in 1982, Sérgio Conceição in 2005, Steven Defour in 2007, Axel Witsel in 2008 and Milan Jovanović in 2009.[15]

Rivalries

Standard Liège supporters share a fierce rivalry with RSC Anderlecht, dubbed the Belgian "Clasico".[16] The rivalry not only reflects the traditional geographical one between the two cities of Liège and Brussels, but also a class divide, with Anderlecht being perceived as the team of the bourgeois elite and Standard, based in an industrial district, as the workers club. The two teams were also the two most successful teams in Belgium for long periods until the emergence of FC Bruges.[16] Many players have played for both clubs, most notably Standard title winning captain Steven Defour, who when returning to Sclessin under Anderlecht's purple colours was greeted with a large tifo with his head decapitated.[17]

Standard have also a traditional city derby with RFC Liège.[18] In recent years, they have also developed a rivalry with fellow Walloon club Sporting Charleroi, with several matches having been stopped due to crowd disturbances between the two sets of supporters.[19]

Honours

Domestic

• Belgian League[15]

Champions (10): 1957–58, 1960–61, 1962–63, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1981–82, 1982–83, 2007–08, 2008–09

Runners-up (13): 1925–26, 1927–28, 1935–36, 1961–62, 1964–65, 1972–73, 1979–80, 1992–93, 1994–95, 2005–06, 2010–11, 2013–14, 2017–18

• Belgian Cup[15]

Champions (8): 1953–54, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1980–81, 1992–93, 2010–11, 2015–16, 2017–18

Runners-up (9): 1964–65, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1983–84, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2006–07

• Belgian League Cup[15]

Champions (1): 1975

• Belgian Supercup[15]

Champions (4): 1981, 1983, 2008, 2009

Runners-up (5): 1982, 1993, 2011, 2016, 2018

International

• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup[20]

Runners-up (1): 1981–82

• UEFA Intertoto Cup[20]

Runners-up (1): 1996

Other

• Amsterdam Tournament:

Runners-up (1): 1981

European record

Competition	A	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA
European Cup / UEFA Champions League	12	48	23	7	18	78	59
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	6	36	19	5	12	68	49
UEFA Cup / UEFA Europa League	21	122	52	31	38	173	161
UEFA Intertoto Cup	3	20	8	10	2	25	16

A = appearances, GP = games played, W = won, D = drawn, L = lost, GF = goals for, GA = goals against.

Summary of best results

From the quarter-finals upwards:

• European Cup/UEFA Champions League:

semi-finalists in 1962

quarter-finalists in 1959, 1970 and 1972

• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (1):

runners-up in 1982

semi-finalists in 1967

quarter-finalists in 1968

• UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League:

quarter-finalists in 1981 and 2010

• UEFA Intertoto Cup (1):

runners-up in 1996

semi-finalists in 2000

Players

Current squad

As of 14 January 2021[21]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  BEL Jean-François Gillet 3 DF  BEL Zinho Vanheusden 5 DF  FRA Moussa Sissako 6 DF  BEL Noë Dussenne 7 FW  CRO Duje Čop 8 MF  BIH Gojko Cimirot 9 FW  BEL Obbi Oularé 10 MF  MAR Mehdi Carcela 11 MF  COD William Balikwisha 12 MF  FRA Eddy Sylvestre 13 DF  COD John Nekadio 14 FW  BRA Klauss (on loan from Hoffenheim) 15 MF  ISR Eden Shamir 16 GK  BEL Arnaud Bodart 17 FW  COD Jackson Muleka 19 MF  MAR Selim Amallah

No. Pos. Nation Player 20 MF  COD Merveille Bokadi 21 DF  CMR Collins Fai 22 MF  BEL Maxime Lestienne 23 FW  BFA Abdoul Tapsoba 24 DF  FRA Nicolas Gavory 26 MF  BEL Nicolas Raskin 27 DF  LUX Laurent Jans 28 MF  BEL Samuel Bastien 29 MF  BEL Joachim Carcela 30 GK  BEL Laurent Henkinet 31 FW  BEL Mitchy Ntelo 32 MF  BEL Michel-Ange Balikwisha 33 DF  BEL Damjan Pavlovic 34 DF  CYP Konstantinos Laifis 41 DF  BEL Hugo Siquet

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 12 FW  ROU Denis Drăguș (at Crotone) 18 MF  MNE Aleksandar Boljević (at Eupen) 25 FW  URU Felipe Avenatti (at Royal Antwerp)

Notable players

Most appearances

Rank	Player	Standard career	Apps
1	Guy Hellers	1983–2000	474
2	Gilbert Bodart	1981–96, 1997–98	469
3	Guy Vandersmissen	1978–91	465
4	Léon Semmeling	1959–74	449

Most goals

Rank	Player	Standard career	Goals (App.)
1	Jean Capelle	1929–44	245 (285)
2	Roger Claessen	1956–68	161 (229)
3	Maurice Gillis	1919–35	124 (275)

Captains

Player's name in bold when Standard won the title

1939–43: Roger Petit 1943–53: Fernand Massay 1953–54: Fernand Blaise 1954–55: 1955–56: 1956–57: 1957–62: Denis Houf 1962–63: 1963–64: Marcel Paeschen 1964–65: Jean Nicolay 1965–66: Lucien Spronck 1966–72: Léon Semmeling 1972–74: Jean Thissen

1974–76: Wilfried Van Moer 1976–77: 1977–78: 1978–79: 1979–80: 1980–83: Eric Gerets 1983–84: 1984–85: 1985–86: 1986–87: 1987–88: 1988–90: Guy Vandersmissen 1990–91:

1991–92: 1992–96: Gilbert Bodart 1996–99: Guy Hellers 1999–02: Didier Ernst 2002–04: Ivica Dragutinović 2004–05: Eric Deflandre 2005–07: Sérgio Conceição 2007–11: Steven Defour 2011–15: Jelle Van Damme 2015–16: Adrien Trebel 2016–18: Alexander Scholz 2018–19: Sébastien Pocognoli 2019–00: Zinho Vanheusden

Coaches

Dates Name July 1912 – June 16 Charles Bunyan, Sr. July 1916 – June 22 Camille van Hoorden July 1922 – June 24 Lamport Pierre Kögel July 1924 – June 30 Percy Wilding Hartley July 1930 – June 32 Maurice Grisard July 1932 – June 35 Percy Wilding Hartley July 1935 – June 36 Jean Dupont July 1936 – March 37 Percy Wilding Hartley April 1937 – Nov 38 Emile Riff Dec 1938 – June 39 Jean Dupont July 1939 – June 40 Maurice Grisard July 1940 – June 42 René Dohet July 1942 – June 45 Fernand Wertz July 1945 – June 50 Marcelin Waroux July 1950 – June 51 Antoine Basleer July 1951 – June 53 Maurice Grisard July 1953 – June 58 André Riou July 1958 – June 61 Géza Kalocsay

Dates Name July 1961 – June 63 Jean Prouff July 1963 – Nov 64 Auguste Jordan Dec 1964 – June 68 Milorad Pavić July 1968 – June 73 René Hauss July 1973 – Oct 73 Vlatko Marković Nov 1973 – June 74 Ned Bulatović July 1974 – Dec 75 Cor van der Hart Jan 1976 – June 76 Maurice Lempereur Lucien Leduc July 1976 – June 79 Robert Waseige July 1979 – June 81 Ernst Happel July 1981 – Feb 84 Raymond Goethals March 1984 – June 84 Léon Semmeling July 1984 – April 85 Louis Pilot May 1985 – Feb 87 Milorad Pavić Feb 1986 – June 87 Helmut Graf July 1987 – Sept 87 René Desaeyere Oct 1987 – March 88 Milorad Pavić April 1988 – June 88 Jozef Vliers

Dates Name July 1988 – June 89 Urbain Braems July 1989 – June 91 Georg Kessler July 1991 – Dec 93 Arie Haan Jan 1994 – June 94 René Vandereycken July 1994 – June 96 Robert Waseige July 1996 – June 97 Jos Daerden Jul 1997 – Oct 97 Aad de Mos Nov 1997 – March 98 Daniel Boccar April 1998 – June 98 Luka Peruzović July 1998 – Sept 99 Tomislav Ivić Oct 1999 – Dec 99 Željko Mijač Jan 2000 – May 00 Jean Thissen Henri Depireux May 2000 – Dec 00 Tomislav Ivić Dec 2000 – Jan 01 Dominique D'Onofrio Christian Labarbe Jan 2001 – June 02 Michel Preud'homme Jun 2002 – Oct 02 Robert Waseige Oct 2002 – June 06 Dominique D'Onofrio

Dates Name Jul 2006 – Sep 06 Johan Boskamp Sept 2006 – June 08 Michel Preud'homme June 2008 – Feb 10 László Bölöni Feb 2010 – June 11 Dominique D'Onofrio July 2011 – May 12 José Riga May 2012 – Oct 12 Ron Jans Oct 2012 – May 13 Mircea Rednic May 2013 – Oct 14 Guy Luzon Nov 2014 – Feb 15 Ivan Vukomanović Feb 2015 – Jun 15 José Riga Jun 2015 – Aug 15 Slavoljub Muslin Sep 2015 – Sep 16 Yannick Ferrera Sep 2016 – Apr 17 Aleksandar Janković Apr 2017 – May 17 José Jeunechamps June 2017 – May 18 Ricardo Sá Pinto June 2018 – Jun 20 Michel Preud'homme June 2020 – Dec 20 Philippe Montanier Dec 2020 – Mbaye Leye

Cultural references

Standard Liège are mentioned in the song "This One's for Now" by the band Half Man Half Biscuit on the album Urge for Offal.[22]

References

1. Stade Maurice Dufrasne standard.be (last view on 19 October 2017)
2. "1982: Villa victorious in Europe". UEFA. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
3. "History of Standard de Liège". Rebel Ultras. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
4. B. Dubois, Th. Evens, Ph. Leruth, 1892–1992 : La jeunesse centenaire. Livre officiel du Centenaire du Royal Football Club Liégeois. Bruxelles, Labor, 1992, p. 276.
5. "1961/62 Winners: SL Benfica". UEFA. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
6. "1966/67: Bayern exploit home advantage". UEFA. Archived from the original on 30 June 2010. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
7. "1982. Barça Wins its Second European Cup Winners' Cup at the Camp Nou". FC Barcelona. Archived from the original on 7 November 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
8. "Once Upon A Time..." Standard. Archived from the original on 28 December 2013. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
9. "Roland Duchâtelet takes over Standard Liège". The Belgian Waffle. 23 June 2011. Archived from the original on 7 November 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
10. "Charlton's new owner hell-bent on raising standards at The Valley". The Guardian. 14 February 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
11. "Luzon steps down at Standard". UEFA. 20 October 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
12. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 10 September 2015. Retrieved 7 September 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
13. "Inter 'not honor verbal agreement to buy Vanheusden back from Standard Liege'". Ghana Soccer News. 9 April 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
14. "Belgian league delay ratifying decision to end season early". Reuters. 9 April 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2020 – via Eurosport.
15. "Trophies". Standard. Archived from the original on 31 March 2014. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
16. "La Belgique aussi a son classico". SOFOOT.com (in French). Retrieved 22 November 2019.
17. Libre.be, La (25 January 2015). "Defour "décapité" par les supporters du Standard: le tifo qui choque et scandalise (Photos)". www.lalibre.be (in French). Retrieved 22 November 2019.
18. "RFC Liège : Le géant endormi". SOFOOT.com (in French). Retrieved 22 November 2019.
19. DH.be (4 December 2016). "Charleroi-Standard arrêté à cause des supporters: une forte amende et pas de point pour les deux clubs? (VIDEO + PHOTOS)". www.dhnet.be (in French). Retrieved 22 November 2019.
20. "R. Standard de Liège". UEFA. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
21. "Joueurs" [Players] (in French). Standard Liège.
22. "Half Man Half Biscuit - This One's for Now [Official Audio]". Half Man Half Biscuit. 24 August 2017. Retrieved 11 April 2020 – via YouTube.com.

External links

• Official website (in French, Dutch, English, and German)
• Standard Liège at UEFA.COM (in English)
• Standard Liège at National Football Teams.com