Standard Liège (Belgium)

Royal Standard de Liège is a professional football club who were formed by pupils of Collège Saint-Servais in Liège in 1898, and are based in the industrial city of the same name in the Wallonia region of Belgium.

The students chose to initially name the club Standard Football Club in reference to Standard Athletic Club of Paris, before altering the title to Standard FC Liégeois a year later as the club started out life in the Cointe and Grivegnée districts of the city, before settling in Sclessin in 1909 and competing in the Belgian First League.

In 1910 a slight change of title was adopted as the club became Standard Club Liégeois. The club was relegated to the second tier before returning to the First Division in 1920-21 and then changing names again in 1923 to Royal Standard Club Liège.

Standard ended as league runners-up in 1925-26 and 1927-28 under long serving Lancastrian manager Percy Hartley, before Jean Dupont took the side to second place in 1935-36. However, the club would prosper when football resumed after World War Two.

Former Standard skipper Paul Petit became general secretary of the club and with the assistance of President Henrard Paul, he set about making Standard one of the prominent clubs in Belgium.

After another slight change of name to Royal Standard Club Liégeois, Frenchman André Riou took ‘Les Rouches’ to their first Coupe de Belgique final in 1953-54 where they defeated RC Mechelen KM 3-1.

Standard went on to become champions of Belgium for the first time in 1957-58, before embarking on a highly successful 1960’s. Géza Kalocsay was the team manager as the First Division title was lifted in 1960-61, before ending runners-up the following season under Jean Prouff.

The league title returned to Stade de Sclessin in 1962-63 with goalkeeper Jean Nicolay playing a starring role. Auguste Jordan was at the helm as Standard finished as league runners-up once more in the 1964-65 season as well as reaching the Cup final before going down to RSC Anderlecht.

However, Standard would return to Heysel to collect the trophy as the side led by Milorad Pavić defeated the same opponents to gain revenge in 1965-66 before skipper Léon Semmeling lifted the cup following a 3-1 extra time win against KV Mechelen twelve months later.

Another French manager, René Hauss, was in charge as Standard won their fourth league championship crown in 1968-69. Midfielder Wilfried Van Moer was the star player of the time as another title was collected in 1969-70.

Standard became Belgian champions for the third consecutive season in 1970-71 during a golden period at the club at Stade Maurice Dufrasne as Sclessin was officially names after the clubs first President.

The team reached the Coupe de Belgique final of 1971-72 where they were defeated by RSC Anderlecht. Goalkeeper Christian Piot was voted as Belgian footballer of the year as the club underwent another alteration to their name; becoming Royal Standard de Liège.

Standard returned to Heysel for the following season’s Cup final, but once again they fell to Anderlecht. Hauss departed in June 1973 before several coaches including Vlatko Marković and Robert Waseige failed to bring success to the club.

Ernst Happel was appointed as head coach in June 1979, with the veteran Austrian taking the team to runners-up in the league in his first full season in charge before they won the Coupe de Belgique in 1980-81 for a fourth time with a 4-0 win against KSC Lokeren.

Raymond Goethals took over in July 1981 as Standard were to build on the success. His side won the First Division championship in 1981-82 as full back Eric Gerets played a starring role, as well as going on a fantastic run in the European Cup-Winners Cup.

Floriana, Vasas, FC Porto and Dinamo Tbilisi were defeated to send Standard to the final at the Camp Nou against host club FC Barcelona. Guy Vandersmissen put the Belgian’s ahead before they eventually lost 2-1.

The vintage Standard team included international players Walter Meeuws, Michel Preud'homme, Gerard Plessers, Simon Tahamata, Jos Daerden, Arie Haan, Benny Wendt, René Botteron and Eddy Voordeckers along with captain Gerets.

The team went on to retain the First Division championship in 1982-83 before the team finished as runners-up in the Belgian Cup in 1983-84 after a 2-0 defeat to KAA Gent. It would to be the last sniff of success for a while as the club was thrown into turmoil.

It was revealed that people involved with Standard, including Goethals and Gerets had approached Thor Waterschei skipper Roland Janssen to throw the final match of the 1981-82 campaign to ensure that Les Rouches won the title.

Several players were given long term suspensions, while Goethals fled to Portugal to escape punishment. The club were to suffer for several years as they looked to rebuild.

Standard reached the Cup finals of 1987-88 and 1988-89 but on both occasions they ended up with runners-up medals as the side went down 2-0 on both occasions to RSC Anderlecht under coaches Jozef Vliers and then Urbain Braems.

Former player Arie Haan returned to Sclessin as head coach to bring success as Standard won the 1992-93 Coupe de Belgigue as R Charleroi SC were beaten 2-0, while the team finished as league runners-up with the assistance of the goals of Marc Wilmots.

Robert Waseige led the team to another league runners-up spot in 1994-95 as Aurelio Vidmar finished as top scorer. Managers Jos Daerden, Aad de Mos, Daniel Boccar and Luka Peruzović all had unproductive spells in charge of the team over the following few years.

Tomislav Ivić was in charge as Standard were losing Cup finalists in 1998-99 after going down to a 3-1 defeat to Lierse SK. The team returned to the final under joint bosses Jean Thissen and Henri Depireux but lost yet again; this time 4-1 to KRC Genk.

Further appointments to the head coach role continued at an alarming rate as Tomislav Ivić, Dominique D'Onofrio, Christian Labarbe, Michel Preud'homme and a returning Waseige all came and went until Dominique D'Onofrio was installed in charge of the team.

Winger Sérgio Conceição turned on the style while Mohammed Tchité banged in the goals as Standard finished as Belgian League runners-up in 2005-06. Johan Boskamp had a brief spell in charge of the team before Preud'homme led his charges to the Cup final of 2006-07, where they were defeated 1-0 by Club Brugge.

It would be former keeper Preud'homme who led the club to their ninth Belgian league title in 2007-08 as midfielders Steven Defour and Axel Witsel ran the show and provided forwards Dieumerci Mbokani and Milan Jovanović with their chances; which were put away regularly.

The top flight was renamed the Pro League from 2008-09, with the title being decided following a play-off league. László Bölöni took over as manager at Stade Maurice Dufrasne as Standard retained the league title with Igor de Camargo chipping in with goals.

D'Onofrio returned for a second spell in charge in February 2010 as his team finished as league runners-up in 2010-11 as well as reaching the Cup final, where Standard defeated KVC Westerlo 2-0.

Once again the club lacked stability as managers José Riga, Ron Jans and Mircea Rednic all had spells at the club within a couple of years before the arrival of Guy Luzon who took the team to second place in the league in 2013-14 as Michy Batshuayi and Imoh Ezekiel rattled in the goals.

Ivan Vukomanović, Riga in a second term and Slavoljub Muslin took charge of the team between November 2014 and September 2015 before Yannick Ferrera was appointed. He led the side to the 2015-16 Coupe de Belgique as Club Brugge were beaten 2-1 at Stade Roi Baudouin.

The 2016-17 season saw Ferrera, Aleksandar Janković and José Jeunechamps all trying to bring more glory to the club while in charge of the team. A ninth place finish despite the goals of Orlando Sá and Ishak Belfodil was deemed unsatisfactory.

The Portuguese Ricardo Sá Pinto was appointed as Standard Liège head coach during the summer of 2017. The team ended the 2017-18 campaign as league runners-up as well as lifting the Coupe for an eighth time as a Renaud Edmond extra time goal was enough to beat Genk.

Preud'homme returned to lead the team in 2018-19 as Standard finished in third place with Guillermo Ochoa performing well in goal. The team ended the truncated 2019-20 season in fifth place as well as being edged out in the Europa League group stage by Arsenal and Eintracht Frankfurt.

Royal Standard de Liège will play in the Belgian First Division A in the 2020-21 season.


My visit

Standard Liège 0 SV Zulte-Waregem 4 (Friday 18^th August 2017) Belgian First Division A (att: 20,500)

My long weekend was well underway after spending the previous evening in Düsseldorf before taking the train via Cologne to Liège just after lunch on Friday. Upon arrival I checked in at the Hotel Husa De La Couronne in readiness for adventure.

My plans were to head to the RFC Liège stadium in the hills at Rocourt, but after taking a train from Guillemins station to Palais I came unstuck with the buses. Instead I did some sightseeing around the attractive city centre and relaxed.

The Rate Beer App on my Iphone came to the rescue regarding finding a nice bar for an hour by directing me to Sint Paul Taverne just behind the cathedral. The wonderful old place was just the job as I eventually got round the language barrier to enjoy a Leffe and two Jupiler’s in a convivial atmosphere.

It could have been very easy to get involved, but common sense prevailed as I found a bus service that took me back to Guillemins so that I could return to my room for a siesta before setting out for the evening.

I’d read conflicting reports regarding getting to Sclessin on a match day. Some said there was a special bus service from Guillemins, but I went for the tried and tested system of following fans wearing club colours. It transpired that I required the number 3 service bus.

The journey was annoyingly slow after a fifteen minutes wait for the bus. The trip ran down the Meuse valley; travelling along the north bank through heavy industrial areas. Some of the scenery was not very pretty; as decaying factories littered the vista.

The traffic was also painfully slow; even reaching the frustrations of Bangkok levels at times. Fans seemingly abandoned their cars wherever they could before walking the rest of the way. Some parking spots had to be seen to be believed.

Our service went past the stadium and then snaked back up along Rue de Souvret. We moved at a snails pace before the driver finally used some common sense and opened the doors. Half the passengers jumped off and headed to the game. I dreaded to think what time those heading home after work would reach their destinations?

Rue Ernest Solvay was closed to vehicles aside from the specified supporter’s coaches from outlying districts. Several bars and food outlets catered for fans. I had no time to take everything in as I still had to buy a ticket.

I was in the queue at the ticket office when a local started speaking in native tongue to me. He quickly realised my nationality and spoke to me in English. I was sceptical about purchasing when I wasn’t entirely sure where I wanted to be.

The fella and his mate were first class. They told me that it was a good seat near the half way line and I could have it for €20, when it would normally cost €35. I decided to take a punt after an all too brief about where I’d come from and which teams I supported back in the UK. They exemplified the friendliness I encountered from everyone in the city.

There was around thirty minutes to kick off so I headed to find my seat. Sure enough, I was upstairs down the side with a magnificent view. I celebrated my good fortune by buying some Jetons; the local token currency to get myself a beer that worked out at €2.

I hadn’t seen any programmes, but some club officials were heading to the VIP area with a pile of teamsheets. I was kindly given one as I headed back upstairs to take in the surroundings. The Stade Maurice Dufrasne was certainly an attractive venue.

Three sides were covered by a continuous roof, with three tiers; aside from in the two corners where gaps allowed the wind to come in to aid the growth of the pitch. The fourth side where I sat was a separate build, of two tiers. Corporate boxes were positioned between the tiers down the sides and the lower tiers behind the goals were terraced.

The visitors started the game in fine style as Onür Kaya and Peter Olayinka both went close in the opening exchanges. Standard looked a little one paced to me. They played lots of pretty football without any real substance.

The Zulte midfield was winning their battle but the home side fought back with efforts of Louis Bostyn’s goal from Paul-José Mpoku and Matthieu Dossevi as the half drew to a close. Home striker Orlando Sá struggled off at the interval, not to return after the break.

During the interval I went back downstairs for a beer and a bag of crisps. It didn’t appear that warm food was served. The concourse wasn’t the widest, and although I don’t mind people smoking, it did make for a claustrophobic atmosphere.

Les Rouches came out with more purpose in the second period with Bostyn saving a Renaud Emond header and skipper Sébastien Pocognoli going close with a shot. Waregem; cheered on by their vocal following returned fire as Olayinka was denied by home keeper Guillermo Ochoa.

However, the visitor’s from Flanders took the lead with twenty five minutes remaining. A fine slick passing movement saw a beautiful cross being met by the head of Nill De Pauw at the back post. His effort was too strong for Ochoa to keep out.

It was 2-0 five minutes later, as further fine quick passing saw the ball land at the feet of Onur Kaya who sent a vicious low curling drive into the corner of the net to set off very contrasting emotions between the two sets of fans.

Standard were shell shocked; both on and off the pitch. Zulte continued to pass through them like a knife through butter. Number three came on seventy three minutes. The ball arrived at the near post after a fine move, where Olayinka slotted home.

The home crowd began to depart as their favourites were being torn apart. Six minutes from full time Olayinka played in Uche Agbo, who was brought down with a lazy clumsy tackle. Kaya sent Ochoa the wrong way from the penalty spot.

Standard were unlucky not to grab a consolation goal as Mpoku hit the woodwork in the dying stages. I had left my seat to go behind the goal until the end to grab some photos of the area where I’d been sat. On full time I made a dash for it.

It was not a total surprise to find havoc outside and no sight of any special transport back into the city. I walked along Rue Ernest Solway checking the Google Maps App in the hope of some inspiration. It suggested that a bus was due.

Some fans were stood by the bus stop, so I saw this as a good sign. It transpired that they were three English lads using the same tool as me. As I pointed out; Google Maps doesn’t know that over 20,000 football fans have just left the stadium.

I checked every five minutes to see if there as an alternative option as I set out walking through terraced streets and then past light industry. It soon became apparent that walking was the best option, although there must have been buses from elsewhere?

It took around forty minutes back to the station. I noticed another fella had done the same. He was Dutch and was also a bit shocked at the lack of organisation. He’d been told to use the service bus when he’d gone to the stadium that afternoon.

My beers in Le Tube opposite Guillemins station and just along from my hotel were most welcome as I listened to the 80’s and 90’s music on the TV. It had been a long but really rewarding day. I’d certainly got more out of it that the Standard team; who were as I recall, Bog Standard on the evening.

To have a watch of my snippets, click here.