Wikipedia

Royal Charleroi S.C.

Royal Charleroi Sporting Club, often simply known as Charleroi or Sporting Charleroi, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Charleroi, in the province of Hainaut. Charleroi plays in the Belgian Pro League. Their current spell at the highest level in Belgian football started in the 2012–13 season. Charleroi was founded in 1904 and they first reached the first division in 1947–48. Their highest finish was runner-up in the 1968–69 season. They have also twice reached the Belgian Cup final, losing in 1977–78 to Beveren and in 1992–93 to Standard Liège.

Sporting Charleroi
Full nameRoyal Charleroi Sporting Club
Nickname(s)Les Zèbres (The Zebras),
Les Carolos
Founded1 January 1904; 120 years ago (1904-01-01)
GroundStade du Pays de Charleroi
Capacity15,000[1]
ChairmanFabien Debecq[2]
Managing DirectorMehdi Bayat
Head coachRik De Mil
LeagueBelgian Pro League
2023–24Belgian Pro League, 13th of 16
Websitewww.sporting-charleroi.be
Current season

Sporting Charleroi have a long-standing rivalry with their crosstown rival ROC de Charleroi-Marchienne, currently playing in the third division. Charleroi play their home matches at the Stade du Pays de Charleroi, which was refurbished for the UEFA Euro 2000. The stadium hosted 3 group stage games in the Euro 2000 among which the 1–0 victory of England against Germany. Charleroi have been recruiting several French players in recent years, including Michaël Ciani, Cyril Théréau and goalkeeper Bertrand Laquait.

History

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Charleroi Sporting Club was founded in 1904 and they received the matricule n°22. Twenty years after their foundation, they qualified to play in the Promotion (then the second level in Belgian football) and in 1929, the club changed its name to Royal Charleroi Sporting Club. Rivals from Olympic Charleroi were playing in the first division in the late 1930s and the 1940s, while Sporting Charleroi was playing one level down, until they promoted in 1947. In 1949, Sporting Charleroi finished 4th (2 points behind Standard Liège) whereas Olympic Charleroi was 14th. But Olympic took the lead again until 1955 and their relegation to the second division. At the end of the 1956–57 season, Olympic Charleroi had promoted to the first division but Sporting Charleroi finished last in the first division and was thus relegated to the second division. A spell of 9 seasons in the second division followed and in 1966–67 Sporting Charleroi was back at the top level. They finished at the second place in 1968–69 5 points behind Standard Liège but within two years they were relegated again.

In 1974 the first division was changing from 16 to 20 teams and Sporting Charleroi was chosen to play at the top level. Olympic Charleroi promoted too as they had won the second division right before but they remained at the top level for just one season. Sporting underwent a new relegation in 1979–80 (17th on 18) but was back five years later. Their best result since then in the first division is a 4th place in 1993–94. In September 2005, the G-14 took FIFA to court over the eight-month injury incurred by Abdelmajid Oulmers whilst on international duty with Morocco.

Colours and badge

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Characters Boule et Bill as Charleroi-supporters

The colours of Charleroi are black and white with a shirt generally striped, which led to the team being nicknamed The Zebras.

Stadium

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Stade du Pays de Charleroi
Main article: Stade du Pays de Charleroi

The actual ground was baptized in 1939 with a match Sporting-Union du Centre and it was located near the coal mine named Mambourg. In 1985 the stadium was slightly modernized as the club had qualified for the first division. It was then heavily renewed in the late 1990s in view of the 2000 European Football Championship. The name changed on 24 May 1999 from Stade du Mambourg to Stade du Pays de Charleroi. During the tournament, the full capacity of the stadium was up to 30,000 seats. The Stade du Pays de Charleroi hosted notably the match between Germany and England. The highest stand was eventually reduced and the capacity is now 15,000.[3]

Honours

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European record

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Overview

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Correct as of May 2016

Competition Played W D L GF GA
UEFA Cup 2 1 0 1 2 3
UEFA Intertoto Cup 10 3 3 4 11 11
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup 4 3 0 1 8 5
UEFA Europa League 4 2 0 2 9 7
TOTAL 20 9 3 8 30 26

Matches

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Season Competition Round Club Home Away Aggregate
1969–70 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup 1R   Zagreb 2–1 3–1 5–2
2R   FC Rouen 3–1 0–2 3–3(a)
1994–95 UEFA Cup 1R   Rapid București 2–1 0–2 2–3
1995 UEFA Intertoto Cup Group 10   Beitar Jerusalem — 1–0 3rd
  Bursaspor 0–2 —
  FC Košice — 2–3
  Wimbledon 3–0 —
1996 UEFA Intertoto Cup Group 4   Silkeborg IF 2–4 — 3rd
  Conwy United — 0–0
  Zagłębie Lubin 0–0 —
  SV Ried — 3–1
2005 UEFA Intertoto Cup 2R   Tampere United 0–0 0–1 0–1
2015–16 UEFA Europa League 2Q   Beitar Jerusalem 5–1 4–1 9–2
3Q   Zorya Luhansk 0–2 0–3 0–5
2020–21 UEFA Europa League 3Q   Partizan 2–1 (aet) — —
PO   Lech Poznań 1–2 — —

Current squad

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As of 6 September 2024[4]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
4 DF   SYR Aiham Ousou (on loan from Slavia Prague)
5 MF   FRA Etienne Camara
6 MF   ALG Adem Zorgane (captain)
7 FW   BEL Isaac Mbenza
8 MF   CIV Parfait Guiagon
9 FW   PLE Oday Dabbagh
15 DF   NOR Vetle Dragsnes
17 MF   BEL Antoine Bernier
18 MF   BEL Daan Heymans
19 FW   SRB Nikola Štulić
21 DF   CYP Stelios Andreou
22 MF   ALG Yassine Titraoui
24 DF   BEL Mardochee Nzita
No. Pos. Nation Player
28 FW   GHA Raymond Asante (on loan from Udinese)
29 DF   SVN Žan Rogelj
30 GK   CIV Mohamed Koné
33 GK   FRA Théo Defourny
55 GK   BEL Martin Delavallée
56 MF   BEL Amine Boukamir
60 GK   BEL Nicolas Closset
66 MF   BEL Noam Mayoka-Tika
70 MF   FRA Alexis Flips (on loan from Anderlecht)
80 FW   BEL Youssuf Sylla
95 DF   FRA Cheick Keita
98 DF   FRA Jeremy Petris
99 FW   FRA Grejohn Kyei (on loan from Standard Liège)

On loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
— FW   ALG Nadhir Benbouali (at Győr until 30 June 2025)
— FW   BEL Anthony Descotte (at Utrecht until 30 June 2025)
No. Pos. Nation Player
— DF   MAR Mehdi Boukamir (at Pafos until 30 June 2025)
— FW   HAI Mondy Prunier (at Francs Borains until 30 June 2025)

Club officials

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Position Staff
President   Fabien Debecq
Chief commercial officer   Walter Chardon
Managing director   Mehdi Bayat
Head coach   Rik De Mil
Assistant coach   Rudi Cossey
  Frank Defays
Goalkeeper coach   Cédric Berthelin
Fitness coach   Frédéric Renotte
Strength & conditioning coach   Antoine Huguenot
  Sébastien Delacroix
Video analyst   Amaury Smits
Data analyst   Pierre Neuchâteau
Head physio   Benjamin Tubiermont
Doctor   Dr.Clément Lepeuple
Physiotherapist   Lilian Scarlata
  Tristan Blyckaerts
  Frédéric Vanbelle
Masseur   Frédéric Chandelle
Head of education   Christophe Dessy
Kitman   Baptiste Collier
Delegate   Arnaud Charlier
Performance Manager   Rudger Van Snick

Coaches

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References

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  1. ^ Het Stade du Pays de Charleroi Archived 17 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine sporting-charleroi.be (last check 30 March 2018)
  2. ^ "Fabien Debecq nouveau président du Sporting de Charleroi". RTL Sport. RTL Belux S.A. 6 September 2012. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  3. ^ Het Stade du Pays de Charleroi Archived 17 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine sporting-charleroi.be (last check 30 March 2018)
  4. ^ "Équipes | RCSC". R. Charleroi S.C. - Web Oficial. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
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