Standard Liège

Full name	Royal Standard de Liège
Nickname(s)	Les Rouches (The Reds)
Founded	1898; 126 years ago (1898)
Ground	Stade Maurice Dufrasne
Capacity	27,670[1]
Owner	777 Partners
Head coach	Ivan Leko
League	Belgian Pro League
2023–24	Belgian Pro League, 12th of 16
Website	http://www.standard.be/
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (French: [stɑ̃daʁ ljɛʒ]; Dutch: Standard Luik [ˈstɑndɑrt ˈlœyk]; German: Standard Lüttich [ˈstandaʁt ˈlʏtɪç, ˈʃtan-]) or simply Standard in Belgium, 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 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.

In March 2022, Standard Liège was acquired by US-based private investment firm 777 Partners.^[3] In October 2024 it was announced that 777 partners were declared bankrupt by a London court, making the future ownership unclear.

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.^[4] 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.^[4] 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.^[4][5]

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,^[6] and the same stage of the Cup Winners' Cup in the year 1966–67, losing to eventual champions Bayern Munich.^[7] 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.

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.^[4][8]

In 1984, these exploits were tainted by the revelation of the Standard-Waterschei Affair [fr]. Just days before the match against Barcelona, to secure the championship of Belgium and guard against last minute injuries, Standard had approached Roland Janssen, the captain of Thor Waterschei, to ensure that Thor players threw the final game of the season.^[4] This scandal involved several players, including Eric Gerets, and coach Raymond Goethals, who fled to Portugal to escape suspension.^[4] In compensation the Standard players gave their game bonuses to the Waterschei players.^[4] 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.^[9] 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.^{[citation needed]}

Following the scandal of 1982, it took 25 years before Standard won the Belgium Championship again, lifting the title on 20 April 2008.^[4] 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.^[4] 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.^[9] The club was bought by businessman Roland Duchatelet on 23 June 2011,^[10] who then took over English club Charlton in December 2013, creating an affiliation between the two clubs.^[11]

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.^[12] Luzon later became head coach of Charlton.^[13] Assistant and former midfielder Ivan Vukomanović took over as caretaker-manager.^[12]

On nine occasions, Standard players have won the Belgian Golden Shoe as the best player in the domestic league.^[14] 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.^[14]

Standard Liège supporters share a fierce rivalry with RSC Anderlecht, dubbed the Belgian "Clasico".^[15] 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 Club Brugge.^[15] 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.^[16]

Standard also has a traditional city derbies with RFC Seraing and RFC Liège.^[17] 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.^[18]

Matches with Limburgish clubs Racing Genk and STVV also are characterised with heightened tensions. This is due to the proximity of Genk and Sint-Truiden with the city of Liège and the historical ties of the mining and steel industries of these regions in Belgium. The rivalry between Standard and Racing Genk was fueled by the events of 17 May 2011.^[19] In this title match Standard winger Mehdi Carcela was hit in the face with a tackle by Genk defender Chris Mavinga. Carcela lost consciousness and was subbed off. Mavinga was not sent off after his reckless intervention. Genk went on to win the title with 1–1 draw, but it left many Standard fans with a sour taste.

• Belgian League^[14]
  • 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^[14]
  • Champions (8): 1953–54, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1980–81, 1992–93, 2010–11, 2015–16, 2017–18
  • Runners-up (10): 1964–65, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1983–84, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2006–07, 2020–21
• Belgian League Cup^[14]
  • Champions (1): 1975
• Belgian Supercup^[14]
  • Champions (4): 1981, 1983, 2008, 2009
  • Runners-up (5): 1982, 1993, 2011, 2016, 2018

• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup^[20]
  • Runners-up (1): 1981–82
• UEFA Intertoto Cup^[20]
  • Runners-up (1): 1996

• Amsterdam Tournament:
  • Runners-up (1): 1981
• Mohammed V Cup:
  • Champions (1): 1986

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

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

As of 6 September 2024^[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 3 DF  BEL Nathan Ngoy 4 DF  CRO Boško Šutalo 5 DF  BEL Boli Bolingoli 6 MF  GRE Sotiris Alexandropoulos (on loan from Sporting) 7 MF  CRO Marko Bulat (on loan from Dinamo Zagreb) 8 MF  NIR Isaac Price 9 FW  SUI Andi Zeqiri (on loan from Genk) 10 FW  MNE Viktor Đukanović (on loan from Hammarby IF) 11 FW  GER Dennis Eckert (on loan from Union SG) 13 DF  USA Marlon Fossey 14 MF  BEL Léandre Kuavita 15 DF  CIV Souleyman Doumbia 16 GK  BEL Arnaud Bodart 17 DF  BEL Ilay Camara (on loan from RWD Molenbeek)

No. Pos. Nation Player 19 FW  GAM Muhammed Badamosi (on loan from Čukarički) 21 FW  MAR Soufiane Benjdida 24 MF  AUS Aiden O'Neill (captain) 25 DF  BEL Ibe Hautekiet 30 GK  BEL Laurent Henkinet 31 DF  BEL Daan Dierckx 33 MF  RWA Hakim Sahabo 40 GK  BEL Matthieu Epolo 44 DF  SCO David Bates 45 GK  BEL Tom Poitoux 51 DF  BEL Lucas Noubi 54 DF  BEL Alexandro Calut 55 FW  MAR Brahim Ghalidi 88 DF  ENG Henry Lawrence

As of 24 July 2024

SL16 FC is the reserve/U23 squad of Standard that plays in the third-tier Belgian National Division 1.

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 4 DF  MAR Samy Tory 5 DF  SEN Birame Diaw 6 DF  CRO Mate Šimičić 7 MF  BEL Steeven Assengue 8 MF  BEL Noah Sy 10 MF  BEL Adrien Giunta 11 MF  NED Junior van Beveren 12 FW  BEL Amine Benfriha 13 GK  BEL Matteo Godfroid 18 GK  BEL Noah Radelet 20 MF  BEL Noah Makembo-Ntemo

No. Pos. Nation Player 23 MF  BEL Rabby Mateta Pepa 27 DF  BEL Thiago Paulo da Silva 28 DF  BEL Oscar Olivier 31 DF  BEL Noah Dodeigne 32 MF  BEL Afonso N'Salambi 38 MF  BEL Gabriel Pires de Carvalho 42 FW  MAR Anisse Brrou 46 MF  MKD Rayan Berberi 90 DF  GER Faroukou Cissé — GK  BEL Elias Mago

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  MLI Moussa Djenepo (to Antalyaspor until 30 June 2025) — MF  COD Noah Mawete Kinsiona (to Lierse Kempenzonen until 30 June 2025)

No. Pos. Nation Player — FW  FRA Grejohn Kyei (to Charleroi until 30 June 2025)

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

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)

Player's name in bold when Standard won the title

Position	Staff
Press Officer	Olivier Smeets
Global Sports Director	Johannes Spors
Sporting director	Fergal Harkin
Head coach	Ivan Leko
First-team coach	Frazer Robertson
First-team coach	Geoffrey Valenne
Goalkeeping coach	Jean-François Gillet
Fitness coach	Léo Djaoui Renaat Philippaerts Kevin Miny
Video analysis manager	Nathan Kirby
Video analyst	Lovic Mandela Sound
Team Doctor	Bertrand Vanden Bulck
Physiotherapist	Ludovic Depreter
Team Manager	Piero Rossi
Player Liaison Officer	Ricardo Carvalho

Dates Name July 1912 – June 1916 Charles Bunyan, Sr. July 1916 – June 1922 Camille van Hoorden July 1922 – June 1924 Lamport Pierre Kogel July 1924 – June 1930 Percy Wilding Hartley July 1930 – June 1932 Maurice Grisard July 1932 – June 1935 Percy Wilding Hartley July 1935 – June 1936 Jean Dupont July 1936 – March 1937 Percy Wilding Hartley April 1937 – Nov 1938 Emile Riff Dec 1938 – June 1939 Jean Dupont July 1939 – June 1940 Maurice Grisard July 1940 – June 1942 René Dohet July 1942 – June 1945 Fernand Wertz July 1945 – June 1950 Marcelin Waroux July 1950 – June 1951 Antoine Basleer July 1951 – June 1953 Maurice Grisard July 1953 – June 1958 André Riou July 1958 – June 1961 Géza Kalocsay

Dates Name July 1961 – June 1963 Jean Prouff July 1963 – Nov 1964 Auguste Jordan Dec 1964 – June 1968 Milorad Pavić July 1968 – June 1973 René Hauss July 1973 – Oct 1973 Vlatko Marković Nov 1973 – June 1974 Ned Bulatović July 1974 – Dec 1975 Cor van der Hart Jan 1976 – June 1976 Maurice Lempereur Lucien Leduc July 1976 – June 1979 Robert Waseige July 1979 – June 1981 Ernst Happel July 1981 – Feb 1984 Raymond Goethals March 1984 – June 1984 Léon Semmeling July 1984 – April 1985 Louis Pilot May 1985 – Feb 1987 Milorad Pavić Feb 1986 – June 1987 Helmut Graf July 1987 – Sept 1987 René Desaeyere Oct 1987 – March 1988 Milorad Pavić April 1988 – June 1988 Jozef Vliers

Dates Name July 1988 – June 1989 Urbain Braems July 1989 – June 1991 Georg Kessler July 1991 – Dec 1993 Arie Haan Jan 1994 – June 1994 René Vandereycken July 1994 – June 1996 Robert Waseige July 1996 – June 1997 Jos Daerden Jul 1997 – Oct 1997 Aad de Mos Nov 1997 – March 1998 Daniel Boccar April 1998 – June 1998 Luka Peruzović July 1998 – Sept 1999 Tomislav Ivić Oct 1999 – Dec 1999 Željko Mijač Jan 2000 – May 2000 Jean Thissen Henri Depireux May 2000 – Dec 2000 Tomislav Ivić Dec 2000 – Jan 2001 Dominique D'Onofrio Christian Labarbe Jan 2001 – June 2002 Michel Preud'homme Jun 2002 – Oct 2002 Robert Waseige Oct 2002 – June 2006 Dominique D'Onofrio

Dates Name Jul 2006 – Sep 2006 Johan Boskamp Sept 2006 – June 2008 Michel Preud'homme June 2008 – Feb 2010 László Bölöni Feb 2010 – June 2011 Dominique D'Onofrio July 2011 – May 2012 José Riga May 2012 – Oct 2012 Ron Jans Oct 2012 – May 2013 Mircea Rednic May 2013 – Oct 2014 Guy Luzon Nov 2014 – Feb 2015 Ivan Vukomanović Feb 2015 – Jun 2015 José Riga Jun 2015 – Aug 2015 Slavoljub Muslin Sep 2015 – Sep 2016 Yannick Ferrera Sep 2016 – Apr 2017 Aleksandar Janković Apr 2017 – May 2017 José Jeunechamps June 2017 – May 2018 Ricardo Sá Pinto June 2018 – Jun 2020 Michel Preud'homme June 2020 – Dec 2020 Philippe Montanier Dec 2020 – Oct 2021 Mbaye Leye Oct 2021 – April 2022 Luka Elsner June 2022 – June 2023 Ronny Deila June 2023 – December 2023 Carl Hoefkens January 2024 – present Ivan Leko

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]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Royal Standard de Liège.

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