R. Charleroi S.C.

Royal Charleroi Sporting Club, often simply known as Charleroi or Sporting Charleroi, is a Belgian football club based in the city of Charleroi, in the province of Hainaut. Charleroi plays in the Belgian Pro League and their current spell at the highest level in Belgian football has 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 (1904-01-01)
GroundStade du Pays de Charleroi
Capacity15,000[1]
ChairmanFabien Debecq[2]
Managing DirectorMehdi Bayat
Head CoachKarim Belhocine
LeagueBelgian First Division A
2019–20Belgian First Division A, 3rd
WebsiteClub website

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

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

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

Stadium
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

European record

Overview

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
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 Bucureşti 2–1 0–2 2–3
1995 UEFA Intertoto Cup Group 10 Beitar Jerusalem N/A 1–0 3rd
Bursaspor 0–2 N/A
FC Košice N/A 2–3
Wimbledon 3–0 N/A
1996 UEFA Intertoto Cup Group 4 Silkeborg IF 2–4 N/A 3rd
Conwy United N/A 0–0
Zagłębie Lubin 0–0 N/A
SV Ried N/A 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) N/A N/A
PO Lech Poznań 1–2 N/A N/A

Current squad

Updated January 25, 2021.

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  FRA Nicolas Penneteau
2 DF  BUL Ivan Goranov
3 DF  BIH Ognjen Vranješ (on loan from Anderlecht)
4 DF  BEL Jules Van Cleemput
5 DF  SEN Modou Diagne
6 DF  MKD Gjoko Zajkov
7 FW  COD Jordan Botaka (on loan from Gent)
8 MF  IRN Ali Gholizadeh
10 FW  IRN Kaveh Rezaei (on loan from Brugge)
12 MF  BEL Joris Kayembe
13 MF  SEN Christophe Diandy
14 GK  SWE Joachim Imbrechts
15 FW  BEL Anthony Descotte
16 FW  JAM Shamar Nicholson
19 MF  BRA Lucas Ribeiro Costa
No. Pos. Nation Player
20 DF  ENG Jon Flanagan
22 MF  BEL Gaëtan Hendrickx
23 DF  FRA Steeven Willems
24 DF  BEL Dorian Dessoleil
26 MF  MAD Marco Ilaimaharitra
27 MF  SEN Mamadou Fall
28 MF  BEL Ken Nkuba
29 MF  PER Cristian Benavente (on loan from Pyramids)
30 DF  BEL Guillaume Gillet
34 MF  MAR Amine Benchaib
38 FW  BDI Saido Berahino (on loan from Zulte Waregem)
40 GK  FRA Rémy Descamps
42 DF  BEL Yunus Bahadir
44 MF  JPN Ryota Morioka
77 MF  BEL Massimo Bruno
91 FW  POL Łukasz Teodorczyk (on loan from Udinese)
— DF  FRA Cédric Kipré (on loan from West Bromwich Albion)

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
20 MF  CIV Jean Thierry Lazare (at Estoril Praia until 30 June 2021)
35 GK  COD Parfait Mandanda (at Hartford Athletic until 31 December 2020)
70 MF  IRN Younes Delfi (at HNK Gorica until 30 June 2021)
— FW  CMR Arnold Garita (at FC Villefranche until 30 June 2021)

Former players

Coaches

References
  1. Het Stade du Pays de Charleroi 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 sporting-charleroi.be (last check 30 March 2018)
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