Mechelen

Mechelen is a Belgian football club from the town of Mechelen, Antwerp province. The club was established in 1904, but managed to reach the first division only in the season 1921/1922. After rotating between 1 and 2 divisions for a decade, the team’s fortunes promised to take a turn for the better in 1943 when they claimed the title of the league. The side continued collecting titles on the domestic arena and finished atop of the league table in 1946 and 1948. Yet in the 1950s the team faced a gradual slump and was dropped in a class.

Only 30 years later in the late 1980s Mechelen managed to recapture its lost positions, winning the title of the Belgian league. The club also showed spectacular football in the European competitions and celebrated victories in the 1988 European Cup Winners Cup and the 1988 European Super Cup. That European success still remains the last international trophy clinched by be the Belgian side. After reaching those major honors the team stepped on a downward spiral and subsequently went into the second league.

During the last two decades Mechelen experienced ups and downs on their way to the top flight, finally receiving promotion in 2007. The last achievement of the team is the final of the Belgian Cup in the season 2008/2009 that they lost 2 – 0 to KRC Genk.

The home ground of the team is Argosstadion Achter de Kazerne with the capacity of 13,213.

The nicknames of the team are the Yellow-Reds, Malinois and De Kakkers.