kids encyclopedia robot

Standard Liège facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Quick facts for kids
Standard Liège
Standard Liège logo.svg
Full name Royal Standard de Liège
Nickname(s) Les Rouches (The Reds)
Founded 1898; 127 years ago (1898)
Ground Stade Maurice Dufrasne
Ground Capacity 27,670
Owner 777 Partners
Head coach Mircea Rednic
League Belgian Pro League
2023–24 Belgian Pro League, 12th of 16
Third colours

Royal Standard de Liège, often called Standard Liège, is a professional football club from Liège, Belgium. They are one of Belgium's most successful teams.

The club has won the Belgian league ten times. Their most recent wins were in 2007–08 and 2008–09. Standard Liège has been in the top football league since 1921. This is longer than any other Belgian team.

They have also won eight Belgian Cups. In 1981–82, they reached the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup. They lost that game 2–1 to Barcelona.

Standard players are known as les Rouches. This nickname comes from their red jerseys. The French word for red is rouge. When spoken with a Liège accent, it sounds like rouche.

In March 2022, a company called 777 Partners bought Standard Liège. However, in October 2024, 777 Partners faced financial difficulties. This means the future ownership of the club is currently uncertain.

History of Standard Liège

How the Club Started

Standard Liège began in September 1898. Students from Collège Saint-Servais in Liège created the football club. They named it after the Standard Athletic Club in Paris.

The club's full name is Royal Standard Club of Liège. It was first located in Cointe and Grivegnée. In 1909, the club moved to Sclessin, an industrial area in Liège. Standard joined the Belgian First League in 1909. After a few years in lower leagues, they returned to the top division in 1921. They have stayed there ever since.

Standard de Liège (ancien logo)
Club crest from 1923–1952

Early Successes

After World War II, Roger Petit, a former player, became the club's general secretary. He worked with President Henrard Paul to make Standard a top Belgian team. In 1954, Standard won its first trophy, the Belgian Cup. Soon after, they won their first national league title in 1957–58.

In the 1960s, Standard Liège did well in European competitions. They reached the semi-finals of the European Cup in 1961–62. They lost to Real Madrid in that match. They also reached the semi-finals of the Cup Winners' Cup in 1966–67. They lost to Bayern Munich that year.

Standaard Luik tegen Real Madrid beide elftallen en Koning Boudewijn tijdens wed, Bestanddeelnr 913-7603
Standard played against Real Madrid in the semi-finals of the 1961–62 European Cup.

The 1960s and early 1970s were very successful for the club. Standard won six Belgian First Division titles. They also won two Belgian Cups and one League Cup.

Challenges and Triumphs

In 1981, Standard won the Belgian Cup again. This was under the coach Ernst Happel. The next year, Raymond Goethals became the coach. Under his guidance, the club won the Belgian championship twice. They also won the Belgian Supercup twice.

In 1982, they reached the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup. Standard played against Barcelona at the Camp Nou stadium. They lost the match 1–2.

In 1984, the club faced a difficult situation. This was known as the Standard-Waterschei Affair. It involved some players and the coach. The club was affected by this for several years. Many players were suspended, and it took time for Standard to recover.

On June 6, 1993, Standard won the Belgian Cup for the fifth time. They beat Charleroi in Brussels. This led to another appearance in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. However, they lost badly to Arsenal, with a total score of 10–0 over two games.

Recent Achievements

After the 1982 incident, it took 25 years for Standard to win the Belgian Championship again. They won the title on April 20, 2008. The club won the Belgian league again the next year, on May 24, 2009. They secured their tenth league title after playing against their rivals Anderlecht.

Standard won the national cup once more in 2011. They defeated Westerlo 2–0 in the final on May 21, 2011. Businessman Roland Duchatelet bought the club on June 23, 2011. He later bought the English club Charlton, creating a link between the two clubs.

Standard liege flag
Flag waving at the Stade Maurice Dufrasne

On October 20, 2014, Guy Luzon stepped down as manager. The club was in 12th place in the league. Assistant coach Ivan Vukomanović took over temporarily.

Golden Shoe Winners

Nine Standard players have won the Belgian Golden Shoe. This award is given to the best player in the Belgian league.

Stadium Information

Standard Liege02
The stadium before a game in the 2005–06 season.

Standard Liège plays at the Stade Maurice Dufrasne. People often call it Sclessin, which is the name of the area where it's located. Maurice Dufrasne was the fifth chairman of Standard. He helped move the club to Sclessin in 1909.

When it first opened, it was just a field. Players had to change in a nearby pub. A year later, the first stand was built. By 1924, the stadium could hold 24,000 fans. Around 1970, it reached its largest size, with space for 43,000 spectators.

The stadium got a new main stand in 1985. Seven years later, in 1992, work started on the stand on the opposite side. Both ends of the stadium were updated in the late 1990s. This was done to prepare for the Euro 2000 tournament.

Club Rivalries

Derby de Wallonie 1
Standard fan group, prior to a 2017 derby match against Royal Charleroi.

Standard Liège fans have a strong rivalry with RSC Anderlecht. This match is called the Belgian "Clasico". This rivalry is about more than just the cities of Liège and Brussels. It also shows a difference in social background. Anderlecht is seen as a team for the wealthy, while Standard, from an industrial area, is seen as a workers' club. For a long time, these two teams were the most successful in Belgium.

Many players have played for both clubs. One famous example is Steven Defour. When he returned to Sclessin playing for Anderlecht, fans showed a large banner with his image.

Standard also has local rivalries with RFC Seraing and RFC Liège. In recent years, they have also developed a rivalry with another Walloon club, Sporting Charleroi. Some of these matches have been stopped because of crowd issues between the fans.

Matches against clubs from Limburg, like Racing Genk and STVV, also have high tension. This is because Genk and Sint-Truiden are close to Liège. These regions also share a history in mining and steel industries. The rivalry with Racing Genk grew stronger after an event on May 17, 2011. In a title match, Standard player Mehdi Carcela was hit in the face by a tough tackle from Genk's defender Chris Mavinga. Carcela was injured and had to leave the game. Genk went on to draw the match 1–1 and win the title. This left many Standard fans feeling upset.

Club Honours

Standard Liège honours
Type Competition Titles Seasons Ref.
Domestic Belgian First Division 10

1957–58, 1960–61, 1962–63, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1981–82, 1982–83, 2007–08, 2008–09

Belgian Cup 8

1953–54, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1980–81, 1992–93, 2010–11, 2015–16, 2017–18

Belgian League Cup 1

1975

Belgian Supercup 4

1981, 1983, 2008, 2009

Continental Honours

Invitational Honours

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

European Record

Competition A GP W D L GF GA
European Cup / UEFA Champions League 14 58 25 10 23 87 73
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 6 36 19 5 12 68 49
UEFA Cup / UEFA Europa League 23 139 59 35 45 193 182
UEFA Intertoto Cup 3 20 8 10 2 25 16

A = appearances (how many times they played in the competition), GP = games played, W = won, D = drawn, L = lost, GF = goals for, GA = goals against.

Summary of Best Results

Here are Standard Liège's best results from the quarter-finals onwards in European competitions:

Semifinalists in 1962
Quarterfinalists in 1959, 1970 and 1972
Runners-up in 1982
Semifinalists in 1967
Quarterfinalists in 1968
Quarterfinalists in 1981 and 2010
  • UEFA Intertoto Cup (1):
Runners-up in 1996
Semifinalists in 2000

UEFA Club Ranking

This ranking is from May 21, 2025.

Rank Team Points
140 Estonia FC Flora 11.500
141 Belgium K.R.C. Genk 11.370
142 Belgium Standard Liège 11.370
143 Belgium Royal Charleroi S.C. 11.370
144 Cyprus Pafos FC 11.250

Players

Current Squad

No. Position Player
1 Belgium GK Matthieu Epolo
3 Belgium DF Nathan Ngoy
4 Croatia DF Boško Šutalo
5 Belgium DF Boli Bolingoli
6 Rwanda MF Hakim Sahabo
7 Germany MF Tobias Mohr
8 Chile MF Nayel Mehssatou
9 France FW Thomas Henry
10 Germany FW Dennis Eckert
11 Belgium FW Adnane Abid
13 United States DF Marlon Fossey (captain)
14 Belgium MF Léandre Kuavita
17 Comoros FW Rafiki Saïd
18 England DF Henry Lawrence
No. Position Player
19 Mali MF Moussa Djenepo
20 France MF Ibrahim Karamoko
21 Belgium GK Lucas Pirard
23 Madagascar MF Marco Ilaimaharitra
24 Togo DF Josué Homawoo
25 Belgium DF Ibe Hautekiet
29 Belgium DF Daan Dierckx
44 Scotland DF David Bates
45 Belgium GK Matteo Godfroid
54 Belgium DF Alexandro Calut
55 Morocco FW Brahim Ghalidi
94 Denmark MF Casper Nielsen
95 France FW Grejohn Kyei
99 Belgium GK Tom Poitoux

SL16 FC (Reserve Team)

SL16 FC is the reserve team for Standard Liège. These are players under 23 years old. They play in the third-tier Belgian National Division 1.

No. Position Player
4 Morocco DF Samy Tory
5 Senegal DF Birame Diaw
6 Croatia DF Mate Šimičić
7 Belgium MF Steeven Assengue
8 Belgium MF Noah Sy
10 Belgium MF Adrien Giunta
11 Netherlands MF Junior van Beveren
12 Belgium FW Amine Benfriha
18 Belgium GK Noah Radelet
20 Belgium MF Noah Makembo-Ntemo
23 Belgium MF Rabby Mateta Pepa
No. Position Player
27 Belgium DF Thiago Paulo da Silva
28 Belgium DF Oscar Olivier
31 Belgium DF Noah Dodeigne
32 Belgium MF Afonso N'Salambi
35 Belgium FW René Mitongo
38 Belgium MF Gabriel Pires de Carvalho
42 Morocco FW Anisse Brrou
46 Luxembourg MF Rayan Berberi
90 Germany DF Faroukou Cissé
Belgium GK Elias Mago

Players on Loan

No. Position Player
Ivory Coast DF Souleyman Doumbia (to Charlotte until 31 December 2025)

Notable Players

Most Appearances

Rank Player Standard career Apps
1 Luxembourg Guy Hellers 1983–2000 474
2 Belgium Gilbert Bodart 1981–96, 1997–98 469
3 Belgium Guy Vandersmissen 1978–91 465
4 Belgium Léon Semmeling 1959–74 449

Most Goals

Rank Player Standard career Goals (App.)
1 Belgium Jean Capelle 1929–44 245 (285)
2 Belgium Roger Claessen 1956–68 161 (229)
3 Belgium Maurice Gillis 1919–35 124 (275)

Team Captains

The player's name is in bold when Standard won a title during their time as captain.

  • 1939–43: Belgium Roger Petit
  • 1943–53: Belgium Fernand Massay
  • 1953–54: Belgium Fernand Blaise
  • 1954–55:
  • 1955–56:
  • 1956–57:
  • 1957–62: Belgium Denis Houf
  • 1962–63:
  • 1963–64: Belgium Marcel Paeschen
  • 1964–65: Belgium Jean Nicolay
  • 1965–66: Belgium Lucien Spronck
  • 1966–72: Belgium Léon Semmeling
  • 1972–74: Belgium Jean Thissen
 
  • 1974–76: Belgium Wilfried Van Moer
  • 1976–77:
  • 1977–78:
  • 1978–79:
  • 1979–80:
  • 1980–83: Belgium Eric Gerets
  • 1983–84:
  • 1984–85:
  • 1985–86:
  • 1986–87:
  • 1987–88:
  • 1988–90: Belgium Guy Vandersmissen
  • 1990–91:
 
  • 1991–92:
  • 1992–96: Belgium Gilbert Bodart
  • 1996–99: Luxembourg Guy Hellers
  • 1999–02: Belgium Didier Ernst
  • 2002–04: Serbia Ivica Dragutinović
  • 2004–05: Belgium Eric Deflandre
  • 2005–07: Portugal Sérgio Conceição
  • 2007–11: Belgium Steven Defour
  • 2011–15: Belgium Jelle Van Damme
  • 2015–16: France Adrien Trebel
  • 2016–18: Denmark Alexander Scholz
  • 2018–19: Belgium Sébastien Pocognoli
  • 2019–21: Belgium Zinho Vanheusden
 
  • 2021–22: Cyprus Konstantinos Laifis
  • 2022–25: Belgium Arnaud Bodart

Club Officials

Position Staff
Press Officer Belgium Olivier Smeets
Global Sports Director Germany Johannes Spors
Sporting director Republic of Ireland Fergal Harkin
Head coach Romania Mircea Rednic
Assistant head coachj Scotland Frazer Robertson
First-team coach Belgium Geoffrey Valenne
Goalkeeping coach Belgium Jean-François Gillet
Fitness coach France Léo Djaoui
Belgium Renaat Philippaerts
Belgium Kevin Miny
Video analysis manager England Nathan Kirby
Video analyst Belgium Lovic Mandela Sound
Team Doctor Belgium Bertrand Vanden Bulck
Physiotherapist Belgium Ludovic Depreter
Team Manager Belgium Piero Rossi
Player Liaison Officer Belgium Ricardo Carvalho

Coaches

Dates Name
July 1912 – June 1916 England Charles Bunyan, Sr.
July 1916 – June 1922 Belgium Camille van Hoorden
July 1922 – June 1924 England Lamport
Belgium Pierre Kogel
July 1924 – June 1930 England Percy Wilding Hartley
July 1930 – June 1932 Belgium Maurice Grisard
July 1932 – June 1935 England Percy Wilding Hartley
July 1935 – June 1936 Belgium Jean Dupont
July 1936 – March 1937 England Percy Wilding Hartley
April 1937 – Nov 1938 Belgium Emile Riff
Dec 1938 – June 1939 Belgium Jean Dupont
July 1939 – June 1940 Belgium Maurice Grisard
July 1940 – June 1942 Belgium René Dohet
July 1942 – June 1945 Belgium Fernand Wertz
July 1945 – June 1950 Belgium Marcelin Waroux
July 1950 – June 1951 Belgium Antoine Basleer
July 1951 – June 1953 Belgium Maurice Grisard
July 1953 – June 1958 France André Riou
July 1958 – June 1961 Hungarian People's Republic Géza Kalocsay
Dates Name
July 1961 – June 1963 France Jean Prouff
July 1963 – Nov 1964 France Auguste Jordan
Dec 1964 – June 1968 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Milorad Pavić
July 1968 – June 1973 France René Hauss
July 1973 – Oct 1973 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Vlatko Marković
Nov 1973 – June 1974 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Ned Bulatović
July 1974 – Dec 1975 Netherlands Cor van der Hart
Jan 1976 – June 1976 Belgium Maurice Lempereur
France Lucien Leduc
July 1976 – June 1979 Belgium Robert Waseige
July 1979 – June 1981 Austria Ernst Happel
July 1981 – Feb 1984 Belgium Raymond Goethals
March 1984 – June 1984 Belgium Léon Semmeling
July 1984 – April 1985 Luxembourg Louis Pilot
May 1985 – Feb 1987 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Milorad Pavić
Feb 1986 – June 1987 Germany Helmut Graf
July 1987 – Sept 1987 Belgium René Desaeyere
Oct 1987 – March 1988 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Milorad Pavić
April 1988 – June 1988 Belgium Jozef Vliers
Dates Name
July 1988 – June 1989 Belgium Urbain Braems
July 1989 – June 1991 Germany Georg Kessler
July 1991 – Dec 1993 Netherlands Arie Haan
Jan 1994 – June 1994 Belgium René Vandereycken
July 1994 – June 1996 Belgium Robert Waseige
July 1996 – June 1997 Belgium Jos Daerden
Jul 1997 – Oct 1997 Netherlands Aad de Mos
Nov 1997 – March 1998 Belgium Daniel Boccar
April 1998 – June 1998 Croatia Luka Peruzović
July 1998 – Sept 1999 Croatia Tomislav Ivić
Oct 1999 – Dec 1999 Croatia Željko Mijač
Jan 2000 – May 2000 Belgium Jean Thissen
Belgium Henri Depireux
May 2000 – Dec 2000 Croatia Tomislav Ivić
Dec 2000 – Jan 2001 Belgium Dominique D'Onofrio
Belgium Christian Labarbe
Jan 2001 – June 2002 Belgium Michel Preud'homme
Jun 2002 – Oct 2002 Belgium Robert Waseige
Oct 2002 – June 2006 Belgium Dominique D'Onofrio
Dates Name
Jul 2006 – Sep 2006 Netherlands Johan Boskamp
Sept 2006 – June 2008 Belgium Michel Preud'homme
June 2008 – Feb 2010 Romania László Bölöni
Feb 2010 – June 2011 Belgium Dominique D'Onofrio
July 2011 – May 2012 Belgium José Riga
May 2012 – Oct 2012 Netherlands Ron Jans
Oct 2012 – May 2013 Romania Mircea Rednic
May 2013 – Oct 2014 Israel Guy Luzon
Nov 2014 – Feb 2015 Serbia Ivan Vukomanović
Feb 2015 – Jun 2015 Belgium José Riga
Jun 2015 – Aug 2015 Serbia Slavoljub Muslin
Sep 2015 – Sep 2016 Belgium Yannick Ferrera
Sep 2016 – Apr 2017 Serbia Aleksandar Janković
Apr 2017 – May 2017 Belgium José Jeunechamps
June 2017 – May 2018 Portugal Ricardo Sá Pinto
June 2018 – Jun 2020 Belgium Michel Preud'homme
June 2020 – Dec 2020 France Philippe Montanier
Dec 2020 – Oct 2021 Senegal Mbaye Leye
Oct 2021 – April 2022 Slovenia Luka Elsner
June 2022 – June 2023 Norway Ronny Deila
June 2023 – December 2023 Belgium Carl Hoefkens
January 2024 – present Croatia Ivan Leko

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Standard de Lieja para niños

kids search engine
Standard Liège Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.