K.V. Oostende

KV Oostende

Full name	Koninklijke Voetbalclub Oostende
Nickname(s)	De Kustboys
Founded	1981
Ground	Albertparkstadion, Ostend
Ground Capacity	8,000
Chairman	Marc Coucke
Manager	Yves Vanderhaeghe
League	Belgian Pro League
2014–15	Belgian Pro League, 10th
Home colours Away colours

Koninklijke Voetbalclub Oostende, also called KV Oostende (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈkaː ˈveː ˌoːs.ˈtɛn.də]) or KVO, is a Belgian football club from the city of Ostend, West Flanders. The team was founded in 1904 as V.G. Oostende and has the matricule n°31.

History

In 1911, another club was created, AS Oostende, which would soon become the best club of the city, playing regularly in the second division in the 1930s. In the mid 1970s, AS reached the first division while VG was playing at the second level.

The two clubs merged in 1981 to become K.V. Oostende. The new club played in the third division for eleven years, before finally promoting. In its first season on the second level, Oostende immediately promoted again, to the first division, where it would achieve its best result in the club history: a seventh place, in 1993–94.

From 1995 to 2013, Oostende has been playing in the second division, except in 1998–99 and 2004–05, when it was at the higher level again, and in 2001–02 and 2002–03, when it played in the third division.

In 1982, one year after the merger, VG Oostende had been re-founded at the lowest level of the Belgian football competition. The club first used the Armenonville stadium, which was the original ground of VG. In 2001, the stadium was declared unsafe, so the club had to groundshare with KV Oostende in the Albertparkstadion, until 2010. In 2013, the new VG Oostende also disappeared, after a financial breakdown.

In August 2013, shortly after a new promotion to the highest level, it was announced that chairman and majority shareholder Yves Lejaeghere would be succeeded by a new chairman, businessman Marc Coucke.

Honours

• Belgian Second Division:
  • Winners (2): 1998, 2013
• Belgian Second Division Final Round:
  • Winners (2): 1993, 2004

Current squad

As of 8 December, 2015.

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Didier Ovono 3 DF Niels De Schutter 4 DF Fabien Antunes 5 DF Jordan Lukaku 7 MF Sébastien Siani 9 FW Gohi Bi Zoro Cyriac 10 MF Franck Berrier 11 FW Knowledge Musona 13 DF Frédéric Brillant 14 DF David Rozehnal 15 MF Andile Jali 16 FW Elimane Coulibaly 17 FW Joseph Akpala 18 DF Bryan Willems

No. Position Player 19 DF Antonio Milic 20 MF Michiel Jonckheere 21 FW Ante Blažević 22 DF Sébastien Locigno 25 GK Wouter Biebauw 26 MF Kévin Vandendriessche 27 DF Brecht Capon 30 FW Saviour Godwin 33 GK Jean Chopin 40 GK Justin Verlinden 55 MF Fernando Canesin 90 FW Yannick Loemba DF Žarko Tomašević

Out on loan

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

No. Position Player 8 MF Niels Coussement (at Roeselare)

Managers

• Han Grijzenhout (1981–82)
• Nedeljko Bulatović (1982–84)
• Dennis van Wijk (Sept 30, 1996 – June 30, 1998)
• Jean-Marie Pfaff (Oct 1, 1998 – Feb 4, 1999)
• Leo Van der Elst (1999–00)
• Kenneth Brylle Larsen (July 1, 2001 – June 30, 2003)
• Gilbert Bodart (May 17, 2003 – Jan 10, 2005)
• Herman Vermeulen (Jan 13, 2005 – June 30, 2005)
• Willy Wellens (July 1, 2006–07)
• Dennis van Wijk (Nov 20, 2007 – Dec 10, 2007)
• Kurt Bataille (interim) (Dec 11, 2007 – June 30, 2008)
• Jean-Pierre Vande Velde (July 1, 2008 – March 4, 2009)
• Thierry Pister (March 3, 2009 – Feb 14, 2011)
• Frederik Vanderbiest (Feb 16, 2011–2015)
• Yves Vanderhaeghe (2015–)

External links

• (Dutch) Official website