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S.V. Zulte Waregem

Zulte Waregem
Full nameSportvereniging Zulte Waregem
Nickname(s)Essevee, De Boeren
Founded1 July 2001; 23 years ago (2001-07-01)
GroundRegenboogstadion,
Waregem
Capacity12,250[1]
ChairmanWilly Naessens
Head coachSven Vandenbroeck
LeagueChallenger Pro League
2023–24Challenger Pro League, 4th of 16
Websiteessevee.be
Current season

Sportvereniging Zulte Waregem (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈspɔrtfəˌreːnəɣɪŋ ˈzʏltə ˈʋaːrəɣɛm]), commonly known as Zulte Waregem or by their nickname Essevee (Dutch pronunciation: [ɛsəˈveː]), is a Belgian professional football club based in Waregem, West Flanders. Their highest finish at the highest level was second place in 2012–13. They have won two Belgian Cups. They qualified for the 2006–07 UEFA Cup, losing in the round of 32 to Newcastle United. Also in the seasons 2013–14 and 2017–18 they managed to play in the Europa League group stages. On both occasions the club ended third in their group.

The club is a product of a partnership in 2001 between Zultse VV and KSV Waregem, a former first division regular. No merger was applied. Zulte Waregem first reached the highest level in Belgian football by winning the 2004–05 second division. The club uniforms are red and green. They play their home matches at the Regenboogstadion, the former stadium of KSV Waregem.

History

Zulte Sportief was founded in 1950 and directly became a member of the national association (matricule n° 5381). The club Zultse V.V. (with the same matricule) was started after the 1976 merger between Zulte Sportief and S.K. Zulte. In 2001, the team merged with K.S.V. Waregem, who had played in the first division for many years. No team from Zulte ever achieved promotion to the second division before S.V. Zulte Waregem in 2002. Zultse V.V., though, gained access to the third division in 1995. The club finished 14th out of 16 for two seasons and was relegated the second time after the playoff.

Zulte Waregem playing Newcastle United in a UEFA Cup tie.

In 1999, the season in which it came back, Zultse finished fourth in this division. Two years later, the new club became champion of the 3rd division A. The registered office of Zulte Waregem lies in Zulte, but the club is based in the stadium of K.S.V. Waregem in Waregem and the red and white colours of K.S.V. Waregem prevail.

The club got a chance to shine on the European stage during the 2006–07 UEFA Cup, reaching the round of 32, playing against English club Newcastle United, although they lost 4–1 on aggregate. Their second European appearance was in the 2013–14 season, as Zulte Waregem finished second in 2012–13 Belgian Pro League and qualified for the third qualifying stage of the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League, where they lost to PSV (5–0 on aggregate). Zulte Waregem dropped to the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League play-off round, where they defeated APOEL, drawing 1–1 at home and winning 1–2 in Nicosia thanks to a late goal from Jens Naessens. At the group stage, they were drawn alongside Rubin Kazan, Wigan Athletic and Maribor. Zulte Waregem started with a draw against Wigan. After, they lost to Rubin (4–0) and Maribor (1–3), but later managed to defeat Maribor at Ljudski vrt (0–1) and Wigan at DW Stadium (1–2). Finally, a loss against Rubin at home and Maribor's win over Wigan eliminated Zulte Waregem from the European competition. In the 2016–17 season, Zulte Waregem drew an average home attendance of 9,578.[2]

After a series of disappointing seasons in which the threat of relegation was narrowly avoided each time, things took a turn for the worse for head coach and club legend Francky Dury in the fall of 2021. The relationship between him and a portion of the supporters also became increasingly strained, ultimately leading to his dismissal in January 2022.[3] The 2021–22 season was managed by assistants Timmy Simons and Davy De fauw, but they too failed to achieve results. As a result, the team narrowly avoided the relegation playoffs. In June 2022, former club top goalscorer Mbaye Leye was appointed as the new head coach.[4]

In 2023, Zulte Waregem fell victim to the new league restructuring, which meant that there would be as many as three relegations that season. Zulte, being the club with the statistically worst defence, ended up suffering relegation after 18 successive seasons in the top tier.[5]

Stadium

Zulte Waregem plays its home matches at the Regenboogstadion, meaning "Rainbow Stadium" in Dutch. The stadium used to be the home of K.S.V. Waregem until the withdrawal of the club. It has a capacity of 12.250 and has been renovated lately to host European games.[6] The Regenboogstadion meets UEFA's requirements for hosting European games (Category 4 stadium), so Zulte Waregem's home matches can be played in their own stadium, which they did in de 2017-2018 Europa League competition. Zulte Waregem has an average attendance of 9.500 people at home games.

Honours

European record

Season Competition Round Club Home Away Aggregate
2006–07 UEFA Cup 1R Russia Lokomotiv Moscow 2–0 1–2 3–2
Grp F Austria Austria Wien — 4–1 3rd
Czech Republic Sparta Prague 3–1 —
Spain Espanyol — 2–6
Netherlands Ajax 0–3 —
R32 England Newcastle United 1–3 0–1 1–4
2013–14 UEFA Champions League 3Q Netherlands PSV 0–3 0–2 0–5
2013–14 UEFA Europa League PO Cyprus APOEL 1–1 2–1 3–2
Grp D Slovenia Maribor 1–3 1–0 3rd
Russia Rubin Kazan 0–2 0–4
England Wigan Athletic 0–0 2–1
2014–15 UEFA Europa League 2Q Poland Zawisza Bydgoszcz 2–1 3–1 5–2
3Q Belarus Shakhtyor Soligorsk 2–5 2–2 4–7
2017–18 UEFA Europa League Grp France Nice 1–5 1–3 3rd
Italy Lazio 3–2 0–2
Netherlands Vitesse Arnhem 1–1 2–0

Players

As of 4 September 2024[7]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Belgium BEL Louis Bostyn
3 DF Belgium BEL Anton Tanghe
4 DF Belgium BEL Laurent Lemoine
5 DF Ivory Coast CIV Eroine Agnikoi
7 MF Belgium BEL Youssef Challouk (on loan from Kortrijk)
8 MF Belgium BEL Nicolas Rommens
9 FW Belgium BEL Jelle Vossen (captain)
10 FW Ivory Coast CIV Abdoulaye Traoré
11 FW Cyprus CYP Stavros Gavriel
12 MF Belgium BEL Christian Brüls
14 DF Iceland ISL Atli Barkarson
17 MF Senegal SEN Pape Diop
18 DF Belgium BEL Moudou Tambedou
19 DF Belgium BEL Benoît Nyssen
21 MF Nigeria NGA Tochukwu Nnadi
No. Pos. Nation Player
22 FW Ghana GHA Joseph Opoku
23 GK Netherlands NED Ennio van der Gouw
24 FW Denmark DEN Jeppe Erenbjerg
27 MF Ivory Coast CIV Ibrahim Diabaté
29 FW Republic of Ireland IRL Nathan Fraser (on loan from Wolverhampton)
30 GK Belgium BEL Sef Van Damme
31 DF Belgium BEL Lukas Willen
38 DF Belgium BEL Arthur Harinck
42 GK Belgium BEL Arnaud Dobbels
47 DF Belgium BEL Andres Labie
55 DF Belgium BEL Yannick Cappelle
59 FW Philippines PHI Dylan Demuynck
64 MF Belgium BEL Thibaud Sergeant
99 FW Brazil BRA Matheus Machado

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF Estonia EST Kevor Palumets (to HJK until 31 December 2024)
— FW Senegal SEN Alioune Ndour (to Kristiansund until 31 December 2024)

Managers

References

  1. ^ "Regenboogstadion". The Stadium Guide. Archived from the original on 15 January 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  2. ^ "Eerste klasse A 2016/2017 - Attendance". worldfootball.net. Archived from the original on 2017-12-15. Retrieved 2017-08-31.
  3. ^ "Triest einde van tijdperk: Francky Dury na 20 jaar ontslagen bij Zulte Waregem". Sporza (in Dutch). 17 December 2021. Archived from the original on 7 September 2023. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  4. ^ "Mbaye Leye wordt nieuwe hoofdtrainer Essevee". SV Zulte Waregem (in Flemish). Archived from the original on 22 September 2023. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  5. ^ "Zulte Waregem in tranen na degradatie: "Deze club hoort niet in tweede klasse"". Sporza (in Dutch). 23 April 2023. Archived from the original on 7 September 2023. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  6. ^ Het Regenboogstadion Archived 2017-10-20 at the Wayback Machine essevee.be (last check 30/03/2018)
  7. ^ Player squad Archived 2023-09-22 at the Wayback Machine, essevee.be
Quelle: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zulte_Waregem