Full name | Koninklijke Sporting Club Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen |
---|---|
Nickname(s) | Tricolores |
Founded | 22 January 1923 (creation) |
Ground |
Daknamstadion, Lokeren |
Capacity | 12,000 |
Chairman | Roger Lambrecht |
Manager | Peter Maes |
League | Belgian First Division A |
2016–17 | Belgian First Division A, 11th |
Koninklijke Sporting Club Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈkoːnɪŋkləkə ˈspɔrtɪŋ ˌklɵp ˈloːkərə(n) ˌoːstˈflaːndərə(n)]; often simply called Sporting Lokeren or Lokeren) is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Lokeren, in the province of East Flanders. Lokeren plays in the Belgian Pro League. The club was founded in 1923 and it first reached the first division in 1974–75. Since then, it had a short spell in the Second Division between 1993–94 and 1995–96. Lokeren had its most successful period in the 1980s, achieving second place in the league in 1980–81 as well as a Belgian Cup final the same year. Its best European result was reaching the quarter-final of the 1980–81 UEFA Cup.
In the year 2000, the club merged with K Sint-Niklase SKE They are registered to the Royal Belgian Football Association with the matricule number 282. Lokeren's colours are white, black and yellow. They play their home games at the Daknamstadion.
In 2012, Sporting Lokeren won their first prize, after beating KV Kortrijk in the Cup Final. They won their 2nd Cup in 2014 after beating Zulte Waregem with 0–1.
The matricule n°282 was given in 1920 to a club named Football Club Racing Club Lokeren (nicknamed Racing FC), but the team stopped its activity the next year. In 22 January 1923 Racing Club Lokeren was founded. Between 1945 and 1951, it had a slight name change (to Racing Athletiek- en Football Club Lokeren) and the new name since 1951 was Koninklijke Racing Club Lokeren. Due to financial problems, the fusion with the other team from the town (Koninklijke Standaard FC Lokeren) became necessary in 1970. The new club was then named Koninklijke Sporting Club Lokeren. In 2000, the club merged with Koninklijke Sint-Niklaas SKE to form Sporting Lokeren Sint-Niklaas Waasland. A last name change was made in 2003.