Full name | Royal Standard de Liège |
---|---|
Nickname(s) | Les Rouches (The Reds) |
Founded | 1898 |
Ground | Stade Maurice Dufrasne |
Capacity | 28,272 |
Chairman | Bruno Venanzi |
Manager | Aleksandar Janković |
League | Belgian Pro League |
2015–16 | Belgian Pro League, 7th |
Website | Club home page |
Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (pronounced: [stɑ̃daʁ ljɛːʒ]; Dutch: Standard Luik [ˈstɑndɑrt ˈlœy̯k]; German: Standard Lüttich [ˈstandaʁt ˈlʏtɪç] or [ˈʃtandaʁt ˈlʏtɪç]), is a Belgian football club from the city of Liège. They are one of the most successful clubs in Belgium, having won the Belgian league on ten occasions, most recently in 2007–08 and 2008–09. They have been in the top flight without interruption since 1921, longer than any other Belgian side. They have also won seven Belgian Cups, and in 1981–82 they reached the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup, which they lost 2–1 against Barcelona.
Standard players are nicknamed the "Rouches" because of their red jerseys. The French word for red, rouge, when pronounced with a Walloon accent, sounds like "rouche."
On the first day of school in September 1898, the pupils of Collège Saint-Servais in Liège started a football club, which they called Standard of Liège in reference to Standard Athletic Club of Paris. Standard, whose official name is Royal Standard Club of Liège, was based in Cointe and Grivegnée before settling permanently in 1909 in Sclessin, an industrial neighbourhood in Liège. Standard initially joined the Belgian First League in 1909 before returning to the lower leagues a few years later. The club then gained promotion back to the top division in 1921 and has never been relegated since.