RSC AnderlechtThe colours of RSC Anderlecht have an unusual origin. Purple and white gave the club its nickname Paars-wit (Mauve et Blanc), and according to one account they come from a flower parade in the municipality of Anderlecht, in which the future Queen Elisabeth rode in a carriage decorated with purple and white orchids. Purple is also the colour of the Belgian monarchy. The club was founded on 27 May 1908 at the Concordia café on Rue d'Aumale in Brussels by about a dozen football enthusiasts, under the name Sporting Club Anderlechtois, and won its first match 11–8 against Institut Saint-Georges. In 1933, on its 25th anniversary, it received royal status and "Royal" was added to its name.
Its early years in the top division were turbulent. Anderlecht first reached it in 1921, but it was relegated in 1923, 1926, 1928 and 1931, each time returning. Brussels rivals Union Saint-Gilloise and Daring mockingly called it the "lift club." Since 1935/36 it has played in the top flight without interruption. Since 1917 its home has been Astrid Park, where a stadium was built and named Stade Emile Versé in honour of the club's first great patron, the industrialist Emile Versé. The ground was completely rebuilt in 1983 and named after Constant Vanden Stock, club president from 1971 to 1996. It now holds 22,500 spectators, down from an original 40,000.
Anderlecht won its first championship in 1946/47, thanks to the goals of striker Jef Mermans, signed in 1942 for what was then a record fee of 125,000 francs. Mermans remains the club's all-time top scorer (367 goals in 399 matches). Further titles came between 1949 and 1956 and in 1958/59 and 1961/62. From 1963/64 to 1967/68 the club won five championships in a row, which is still a Belgian league record; it was coached successively by Pierre Sinibaldi and Andreas Beres. The star of the side was Paul Van Himst, who made 457 league appearances for the club, scored 233 goals and won the Belgian Golden Shoe four times (1960, 1961, 1965, 1974).
In Europe Anderlecht made its debut in the first European Cup (1955/56), losing to Hungary's Vörös Lobogó. It won its first tie only in 1962/63, eliminating Real Madrid after a 3–3 draw in Spain and a 1–0 home win. The greatest successes came in the 1970s and 1980s. In 1976 in Brussels the club beat West Ham United 4–2 in the Cup Winners' Cup final (François Van Der Elst and Rob Rensenbrink each scored twice), a year later it lost the final 2–0 to Hamburg, and in 1978 it beat Austria Vienna 4–0 in Paris. These wins brought two European Super Cups: in 1976 against Bayern Munich (1–2 away, 4–1 at home) and in 1978 against Liverpool (4–3 on aggregate). In 1983, with Paul Van Himst as coach, Anderlecht won the UEFA Cup, beating Benfica 2–1 on aggregate in the final. Rensenbrink is regarded as the club's best player of the 20th century. In total that makes five European trophies, the most in the history of Belgian football. The club also lost finals: the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (1970, to Arsenal), the UEFA Cup (1984, to Tottenham) and the Cup Winners' Cup (1990, to Sampdoria).
After 2000 Anderlecht continued to dominate at home: by 2006/07 it had 29 championships, the 30th came in 2009/10 and the 31st in 2011/12. In 2011/12 it became the first Belgian club to finish a European group stage with maximum points (in the Europa League). Its latest, 34th championship came in 2016/17, with young players such as Youri Tielemans and Leander Dendoncker, and in the same season it went out in the Europa League quarter-finals to Manchester United after extra time. The club's academy in Neerpede produced players such as Romelu Lukaku and Jérémy Doku.
In 2018 the club was taken over by businessman Marc Coucke. The 2019/20 season, in which the team finished eighth, ended a 55-year run of European appearances. Anderlecht remains one of the three big Belgian clubs, alongside Club Brugge and Standard Liège, with whom it has its most important rivalries. It is also the club with the most championships (34) and nine Belgian Cups, although it has been waiting for another title since 2017.
