Kortrijk – Football in Kortrijk
There are plenty of sights available to those staying in a Kortrijk hotel, but few people realise that the town of Krotrijk is home to a football team who play in Belgium’s top division, the Jupiler League.
Koninklijke Voetbalclub Kortrijk, better known as KV Kortrijk, were formed in 1901 as SC Courtraisien. After a series of mergers with other clubs they became KV Kortrijk in 1971, adopting the Belgian football club matricule number 19 – officially recognising them as one of the 20 oldest football clubs in the country.
KV Kortrijk play in a home strip of red and white, and the club’s badge is based on the coat of arms of the city of Kortrijk.
League Progress
If you’re looking for something different to do when you leave your Kortrijk hotel, a visit to watch some Jupiler Pro League football at KV Kortrijk will give you a rare opportunity to see football played at a club that has been moving forward in recent years. In the 1970s, 80s and 90s the club dipped in and out of the top league, including a brief relegation due to financial troubles in 2001. Their current spell began in 2008-09.
Guldensporenstadion
No matter which Kortrijk hotel you are staying at, if it’s in the centre of the city, it will be within easy reach of KV Kortrijk’s home ground, the Guldensporenstadion, literally the ‘Stadium of the Golden Spurs’. The stadium is named after the Battle of the Golden Spurs, the famous battle that took place in Kortrijk in 1302. The stadium is a multi use stadium, occasionally used for non-football events. The capacity was raised from 6,869 to around 9,399 following KV Kortrijk’s most recent promotion to the top division.
The Guldensporenstadion has a traditional local stadium feel about it, being single tiered all round. For this reason it makes a great destination for a visit to watch a match, especially for those more used to watching football in more illustrious surroundings.
Belgian football today
When visiting the city and staying in a Kortrijk hotel, a trip to the Guldensporenstadion is a great way to see a different side of Belgian culture. Belgium football has declined somewhat since the mid 1990s, but Kortrijk are a team currently on the up, having managed to finish 4th in the 2010/11 season. The high point of Belgium football was during the 1970s and 80s, when RSC Anderlecht and KV Mechelen won European competitions: Anderlecht winning both the European Cup Winners’ Cup and the UEFA Cup, and Mechelen winning the Cup Winners’ Cup.