S.V. Zulte Waregem

Summary

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.

Zulte Waregem
Full nameSportvereniging Zulte Waregem
Nickname(s)Essevee, De Boeren
Founded1 July 2001; 22 years ago (2001-07-01)
GroundRegenboogstadion,
Waregem
Capacity12,250[1]
ChairmanWilly Naessens
ManagerVincent Euvrard
LeagueChallenger Pro League
2022–23Belgian Pro League, 17th (relegated)
WebsiteClub website
Current season

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. In 2023 the team performed very poorly and had to move to the second division.

History edit

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 edit

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 edit

European record edit

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

Players edit

As of 1 February 2024[7]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK   BEL Louis Bostyn
3 DF   BEL Anton Tanghe
4 DF   BEL Timothy Derijck
5 DF   BEL Rubin Seigers (on loan from Westerlo)
7 FW   SEN Alioune Ndour
8 DF   BEL Robbe Decostere
9 FW   BEL Jelle Vossen
10 MF   CIV Ablo Traoré
11 FW   MLI Mohamed Guindo
12 MF   BEL Christian Brüls
14 DF   BEL Alessandro Ciranni
16 MF   EST Kevor Palumets
17 MF   SEN Pape Diop
18 DF   BEL Moudou Tambedou
20 MF   BEL Nicolas Rommens
23 GK   NED Ennio van der Gouw
No. Pos. Nation Player
25 MF   NED Ruud Vormer
30 GK   BEL Sef Van Damme
31 DF   BEL Lukas Willen
33 DF   IRL Joel Bagan (on loan from Cardiff City)
38 DF   BEL Arthur Harinck
42 GK   BEL Arnaud Dobbels
47 DF   BEL Andres Labie
55 DF   BEL Yannick Cappelle
59 FW   BEL Dylan Demuynck
64 MF   BEL Thibaud Sergeant
77 FW   CMR Patrick Handzongo
93 FW   GNB Zinho Gano
97 GK   BEL Ortwin De Wolf
99 FW   BRA Matheus Machado
MF   NGA Tochukwu Nnadi
FW   CYP Stavros Gavriel

Out on loan edit

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
DF   ESP Borja López (at   Leganés until 30 June 2024)
DF   TAN Novatus Miroshi (at   Shakhtar Donetsk until 30 June 2024)
No. Pos. Nation Player
FW   BEL Stan Braem (at Lokeren-Temse until 30 June 2024)
FW   BEL Lennert Hallaert (at Knokke until 30 June 2024)

Managers edit

References edit

  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

External links edit

  • (in Dutch) Official Website
  • Zulte Waregem at UEFA.COM
  • Zulte Waregem at EUFO.DE
  • Zulte Waregem at Weltfusball.de
  • Zulte Waregem at Football Squads.co.uk
  • Zulte Waregem at Football-Lineups.com