Lierse Kempenzonen
Wikipedia - Lierse Kempenzonen
Lierse Kempenzonen is a Belgian association football club located in Lier, in the province of Antwerp. The club, founded in 1943 as Oosterzonen in Oosterwijk, was relocated to Lier following the bankruptcy of Lierse in 2018. They compete in the Belgian First Division B, the second tier of Belgian football.
History
The club was founded in 1943 as FC Oosterzonen from a commune within Westerlo. It started in the Belgian provincial leagues where it hovered between the various levels, most of the times playing at the 6th or 7th level of the Belgian football pyramid. In 2007, 2008 and 2009, the club won the title three seasons in a row to promote for the first time in its history to the national levels of football. In the Belgian Fourth Division, the club avoided relegation for a few seasons, before managing another promotion in the 2012–13 season into the Belgian Third Division. Following the reform of Belgian football in 2016, the team started playing in the Belgian First Amateur Division.
In May 2018, it was announced that the club would relocate to Lier, as it merged with the old board of Lierse (a club which had gone bankrupt just a few weeks before) to form a new club called Lierse Kempenzonen. The new team continued with the old logo of Lierse and started playing in the Herman Vanderpoortenstadion in Lier.
Lierse har vunnet den belgiske ligaen fire ganger (1932, 1942, 1960 og 1997) og den belgiske cupen to ganger (1969 og 1999). Klubben har også deltatt i en rekke europeiske konkurranser, inkludert Champions League, UEFA-cupen og Cupvinnercupen.
Lierse er kjent for sin talentutvikling, og har fostret flere kjente spillere, som Jan Ceulemans, Wilfried Van Moer og Paul Van Himst. Klubben har også vært et aktivt medlem av den belgiske fotballpyramiden, og har deltatt på alle nivåer, fra den belgiske førstedivisjon til den belgiske provinsiale ligaen.
I nyere tid har Lierse opplevd økonomiske problemer og har flere ganger vært i fare for å bli oppløst. I 2018 ble klubben kjøpt opp av investorgruppen "United World Group", som har som mål å gjenoppbygge klubben og bringe den tilbake til tidligere storhet.