Liège

Liège (French pronunciation: ​[ljɛʒ]; Dutch: Luik, [lœyk]; German: Lüttich) is a major city and a municipality in Belgium. It is located in the province of the same name, Liège, of which it is the main city, and is part of the Walloon (mostly French-speaking) region of Belgium.

The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse River, in the east of Belgium, not far from borders with the Netherlands and with Germany. At Liège the Meuse river meets the river Ourthe. The city is part of the sillon industriel, the former industrial backbone of Wallonia. It still is the principal economic and cultural centre of the region.

The Liège municipality (i.e. the city proper) includes the former communes of Angleur, Bressoux, Chênée, Glain, Grivegnée, Jupille-sur-Meuse, Rocourt, and Wandre. In November 2012, Liège had 198,280 inhabitants. The metropolitan area, including the outer commuter zone, covers an area of 1,879 km² (725 sq mi) and had a total population of 749,110 on 1 January 2008. This includes a total of 52 municipalities, among others, Herstal and Seraing. Liège ranks as the third most populous urban area in Belgium, after Brussels and Antwerp, and the fourth municipality after Antwerp, Ghent and Charleroi.

Standard Liège

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 six 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."

History

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.

K.R.C. Genk

Koninklijke Racing Club Genk (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈkoːnɪŋkləkə ˈreːsɪŋ ˌklʏp ˈxɛŋk]) is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Genk in Belgian Limburg. Racing Genk plays in the Belgian Pro League and have won three championship titles; in 1998–99, in 2001–02 and in 2010–11. They also won four Belgian Cups, most recently in 2008–09 and in 2012–13. They qualified for the UEFA Champions League group stage in the 2002–03 and 2011–12 seasons.

The club formed in 1988 by the merger of Waterschei Thor with KFC Winterslag, from which it took over the matricule number. It has been one of the most successful clubs in Belgium since the late 1990s and so they regularly qualify for European competitions. The club has been playing in the first division since the 1996–97 season. They play their home matches in the Cristal Arena. Their main outfit is blue and white.

In 2012 they made a profit of €28 million after participating in the Champions League group stage, and from the sale of players such as Thibaut Courtois and Kevin De Bruyne to Premier League club Chelsea, not including a further gain of €10 million from the transfer of Christian Benteke to Aston Villa.

Belgian Pro League

The Belgian Pro League (officially known as Jupiler Pro League [Dutch pronunciation: [ˈʒypilɛr ˈproː ˈlik]]) is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Belgian Second Division. Seasons run from late July to early May, with teams playing 30 matches each in the regular season, and then entering play-offs 1, play-offs 2 or the relegation play-off according to their position in the regular season. Play-offs 1 are contested by the top 6 clubs in the regular season, with each club playing each other twice. Play-offs 2 are contested by teams ranked 7 to 14 in the regular season, divided in two groups of 4 teams playing each other twice. The relegation play-off consists of 5 matches between the 15th and the 16th-placed team in the regular season. As of 2014 the league was sponsored by AB InBev, brewers of Jupiler beer, and officially known as Jupiler Pro League.

The competition was created in 1895 by the Royal Belgian Football Association and was first won by FC Liégeois. Of the 74 clubs to have competed in the first division since its creation, 15 have been crowned champions of Belgium. RSC Anderlecht is the most successful league club with 33 titles, followed by Club Brugge KV (13), Union Saint-Gilloise (11) and Standard Liège (10). It is currently ranked 10th in the UEFA rankings of leagues based on performances in European competitions over the last five-years. The competition was ranked 3rd when the UEFA first published their ranking in 1979 and also the next year in 1980, which is the best ranking the Belgian First Division has ever achieved.

Pro League

Pro League may refer to various association football leagues: