Anderlecht

Anderlecht (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɑndərˌlɛxt]; French pronunciation: ​[ɑ̃dɛʁlɛkt]) is one of the nineteen municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region. There are several historically and architecturally distinct districts within the Anderlecht municipality.

History

Origins and medieval times

The first traces of human activity on the right bank of the Senne date from the Stone Age and Bronze Age. The remnants of a Roman villa and of a Frankish necropolis were also found on the territory of Anderlecht. The first mention of the name Anderlecht, however, dates only from 1047 under the forms Anrelech, then Andrelet (1111), Andreler (1148), and Anderlech (1186). At that time, this community was already home to a chapter of canons and to two feudal manors, those of the powerful lords of Aa and of Anderlecht.

In 1356, Louis of Male, Count of Flanders fought against Brussels on the territory of Anderlecht, in the so-called Battle of Scheut, supposedly over a monetary matter. Although he defeated his sister-in-law, Joanna, Duchess of Brabant, and briefly took her title, she regained it the following year with the help of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor. In 1393, Joanna’s charter made Anderlecht a part of Brussels. It is also around this time that the church of Saint Guido was rebuilt above the earlier Romanesque crypt in the Brabant Gothic style.

R.S.C. Anderlecht

Royal Sporting Club Anderlecht, usually known as Anderlecht (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɑndərˌlɛçt], French pronunciation: ​[ɑ̃dəʁˈlɛkt], German: [ˈandɐˌlɛçt]) or RSCA (Dutch pronunciation: [ˌɛrɛseˈjaː], French pronunciation: ​[ˌɛʁ ɛs se ˈɑ], German: [ˌʔɛɐ̯ ʔɛs tseː ˈʔaː]), is a Belgian professional football club based in Anderlecht, Brussels Capital-Region. Anderlecht plays in the Belgian Pro League and is the most successful Belgian football team in European competitions, with five trophies, as well as in the Belgian Pro League, with 33 championship wins. They have also won nine Belgian Cups and hold the record for most consecutive Belgian championship titles, winning five between the 1963–64 and 1967–68 seasons.

Founded in 1908, the club first reached the highest level in Belgian football in 1921–22 and have been playing in the first division continuously since 1935–36. They won their first major trophy after World War II with a championship win in 1946–47. Since then, they have never finished outside the top six of the Belgian first division. They are ranked 12th amongst all-time UEFA club competition winners, tenth in the IFFHS continental Clubs of the 20th Century European ranking and were 41st in the 2012 UEFA team rankings. In 1986, they achieved their best UEFA ranking with a joint first place with Juventus