S.V. Zulte Waregem

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]

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.

• Belgian Pro League:
  • Runners-up: 2012–13
• Belgian Second Division:
  • Winners: 2004–05
• Belgian Cup:
  • Winners: 2005–06, 2016–17
  • Runners-up: 2013–14
• Belgian Supercup:
  • Runners-up: 2006, 2017

As of 4 October 2023[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  ESP Borja López 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 Abdoulaye 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

No. Pos. Nation Player 21 MF  BIH Igor Savić 23 GK  NED Ennio van der Gouw 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 99 FW  BRA Matheus Machado

Out on loan

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  TAN Novatus Miroshi (at Shakhtar Donetsk until 30 June 2024) — FW  BEL Stan Braem (at Lokeren-Temse until 30 June 2024)

No. Pos. Nation Player — FW  BEL Lennert Hallaert (at Knokke until 30 June 2024)

• Eddy van den Berge (July 1, 1962 – June 30, 1963)
• Francky Dury (July 1, 2001 – June 30, 2010)
• Bart De Roover (July 1, 2010 – Oct 24, 2010)
• Hugo Broos (Oct 27, 2010 – May 23, 2011)
• Darije Kalezić (July 1, 2011 – Dec 27, 2011)
• Francky Dury (Dec 30, 2011–2021)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to SV Zulte Waregem.

• (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