It is one of the biggest rivalries in Belgian football and Brussels’ two football clubs are all set to again lock horns in, arguably, the country’s biggest game of the season.
RSC Anderlecht and Royale Union Saint-Gilloise will contest the Croky Cup Final on Thursday (14 May) at Stade Roi Baudouin, the national stadium.
The two clubs have a rich history although for one, Union, its success on the field has come in more recent times than its illustrious city neighbour.
One – Union – plays in a ground accommodating about 10,000 while the team for the other – Anderlecht – ply their trade in rather more expansive surroundings.
Unbelievably, after 70 editions, this will be the first time in the domestic cup’s long and varied history that these two famous Brussels football clubs will face each other in the climax of the competition.
Experienced Belgian writer Kurt Deswert says, “The clash between RSC Anderlecht and Union Saint-Gilloise is also remarkable for another reason: although both clubs dominated large parts of Belgian football history, they each did so in different eras. Historically, RSCA and Union rarely crossed paths in battles for league titles or cups. Until a few years ago, there was barely any real rivalry between them,” added Deswert.
Deswert is a Brussels-based author and football historian.
Ahead of the big game, the respected writer wrote about the rich history of football in Brussels.
He says it was only with Union’s resurgence in the 2020s that the pair once again faced each other in meaningful competitive fixtures.
In the cup, this led twice to defeats for RSCA.
After a long decline that saw Union fall as low as the 4th tier, the club experienced a resurgence in the 2020s following a takeover by British businessman Tony Bloom, also chairman of Brighton in the Premier League.
Deswert writes, “Against all expectations, Union returned to the top flight in 2021 after 48 years. Once there, the club exceeded all expectations.
“For the first time in nearly 115 years, there was once again genuine rivalry between Anderlecht and Union Saint-Gilloise,” he notes.
Deswert says, “The two clubs, so deeply intertwined historically, are once more competing for league titles and cups against each other. Along the way, they also demonstrate that Brussels remains one of the most fascinating football capitals in Europe – and continues to be so,” added Deswert,who was writing for the Anderlecht club website.
Union’s principal city rivalry is, in fact, with RWD Molenbeek contested in what is colloquially referred to as the Zwanze derby a term derived from Brussels’ dialect and cultural humour.
But, today, most see the rivalry with Anderlecht as the one that really matters.
In recent times, it is Union that has done better, with forays into the Champions League, while Anderlecht struggle to restore the fame they achieved in years gone by.
But, of course, a cup game over 90 minutes or so can go either way and, just ahead of the clash, this site canvassed some local opinion.
Olivier Van Peeters, from Uccle, said: “I have supported Union all my life and have every confidence that the superiority we have had over Anderlecht in recent years will continue on Thursday.”
When asked the likely outcme, Pieter Dubois, who lives in Forest, commented: “Who knows? On the day, Union should win but this is a one off game and anything could happen. I hope it is a good advert for Belgian football.”
Michelle van Cutsem, from Waterloo, added: “I and my family support Anderlecht and we obviously hope we will win the cup. It will be a close game though and I am not massively optimistic.”
Irrespective of their allegiances, fans of both clubs are asked to behave both before, during and after the game.
There was serious disorder after the cup final last year between Club Brugge and Anderlecht.
On Thursday, fans will be escorted to and from the game and a source with the Brussels Capital/Ixelles police zone said the authorities hope there will be no crowd trouble.
