Anderlecht was founded on 27 May 1908, in the Brussels municipality of the same name. On 27 May 2027 it turns 119. It is Belgium's most successful club, with 34 league titles and five European trophies.

A dozen friends at the Café Concordia

About a dozen football lovers met at the Café Concordia on the Rue d'Aumale. They had been brought together by Charles Roos, who also became the first chairman. That is how Sporting Club Anderlechtois was born.

The first pitch was next to a cemetery in Scheut, about 800 metres from today's ground. In 1917 the team moved to Astrid Park, where it still plays. In 1921 it reached the top flight for the first time.

Why purple?

Anderlecht's colours are purple and white, which gives the club its nickname "Les Mauves", "Paars-wit" in Dutch. Their origin is not certain.

According to a story recorded by journalist Robert Wyckaert, they were inspired by a flower parade in Anderlecht. There a future queen rode in a carriage decorated with white and purple orchids. Purple is also linked to the Belgian royal family.

The shirt has almost always been purple with white details. The few exceptions were the black and purple of 2005-06 and the grey of 2007-08.

A crest with a Latin motto

The crest carries the Latin motto "Mens sana in corpore sano", a healthy mind in a healthy body. Next to it are the initials "SCA", from the club's original name. In 1933 the club received the title "Royal" and a crown was added to the crest.

In 1971 Constant Vanden Stock, a former player, became chairman. He signed Rob Rensenbrink and put his family's brewery, Belle-Vue, on the shirt as the first sponsor in the club's history.

The European nights

The first league title came in 1947, with Jef Mermans scoring the goals. In the 1960s Anderlecht won five titles in a row, a Belgian record, with Paul Van Himst as the star, scoring 233 goals in the purple shirt.

On 5 May 1976, at the Heysel in Brussels, the team beat West Ham 4-2 to lift the Cup Winners' Cup, with two goals from Rob Rensenbrink. In 1978 it won it again, 4-0 against Austria Wien in Paris. In 1983 it added the UEFA Cup, against Benfica.

Each Cup Winners' Cup was followed by the UEFA Super Cup, in 1976 and 1978. Rensenbrink, the Dutch magician of those years, was later named the club's best player of the 20th century.

From the academy to the world

Anderlecht is famous for its talent. Vincent Kompany, Romelu Lukaku and Youri Tielemans all started there, while Enzo Scifo won the Belgian Golden Shoe in 1984. Kompany later returned as a player and coach.

Today the team plays at Lotto Park, the stadium that opened in 1983 under the name of Constant Vanden Stock. It took its current name in 2019 through a sponsorship deal. It holds about 22,500 spectators and remains the purple home of Brussels.

Celebrate with us

From a café in Anderlecht to European finals, Les Mauves made purple a byword for Belgian football. Happy 119th birthday!

See our collectible jerseys at sportarena.gr.

Photo: An Anderlecht home game at Lotto Park – Haggis MacHaggis, Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC0.