On 1 November 1897, a group of friends in Saint-Gilles, Brussels, founded Union Saint-Gilloise. On 1 November 2026 the "Old Lady" of Belgian football turns 129 years old. And it celebrates as one of the most exciting comeback stories in Europe.

A group of friends and the number 10

The sources do not record the founders' names; they speak only of "une bande de copains", a bunch of mates. The club took the name of the municipality where it was born, Saint-Gilles, and to its fans it is simply "L'Union".

The following year it joined the federation and received registration number 10, which it still holds today. Such a low number shows how early it entered organised Belgian football.

Yellow, blue and "Apaches"

Union plays in yellow and blue, two colours that have become synonymous with the team. The sources we checked do not explain why they were chosen, so we would rather not tell you a myth.

Its nicknames, though, say a lot. It is called "Les Apaches" and "La Vieille Dame", the Old Lady, a title earned with its many championships before the war.

From Parc Duden to Joseph Marien

Since around 1920 the team has played at the ground first known as Parc Duden, in Forest, next to Saint-Gilles. In 1931 it was named after a former president and became the Stade Joseph Marien.

One of its stands is now a listed heritage building. But because the ground does not meet European standards, Union plays its European home games elsewhere, for example in Leuven or at Anderlecht's stadium.

Union 60: the record that won't break

Union won its first title in 1904 and by 1910 had won six championships in seven years, with scorers such as Gustave Vanderstappen. By 1935 it had collected 11 championships. In 1920 it supplied the most players to the Belgian team that won Olympic gold at the Antwerp Games.

From 1933 to 1935, captained by Jules Pappaert, the team went 60 matches unbeaten, a national record that still stands. The run ended with a defeat by Daring Club de Bruxelles, and that side went down in history as "Union 60".

From oblivion to the top

After the war Union fell behind as football modernised, although in the early 1960s it reached the semi-finals of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, knocking out Roma and Marseille along the way. From 1973 it spent 48 years away from the top flight, and in 1980 it dropped as low as the fourth tier.

In 2014 German businessman Jürgen Baatzsch had bought the club for a symbolic one euro. But the big revival began in 2018, when British businessman Tony Bloom became majority shareholder. In March 2021 Felice Mazzù's team won promotion to the top flight, and players such as Deniz Undav and Victor Boniface wore the shirt.

In 2024 it lifted its first cup in 110 years, and in May 2025 it became Belgian champion for the first time in 90 years, beating Gent 3-1 on the final day. In the 2025/26 season it also made its Champions League debut.

Celebrate with us

Few clubs have lived so high, so low and then so high again as Union. Its yellow and blue are today proof that history can turn once more.

Happy birthday, Union! The Old Lady looks younger than ever.

See our collectible jerseys at sportarena.gr.

Photo: Stade Joseph Marien in Forest, Brussels – MM1912, Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY 4.0.