Beerschot

Ground: Olympisch Stadion

Visits: 1

Date: 25th February 2012

Match: Beerschot - Leuven 2-1 (Jupiler Pro League)

Attendance: 8 300

After being relegated in 2012–13 the club went bankrupt at the end of the season and was removed from competition altogether. In June 2013 K.FC.O.Wilrijk unofficially merged with Beerschot AC into K.FC.O. Beerschot-Wilrijk. This new club will play in the first division of the Belgian Provincial leagues.

My third match on this trip was going to be a match in the Jupiler Pro League, the top division in Belgium. Raf decided for Beerschot vs OH Leuven at the old Olympic stadium im Antwerp. In 1920 the summer Olympic Games were held at this ground. Sweden actually finished 2nd in the medals table! Over the years this ground has been rebuilt several times and today there is no sign of any running tracks (or the Olympics). The capacity today is 12 500. My day started in Lier though where I was staying for the night. The plan for the day (apart from visiting Beerschot - Leuven) was to visit the ground of Lierse SK, Herman Vanderpoortenstadion, as well as the city centre of Lier. There was a clear sky as I woke up this Saturday morning and after breakfast I made the 20 minute walk to Herman Vanderpoortenstadion. As in Brugge two days earlier I found an open gate and I could sneak in here as well. After taking all the pictures I wanted to I headed back to the city centre. As I was starting to have a sore throat I visited a pharmacy on the way, Strepsils with Lidocain was bought. There are plenty of building works going on in the city centre of Lier but I managed to find all the major tourist attractions (I think!). I then went back to my hotel to rest and continue with my (700 page) book. The 3rd and last book of the Millenium trilogy

Raf picked me up at 18.00 and we then headed towards Antwerpen. There were plenty of road works in Antwerpen meaning the GPS went crazy but we eventually found the ground and a place to park. Our seats were in the middle of Tribune 3 and from there we had an excellent view of the action. In the section to our right the most vocal Beerschot supporters were based. As the home team played quite well and went 1-0 up in the 1st half the atmosphere inside Olympisch Stadion was very good for most of the match. Beerschot made it 2-0 before Leuven pulled a goal back. It ended 2-1 to to Beerscot, a fair result if you ask me. This was a good match with a great atmosphere and I think Raf made the correct choice in deciding for this match. At 22.45 he then dropped me off at my hotel and shortly after I fell aslepp. Only one more day left for me in Belgium but with two matches planned I had every reason to look forward to the last Sunday of February.

beerschotfan