Oud-Heverlee Leuven

Oud-Heverlee Leuven (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈʌut ˈɦeː.vər.ˌleː ˈløː.və(n)]), also called OH Leuven or OHL, is a Belgian football club from the city of Leuven. It was created in 2002 from the merger of three clubs, F.C. Zwarte Duivels Oud-Heverlee, whose registration number it inherited, Daring Club Leuven, and Stade Leuven. The club's home ground is Den Dreef, located in Heverlee.

Not to be confused with Oud-Heverlee Leuven (women).

OHL
Full nameOud-Heverlee Leuven
Short nameOHL, OH Leuven
Founded2002
GroundStadium "Den Dreef",
Heverlee,
Leuven
Capacity10,020[1]
OwnerKing Power International Group
ChairmanAiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha
ManagerMarc Brys
LeagueBelgian First Division B
2018–19Belgian First Division B, 5th
WebsiteClub website

The club currently plays in the country's second level, Belgian First Division B. It has played four seasons at the first level, the last time being the 2015–16 season.

History

F.C. Zwarte Duivels Oud-Heverlee was founded in 1957, climbing out of the provincial leagues in 1996 and winning the Belgian Fourth Division title during the 1999–2000 season. Promoted to the Belgian Third Division they joined their Leuven neighbours Stade Leuven, founded in 1905, which had played over 30 seasons in the Belgian Second Division and one year in the First in the 1949–50 season. As of 2002, F.C. Zwarte Duivels Oud-Heverlee was in bad financial shape, moving up and down between third and fourth division since 1991.

In 2002, the city of Leuven decided that both Third division teams, Zwarte Duivels Oud-Heverlee and K. Stade Leuven, would merge also with the third club from Leuven, K. Daring Club Leuven, which was at that time playing at the fifth level of the league. Daring Club Leuven was founded in 1922, had played several seasons in the Belgian Second Division, and after being the leading club from the Leuven region between 1958 and 1964, had dropped down into the provincial leagues in 1979 and stayed there since. The new club took over the registration of Zwarte Duivels Oud-Heverlee, and started playing in the Belgian Third Division under the name Oud-Heverlee Leuven.

At the end of its first season, the club narrowly lost out on promotion, going down on penalty kicks to Eendracht Aalst in the Third division play-off final, after finishing 2nd in the 3rd division B, 5 points behind champions Tubize. After a 3rd place in the same division in season 2003–04, Oud-Heverlee Leuven finished 2nd once again in season 2004–05 and this time they did win the promotion play-off and entered the second division in the 2005–06 season. After two seasons finishing 6th and 5th, OH Leuven finished 3rd in the 2007–08 Belgian Second Division season with 61 points. This allowed them to take part in the promotion playoffs where the team finished as the bottom 4th after losing all six games to Tubize, Antwerp, and Lommel United.

Two seasons with the team finishing 9th and 14th were followed by a second division title on Sunday 24 April 2011, when Oud-Heverlee Leuven secured the 2010–11 2nd division championship and gained promotion to the First division for the season 2011–12, following a 2–2 draw at Antwerp. The team rounded off the season the following Sunday with a 2–0 home win against Lommel United, gathering a total of 73 points from 34 games and finishing 8 points ahead of 2nd placed Lommel United. Their promotion brought First division football to the city of Leuven for the first time since the 1949–50 season, when Stade Leuven had finished bottom of the league and were relegated.

OH Leuven secured its top flight status following a 0–0 draw at home against Lierse on 3 March 2012, marking the first time a team from the city of Leuven managed to remain at the highest level of Belgian football for more than a single season. In the 2013–14 season OH Leuven was relegated after losing the 2014 promotion/relegation play-offs. Although finishing 6th, the team was promoted next year via the 2015 promotion/relegation play-offs, but it was immediately relegated again after finishing last in the 2015–16 season.

In September 2016, OH Leuven were caught up in a scandal affecting football in England. In relation to allegations made against individuals within English football, OH Leuven chairman Jimmy Houtput was alleged to have offered up the club as a "conduit" to allow third-party companies to gain ownership of football players in England.[2] Houtput claimed he was "merely trying to obtain the identity of the possible investor(s) and would never take part in illegal activities to circumvent the third-party ownership", but subsequently resigned as OH Leuven chairman on 30 September.[3]

Later that season, with the club struggling financially, OH Leuven was taken over by the King Power International Group led by Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha who already owned Leicester City.[4]

In July 2018, OH Leuven reclaimed the registration number that originally belonged to Stade Leuven, to "reclaim the glorious past".[5]

On 27 October 2018, the club's chairman, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, died in a helicopter crash following Leicester City's home game against West Ham United.[6]

Evolution throughout the league


Green denotes the highest level of football in Belgium; yellow the second highest; red the third highest.

Stadium
Main article: Den Dreef
Den Dreef Stadium (before the expansions to the main stand (right) and construction of a same stand on the opposite side (left).)

Their stadium is called Stadion Den Dreef and is situated on Kardinaal Mercierlaan in the south Leuven suburb of Heverlee (not to be confused with 'Oud-Heverlee' in the club name, which is in fact a separate municipality). The entrance for visiting fans is on Tervuursevest.

Players

Current squad
For the women's team, see Oud-Heverlee Leuven (women).
As of 28 February 2020[7]

The symbol ¥ indicates a youngster mostly playing for the U23s, but who has appeared on the first team match sheet at least once during the season (possibly as unused substitute).

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
2 DF Jan Van den Bergh (on loan from Gent)
3 DF Derrick Tshimanga
4 DF Kenneth Schuermans
5 DF Pierre-Yves Ngawa
6 MF David Hubert
7 MF Yannick Aguemon
8 MF Tom Van Hyfte
9 FW Thomas Henry
10 MF Xavier Mercier
11 FW Yanis Mbombo
12 FW Stallone Limbombe
14 MF Kamal Sowah (on loan from Leicester City)
15 DF Dylan Ouédraogo
16 GK Darren Keet
17 MF Samy Kehli
18 MF Jo Gilis ¥
19 DF Frédéric Duplus
20 MF Isaac Asante ¥
No. Position Player
22 MF Olivier Myny
23 DF Sascha Kotysch
24 MF Tristan Borges
26 GK Laurent Henkinet
27 DF Jordy Gillekens
28 DF Toon Raemaekers ¥
29 MF Amîr Lemti ¥
30 FW Milan Tučić
31 DF Brent Laes ¥
32 FW Daan Vekemans ¥
33 MF Mathieu Maertens
36 DF Thierno Gaye ¥
38 GK Oregan Ravet ¥
39 FW Arthur Allemeersch ¥
43 FW Jérémy Perbet (on loan from Charleroi)
77 MF Yohan Croizet
99 MF Aboubakar Keita

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 GK Kawin Thamsatchanan (at Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo until 31 December 2020)
No. Position Player
— FW Sam Hendriks (at Cambuur until 30 June 2020)

Club staff

As of 17 June 2020[8][9]

Directors & Senior Management
RolePerson
Chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha
Vice chairman Apichet Srivaddhanaprabha
Director Susan Whelan
Director Jon Rudkin
Technical Director Wim De Corte
Chief Executive Officer Peter Willems
Chief Commercial Officer Filip Van Doorslaer
Head of Operations Marc Tordeur
First Team Management
RolePerson
First Team Head Coach Marc Brys
First Team Assistant Coach Issame Charaï
First Team Assistant Coach Joachim Mununga
Goalkeeping Coach Bram Verbist
Physical Coach Bart Van Lancker
Head of Fitness and Conditioning Matthias De Baerdemaeker
First Team Sports Scientist Bram Gielen
First Team Doctor Brahim Hacene
First Team Masseur Gilles Verstockt
Head Physiotherapist Sam Vanhumbeeck
Academy Manager Henk Mariman

Managers

Former players

For details on former players, see Category:Oud-Heverlee Leuven players.

Top goal scorers

The following list the top scorers for OH Leuven per season, counting only goals scored during official matches: league, cup and playoffs.

Player Goals Season
Thomas Henry162019–20
Frédéric Duplus and Mathieu Maertens72018–19
Yannick Aguemon132017–18
Esteban Casagolda82016–17
Yohan Croizet and Leandro Trossard92015–16
Jovan Kostovski142014–15
Bjorn Ruytinx112013–14
Ibou192012–13
Jordan Remacle162011–12
Hamdi Harbaoui282010–11
Cédric Bétrémieux132009–10
Frederik Vanderbiest92008–09
Toni Brogno and Bjorn Ruytinx162007–08
Toni Brogno142006–07
Samuel Remy142005–06
François Sterchele322004–05
Kristof De Voeght152003–04
Hans Goethuys122002–03

Internationals

The list below consists of current and former players of OH Leuven that have gained caps for their national team.

Flags indicate national teams they played for.
Only players obtaining first team caps are included, U21 or unofficial matches are not.

Footnotes
  1. Although Copa never played an official match for OH Leuven, he was part of the squad for the 2017–18 season and is hence counted as former OH Leuven player.

References
  1. King Power at Den Dreef Stadion (as of 30/03/2018)
  2. "Belgium football club offered itself as a conduit to help a fictitious investment firm get around third party ownership – against FA and Fifa rules". The Daily Telegraph. 29 September 2016. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  3. "Belgian football club chairman resigns after offering club as conduit for banned third party ownership scheme". The Daily Telegraph. 30 September 2016. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  4. "OH Leuven komt in Thaise handen: "Zo snel mogelijk weer naar 1e klasse A"" [OH Leuven comes in Thai hands: "As soon as possible back to 1st class A"] (in Dutch). Sporza. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  5. "OHL draagt voortaan stamnummer 18" [OHL now bears the number 18] (in Dutch). Radio 2. 18 July 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  6. "Leicester City owner among five dead in helicopter crash". BBC Sports. London. 29 October 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  7. "Team". OH Leuven. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  8. "A-Kern". OH Leuven. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
  9. "Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha wordt voorzitter Oud-Heverlee Leuven". OH Leuven. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
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