Temse Before the
Second World War, the town of
Temse was home to two official football clubs:
Racing Temsche (matricule 807), founded in 1908 and playing in blue and yellow, later renamed FC Temsica; and
Temsche SK (matricule 501), founded in 1924 and wearing red and white. The latter was the more successful of the two, spending six seasons in the
Belgian Third Division during the 1930s. In 1945, the two clubs merged to form
KSV Temse (matricule 4297), adopting blue and white as club colours. The newly formed side competed in the
Belgian Provincial Leagues, where it remained for much of its history. In the 21st century, the club began to ascend the league system, reaching the
Belgian Fourth Division in 2003 and earning promotion to the Third Division in 2009. After league restructuring, it settled into the
Belgian Second Amateur Division, the fourth tier of Belgian football.
Lokeren Matricule 282 was first assigned in
1920 to
Football Club Racing Club Lokeren, nicknamed Racing FC, though the club ceased operations the following year. A new club,
Racing Club Lokeren, was established on 22 January 1923. Between 1945 and 1951, it briefly operated as
Racing Athletiek- en Football Club Lokeren before adopting the name
Koninklijke Racing Club Lokeren. In 1970, due to financial difficulties, the club merged with city rivals
Koninklijke Standaard FC Lokeren to form
Koninklijke Sporting Club Lokeren (KSC Lokeren). The team enjoyed its greatest success in the late 1970s and early 1980s, including multiple appearances in the
UEFA Cup. The 1980–81 season marked a peak: Lokeren reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup, finished runners-up in the Belgian First Division, and reached the final of the
Belgian Cup, where they lost to
Standard Liège. While subsequent years brought fewer accolades, the club remained a fixture in the top flight—apart from a brief period in the mid-1990s—and regularly finished mid-table. In 2000, KSC Lokeren merged with
Koninklijke Sint-Niklaas SKE to form
Sporting Lokeren Sint-Niklaas Waasland. A further name change occurred in 2003, with the club rebranding as
K.S.C. Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen to reflect the broader provincial identity. Lokeren won the
Belgian Cup twice in the 2010s, lifting the trophy in both 2012 and 2014. The latter campaign also included a notable run in the UEFA Europa League, during which the club eliminated
Hull City to reach the group stage. In 2019, after nearly 25 years in the top division, Lokeren were relegated to the
First Division B. Later that year, a new ownership group led by Louis de Vries and Alexander Janssen took over the club.
Bankruptcy and merger In April 2020, during the ongoing
2019–20 season, Lokeren was declared bankrupt. With debts exceeding €5 million and unable to pay its staff and players, the club ceased operations and was dissolved. Shortly thereafter, a merger agreement was reached with
KSV Temse to form a new entity:
Sporting Club Lokeren-Temse (
S.C. Lokeren-Temse), which would retain Temse's matricule (4297) but relocate to Lokeren's stadium. The club continues under the matricule of Temse but relocated to the stadium of Lokeren. The new club began life in the
Belgian Division 2, the fourth national tier. In 2022–23, Lokeren-Temse won the Division 2 VV A title and earned promotion to the
Belgian National Division 1. A second successive promotion followed in 2023–24, after finishing as runners-up. With a professional license granted, the club was admitted to the
Challenger Pro League for the
2024–25 season. In 2025, the club changed its name to K.S.C. Lokeren. ==Current squad==