Origins In 1895,
Ernest Grisar acquired a racecourse with its buildings and annexes near the "Beerschothof" park in Kiel, in the south of Antwerp, which consisted of a 19-hectare plot of land with stables, changing rooms, chalet, and a grandstand. Four years later, his son
Alfred, seeing the place and its facilities, suggested the idea of creating a multi-sports club where they could practice
field hockey, polo,
cricket, rugby,
tennis,
athletics and, of course, football. Following Ernest's approval, Alfred founded the Beerschot Athletic Club in the colors of purple and white on 3 September 1899, doing so with the help of his friends
Max Elsen, Edouard Lysen, Charles Hunter, and Paul Müller. Ernest died a few weeks later in November, so his son then became the owner of the facilities and the club that he had named Beerschot, in reference to a nearby wooded park called "Beerschotshof". The young Grisar sought advice for his start in management and surrounded himself with friends to help him, giving each of them a sports section to manage, but choosing his favorite sport for himself, football, whose section was started in February 1900, and then officially registered in July of that year. Following this defeat, the majority of the Antwerp players left the club and joined the newly founded Beerschot AC under the chairmanship of Max Elsen and later in the season
Paul Havenith. There were so many that Antwerp was unable to continue in the highest division and withdrew temporarily from the league; this episode was the catalyst for the rivalry between the two sides. Their runner-up finish in 1901 allowed them to compete in the 1901 edition of the
Challenge International du Nord in
Tourcoing, where the club won its first-ever piece of silverware after beating
Standard Athletic Club 4–3 in the semifinals, and then
Léopold Club de Bruxelles 2–0 in the final on 12 May. In early 1901, Beerschot AC was the driving force behind what is now considered the
first-ever (unofficial) match between the national teams of
Belgium and the Netherlands, which was held in the club's field on 28 April. The two sides contested the so-called
Coupe Vanden Abeele, which was offered by Beerschot's secretary Frédéric Vanden Abeele, and the game was refereed by Charles Maggee.
The Golden Age Having returned to the Highest Division in 1907, Beerschot did not leave it again until the end of the 1980–81 season for a total of 73 years and 66 consecutive seasons in the highest Belgian division. Until the 1920s, the club remained in the soft underbelly of the rankings, always between 4th and 7th place out of 14 teams. The 1920s and 1930s saw the peak of Antwerp football, with Beerschot (7), Antwerp (2), and Lierse (1) winning a total of 10 titles and numerous top-three finishes (only
Royale Union Saint-Gilloise managed to hinder this hegemony). Having become a "Royal Society" in 1925, the club took the name K. Beerschot AC and became champion again in 1928, and then won the two championships before the
Second World War. In between, the club had to do without its star player Raymond Braine. He was suspended by the federation for "acts of professionalism". The player went into exile with Slavia Prague in Czechoslovakia. After this, Beerschot never again topped the national laurels. In the 1950s, however, it counted among its ranks the first golden shoe of Belgian football:
Rik Coppens. In 1968, like many other Flemish circles, Beerschot opted for the Dutch-speaking form of its name and became the
Koninklijke Beerschot Voetbal en Atletiek Vereniging (or K. Beerschot VAV).
Recent years and new name In 1987, the Belgian tax authorities, claiming back taxes, blocked the 40 million francs from the transfer of Patrick Vervoort to Anderlecht. Three years later, Beerschot underwent a tax adjustment after an audit revealed enormities (forgery, tax fraud, failure to declare VAT). Last and relegated in 1990-91, Beerschot was sent back to Division 3 due to its financial situation. After many financial problems over the years, the club was forced to retire from competition and was dissolved in 1999, thus disappearing after 99 years and 9 months of existence. Shortly after,
K.F.C. Germinal Ekeren moved from
Ekeren in the north of Antwerp to the south in order to install at the "Kiel". The club changed its name and became
Germinal Beerschot, before the name was changed again in 2011 to
Beerschot AC. In 2013, Beerschot AC went bankrupt and dissolved. A new team emerged:
K Beerschot VA. ==Naming history==