History
Early glories
The club was founded in 1897 and obtained its first of eleven titles as Champion of Belgium in 1904. From 1933 to 1935 the team played 60 consecutive matches undefeated, setting a still unbeaten record in Belgium, winning three league titles in a row across that period under Jules Pappaert.[3][4]
With its first national title barely a few years after its foundation, Union quickly became a superpower and supplier to the Belgian team for the Olympic Games in 1920.
The 1935 success was the club's eleventh, a Belgian record that would not be broken until the emergence of Anderlecht in the 1960s. Seven of those titles came before the outbreak of World War One in 1914. In the early 1900s, Union also had a dominant spell in some of the very first "European" Cup competitions that took place, prior to officially sanctioned UEFA competitions.
Between 1958 and 1965, the club had a brief spell of European success, playing in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and reaching the semi-finals in the 1958–60 edition after a two-legged victory against A.S. Roma. In 1963, however, the club was relegated to the second division, and in 1980 even fell as low as the Belgian Promotion division, the fourth tier.
Lower division survival
In the sixties, Union began to struggle, bouncing between the First and Second Division several times. In 1973, the club dropped out of the First Division and would not return for 48 years. Two years later in 1975, would come another relegation to the Third Division for the first time.
Union bounced back to the Second Division after just one season, but an even bigger decline followed at the end of the 1970s, back-to-back relegations seeing Union fall from the Second Division to the Fourth in successive years.
The club rallied in the mid-80s to earn back-to-back promotions back up to the Second Division, claiming the Fourth Division crown in 1983 and the Third the following season. But no further progress could be made and Union would move between the second and third flights for close on the next four decades.
Promotion back to the Second Division in 2004 saw two subsequent seasons of battling against relegation, but the 2006–07 started brightly and promotion back to the First Division was a prospect until a poor climax to their campaign post-Christmas, leading to the sacking of coach Tshupula Kande, replaced by Alex Czerniatynski.
In May 2007, long-standing chairman Enrico Bove resigned along with several other members of the board of directors, and the club suffered another relegation to the Third Division. Bove returned as chairman in 2010 with the backing of new Italian sponsors, but Union’s prospects on the pitch continued to suffer, and in 2012–13, finished 17th out of 19 clubs in the Third Division B, inside the relegation zone. However, KVK Tienen were found guilty of making irregular payments and were automatically relegated to the Fourth Division, earning Union a reprieve via a play-off, which they won 1–0 against RFC de Liege. Union went on to finish a creditable third in the 2014–15 Belgian Third Division, but again would prosper from other clubs’ problems, as the top two of Cappellen and Sprimont Comblain Sport both passed up applying for a Second Division licence, so Union were promoted in their place.[5]
Revival and return to the First Division
On 21 May 2018, Tony Bloom, chairman of English Premier League side, Brighton & Hove Albion was confirmed as the majority shareholder.[6] Current Union chairman Alex Muzio was a co-investor with Tony Bloom in 2018. On 7 July 2023 Alex Muzio was confirmed as having become the majority owner of Union.[2]
Promoted from the third tier in 2015, Union quickly established themselves as a top-six side in Division 1B, without becoming a top-3 side. A change of coach in May 2018 saw Marc Grosjean replaced after three years of finishing 6th, 4th and 6th by Luka Elsner, with Union contesting at the top of Division 1B in 2018–19, which that season was divided into South American-style "opening" and "closing" competitions, framed in the "apertura and clausura" style seen in many countries in the Americas. The winner of each competition would qualify for the promotion play-off final, with automatic promotion being the incentive for a club to try and win both competitions.
Union were second behind Mechelen by six points in the Opening Tournament which concluded at Christmas, and regrouped to take third behind Beerschot Wilrijk in the Closing Tournament. Despite not reaching the final, Union's reward was to be given one of the three places allocated for Division 1B teams in Play-Offs 2, for the right to compete for a place in the UEFA Europa League. Placed in a group of six with every other opponent being from the top division, USG went unbeaten at home, beating Kortrijk, Waasland-Beveren and Cercle Brugge, drawing with Zulte Waregem and Excel Mouscron. Away wins over Kortrijk, Mouscron and Cercle put them in with a big chance of winning the group to qualify for the Play-Offs 2 Final, but losses away to Waasland-Beveren and Zulte Waregem saw them overtaken by Kortrijk right at the end. The Kerels finished on 24 points, Union 20.
With Elsner taking up a coaching job in France with Amiens SC, Thomas Christiansen was brought in as his replacement, with Union again falling marginally short in both the Opening and Closing Tournaments. However, there was to be no place in Play-Offs 2 this time, as these were abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic that saw the 2019–20 season end prematurely in March.
The summer of 2020 saw Felice Mazzu appointed as first-team coach, assisted by Karel Geraerts, with a number of interesting young talents signed from lower-division football both in Belgium and abroad, such as Dante Vanzeir, Deniz Undav, Christian Burgess, Teddy Teuma, and from Virton following that club's denial of a First Division B licence, goalkeeper Anthony Moris and Loïc Lapoussin.
On 13 March 2021, after defeating R.W.D. Molenbeek 2–1 at home, Union were promoted back to the Belgian First Division A. This marked its first appearance in the top flight since 1972. Due to restrictions at the time due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Union fans were not able to celebrate their promotion at the stadium.[7][8]
Title contenders and European football
2021–22: Top of regular season, Play-offs runner-ups
A sensational return to top-flight football after 48 years away saw a 3–1 opening-day win away to Brussels' traditional giants Anderlecht.[9] Union in their next match a week later hosted reigning champions Club Brugge on 1 August 2021 in their first home game in the top division since 1973, being edged out 1–0 through a late Eduard Sobol winner.
Union went top of the Pro League on 17 October 2021, passing previous leaders Eupen by virtue of a 4–1 win over Seraing, and would remain there until May. Due to the novelty of being crowned unofficial winter champions, Union were awarded a special trophy by the newspaper HLN.[10]
In a difficult January run against all of the previous season's top four, Union beat Anderlecht, Genk and Royal Antwerp, drawing 0–0 away to Club Brugge. By the end of the regular season, Union were top on 77 points, five ahead of Club Brugge, with Antwerp and Anderlecht also qualifying for the six rounds of play-offs, where the quartet would bring forward half of the regular season points into the play-offs. Hence, Union would resume on 39, Club 36, with Anderlecht and Antwerp both on 32.[9]
On 10 April 2022, during their first season back in the top flight in 48 years, Union Saint-Gilloise finished the regular season in first place after a draw against last place Beerschot. The match was abandoned after 83 minutes, after Beerschot fans threw flares onto the pitch. Union were later awarded three points due to forfeit. This was the first time that a newly promoted club finished top of the table in the history of the Belgian league.
Union started the play-offs strongly, beating Anderlecht 3–1 and thus becoming the first club ever to inflict three defeats on the Mauves in the same league season. A 0–0 draw away to Antwerp saw the lead over Club Brugge maintained at three points.
The title race swung in the direction of Bruges in back-to-back games between Union and Club, with the champions earning a tight 2–0 win in Brussels to draw level on points,[11] with Club going top under the "half-points" rule, as Union had needed their tally from the regular season rounded-up. Club Brugge won the midweek return 1–0 at the Jan Breydel through a rebounded own goal from goalkeeper Anthony Moris to take a three-point lead with two games to go. A late equaliser from Casper Nielsen was disallowed by VAR for offside.[12][13]
Club Brugge clinched the league crown in their next (and penultimate) game against Royal Antwerp,[14][15] despite Union beating Anderlecht for the fourth time in the season 2–0 at Lotto Park.[16][17] Eventually, Union finished four points down on Club in second place, with 46 points compared to Club's 50, historically qualifying Union for the UEFA Champions League.
League glory for Union would have seen them become the first newly-promoted side to win a top-20 European national league championship at the first attempt since Kaiserslautern's 1998 Bundesliga success.[18][19]
During their run for the title, coach Felice Mazzu gained a reputation for dancing in front of Union's fans post-match, cited as keeping a light atmosphere within the club and maintaining a close relationship with the Union fans.[20]
Union's runners-up spot qualified them for the UEFA Champions League qualifiers, sending them into European football for the first time since 1964-65, and their first UEFA competition after featuring in five editions of the Fairs Cup in the 1950s and 60s.[21]
After going into first place in October, Union were top for 200 consecutive days.
Having been voted Belgian Coach of the Year, Mazzu departed for cross-town rivals Anderlecht and was replaced by his assistant Karel Geraerts.[22][23][24] Anderlecht's move meant they had to pay Union compensation,[25] sparking ill-feeling between the two Brussels clubs,[26]
2022–23: European participation and title contestant
Despite an early exit from the UEFA Champions League at the hands of Rangers after a 2–0 "home" win at OH Leuven's Den Dreef stadium[27] and a 3–0 loss at Ibrox,[28] Union dropped into the UEFA Europa League and won their group, earning four victories from their six games against Union Berlin, Braga and Malmö.
A last-16 reunion with Union Berlin saw the Brussels club draw 3–3 away in Berlin, and win their "home" return 3–0 at Anderlecht's Lotto Park. The quarter-finals had them paired with another Bundesliga side in Bayer Leverkusen, who defeated them 5–2 on aggregate (1–1 away, 1–4 home).[29]
Domestically, Union continued their remarkable form from the season before, lying second heading into the final round of the Belgian Pro League regular season and reaching the Belgian Cup semi-finals, only to lose to Royal Antwerp on penalties.[30][31]
Union reached the final day of the title play-offs in second place on 46 points, with leaders Antwerp also on 46, top by virtue of finishing in first place at the end of the regular season. Third-placers Genk were a point behind on 45. Union would be champions if they won their game against Club Brugge, and Antwerp did not win theirs against Genk. No other scenario would crown Union as champions.
On the final matchday of the Play-offs, Union were leading 1–0 at home against Club Brugge in the 89th minute, and with Racing Genk leading Royal Antwerp 2–1 at the Cegeka Arena, Union were on the way to being champions, with the Pro League trophy being flown via helicopter to the Joseph Marien Stadium. However, three late goals from Club Brugge - two in stoppage-time - and a late Antwerp equaliser from Toby Alderweireld sent the crown Antwerp's way.[32][33][34][35] Union's second consecutive title-race collapse saw them drop to third place which qualified them to the Europa League play-off round.
2023-24: European adventure and title contention
Owing to a third place finish in the last season, Union entered in the playoff round of the Europa League. There, they faced FC Lugano and won, qualifying for the UEFA Europa League group stage for the second consecutive season. In the group, they were drawn with Liverpool, Toulouse FC and LASK. They would finish third in the group, but they secured some great results like their 2-1 win over Liverpool. In the UEFA Europa Conference League knockout round playoffs, they were drawn against Eintracht Frankfurt. The first leg finished 2-2, but they won the second leg in Frankfurt 2-1 to win 4-3 on aggregate and qualify for the round of 16 where they drew Fenerbahce.
Following their 2-0 away win over OH Leuven on March 2, 2024, Union mathematically became the regular season champions for the second time in three seasons, as they had an 8 point lead over city rivals R.S.C. Anderlecht with only two regular season matchdays to go.
