KV Mechelen

KV Mechelen is a traditional Belgian club that lived its peak in the late 1980s, when it won the most important European title in its history, the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.

History

Founded in 1904 in the city of Mechelen (Malines), the club spent most of its history competing in the main divisions of Belgian football, becoming a traditional name despite representing a medium-sized city. The club's golden period came in the 1980s, under the command of coach Aad de Mos. In 1987, KV Mechelen won the Belgian Cup and, in the following season, surprised the continent by winning the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1988, defeating Ajax in the final held in Strasbourg. Still in 1988, the club won the European Super Cup against PSV Eindhoven, consolidating the best moment in its history. The club was also Belgian Championship champion in 1943 and 1946, at the time under the name Football Club Malinois. After a period of financial difficulties in the following decades, which took them to lower divisions, KV Mechelen rose again and returned to the elite of Belgian football, keeping alive the tradition of the supporters known as Malinwa.