Metadata: Royal Belgian Football Association
Collection
- Country:
- Belgium
- Holding institution:
- National Archives of Belgium
- Holding institution (official language):
- Archives Générales du Royaume
- Postal address:
- Ruisbroekstraat 2-6 / Rue de Ruysbroeck 2-6, 1000 Brussel
- Phone number:
- +32 (0)2 513 76 80
- Web address:
- http://www.arch.be/
- Email:
- archives.generales@arch.be
- Reference number:
- NAB-Brussels-510-2288
- Title:
- Royal Belgian Football Association
- Title (official language):
- Koninklijke Belgische Voetbalbond
- Creator/accumulator:
- Koninklijke Belgische Voetbalbond; Union Royale Belge des Sociétés de Football-Association
- Date(s):
- 1907/2005
- Extent:
- ca. 350 linear metres
- Scope and content:
- This fonds contains a number of series about football clubs. For FC Maccabi (registration number 201), we find index cards in the series of “red” (see box 22) and “white” (see box 11) player records (spelersfiches). They contain information on the players – surname, first name, date of birth, date of membership, transfers, etc. Similar information can be found in the series of records concerning affiliated referees (for KSC Maccabi, see box 1). For RAS Maccabi Bruxelles (registration number 6576) too we find similar archival material. These index cards cover the years starting from the date of affiliation of the club until ca. 1983-1984. We also mention the “CD” series, consisting of individual files related to the affiliation of clubs. They contain correspondence regarding membership of the KBVB, the statutes of the club, its bylaws, administration, players, membership fees, etc. Lastly, we point out the periodical Vie Sportive / Sportleven, preserved in its entirety from 1897 until 2004, in which one can find match reports, summaries of the meetings of the executive bodies of the KBVB, league results as well as various articles (see for example the issues from 1944-1945, regarding the policy of the KBVB during the Occupation).
- Administrative/biographical history:
- The Union Belge des Sociétés de Sports Athlétiques (UBSSA) was founded on 1 September 1895 by ten sporting clubs representing athletics, cricket, (association) football and cycling. In 1911 the first cup competition was organised for club teams. The UBSSA became an exclusive football federation in 1912 and changed its name to Union Belge des Sociétés de Football-Association (UBSFA); from 1913 the Dutch name Belgische Voetbalbond was also used. In 1920 the federation was granted the right to add ‘Royal’ to its name; it has been known since as the URBSFA/KBVB. The KBVB also played a role at the international level – including as founding member of the world football federation FIFA (1904) and the European football federation UEFA (1954). The first international game of the Belgian national team dates back to 1904. In the summer of 2000 the KBVB organised, together with the Dutch federation, the European Championship. The Heysel stadium disaster (1985), with 39 dead and hundreds injured, remains a black spot in the history of the Belgian federation. Over the years, football in Belgium continued to grow and professionalise. Standard de Liège declared itself a “professional club” as early as 1958. The rise of professional football was unstoppable: in the early 1970s there were 21 candidate-professional clubs, of which only 9 were selected (in 1973) for the professional championship (season 1974-1975). The involvement of women in the sport also continued: in 1971, 130 female soccer teams joined the KBVB. The popularity and professionalisation of football furthermore encompassed an important economic dimension – see for example the issues of transfers and broadcasting rights. The Belgian ‘communautarian’ fault line was also present in football. In 1930 the Vlaamse Voetbalbond was created as a protest against the French-speaking federation, but it disappeared after the Second World War. The Voetbalfederatie Vlaanderen, the Flemish section of the KBVB, was founded in 2008 and recognised in 2009. The Association des clubs de Football Francophones was created that same year and recognised in 2012. The magazine La Vie Sportive, established in 1897, is the official organ of the KBVB. A Dutch version is published since 1930, under the name Sportleven. (http://www.belgianfootball.be/nl/historiek-kbvb)
- Access points: locations:
- Brussels
- System of arrangement:
- The series regarding football clubs are arranged by the registration number of the clubs.
- Yerusha Network member:
- State Archives of Belgium
