The Sülte Waregem Football Club, playing in the Belgian Jupiler League, was created as a result of the merger of two teams from neighboring cities. Over its 16-year history, “Zyulte-Waregem” managed to become the winner in the Cup of the country twice. Also, the Flanders team regularly participates in European competitions, and quite successfully.
Club "Zyulte" before unification
In the 13 thousandth Belgian town of Sylt, the football club of the same name was founded in 1950. Due to the small population, a real professional team simply could not have arisen here. The maximum result of the local club is the fourth position in the third Belgian division.
In 2001, it was decided to unite with the team of “SWR Waregem” from a neighboring city.
History of Waregem as a separate team
In the city of Waregem, whose population is about 40 thousand inhabitants, the first football club was founded back in 1925. Initially, “Waregem Sportif” (this was the first name of the team) participated in regional tournaments. In 1951, after renaming to “SV Waregem”, the club received the status of “royal”.
In 1963, the team made it to the Second Division of Belgium, and three years later - into the elite league. Her club from Waregem left only twice - in 1972 and 1994, but after a season he returned to the top division. In 1996, after another flight to the second division, he had to wait seven years.
Unfortunately, in its entire history, the team has never been able to become the winner or prize winner of the domestic championship. The best result was fourth places in 1968, 1985 and 1993.
In 1974, “SV Waregem” sensationally won the Belgian Cup, 8 years later lost in the final, but won the match in the Belgian Super Cup.
Quite successfully, the Flanders team played in the international arena. For the first time, Waregem took part in the Fairs Cup in the 1968/69 season. In the first round, the Belgian club sensationally passed “Atletico” from Madrid, but in the next stage lost to the Polish “Legia”.
The most successful for Waregem was the 1985/86 season. In the UEFA Cup, the Belgian club in turn outplayed the Danish Aarhus, the Spanish Osasuna, the Italian Milan and the Croatian Hajduk. Only in the semi-finals did he lose to the German “Cologne”.
In 1999, Waregem dropped into the third division of Belgium. Due to serious financial problems, it was decided to merge with Sylte.
The new history of the club "Sylte Waregem"
After the merger, the newly created football team began to rapidly gain momentum in the Belgian championships. In the first season, FC Zyulte-Waregem became the champion of the Third Division.
Three years later, the club from West Flanders returned to the elite Jupiler League. In the first season, the rookie managed to win the Belgian Cup. In the final game against Muskron, Sülte Waregem player Tim Mattis scored in time added by the referee, wresting a 2-1 win for his team.
In the 2012/13 season, the club first became the silver medalist of the Jupiler League, losing only to Anderlecht in the race for the championship title. In 2017, Zyulte-Waregem won the Cup of the country for the second time.
In 2006, the Belgian club after a long break took part in European competition. Already in the first round of the UEFA Cup “Zyulte-Waregem” sensationally passed the Moscow “Lokomotiv”. In the group stage, he became the third and went to 1/16 of the tournament, where he was stopped by the English “Newcastle United”.
In 2013, the historical debut of the vice-champion of Belgium “Sylte-Waregem” in the Champions League took place. Unfortunately, in the third qualifying round, the team lost to the Dutch PSV and flew to the Europa League. But here, the Flanders club could not pass the group stage.
In the 2017/18 season, the holder of the Belgian Cup directly got into the Europa League. In the group selection, he will be confronted by “Nice”, “Lazio” and “Vitesse”.
Club stadium
Despite the fact that the main office of the Zyulte-Waregem football club is located in Sylt, the team spends all home matches at the Regenbogstadion (Rainbow Stadium) arena in Waregem.
It was built back in 1957 near the city pond. In 2008, a complete reconstruction of the arena was carried out, during which four new stands were built. A new sports complex and a shopping center have also appeared here. The main entrance to the arena passes through the pond along a bridge resembling the entrance to a medieval castle. Almost all sub-tribune premises were leased to commercial organizations.
In 2017, after combining the four stands into one round, the capacity of the stadium is 12,300 seats.