Royal Antwerp: How Belgium's oldest club went from being 'dead and buried' to the Champions League

Toby Alderweireld's 94th-minute goal in Royal Antwerp's play-off against Genk clinched the 2022-23 Belgian league title

When Royal Antwerp host their first-ever Champions League match against Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday evening, fans watching on television - and unaware of the Belgian club's recent history - may get a bit of a shock.

While most of the Bosuilstadion has been redeveloped into one of the country's finest sporting arenas, the stand facing the TV cameras will be empty due to a Uefa edict stating it is unsafe for fans.

Disagreements between Antwerp owner Paul Gheysens and Tania Mintjens, owner of the land the stadium is built on, has also slowed progress.

Mintjens wants Gheysens to cede more power to the fans in the way the club is run.

It demonstrates how rapid the rise of Antwerp has been - so quick that even the stadium cannot keep up.

Six years ago, Royal Antwerp - the oldest professional football club in Belgium, founded in 1880 and nicknamed 'The Great Old' - were languishing in the second tier.

Last season, they earned a first league championship since 1957 in the most dramatic of circumstances, thanks to a 94th-minute equaliser from former Tottenham defender Toby Alderweireld in the final game, a 2-2 draw at title rivals Genk.

Antwerp finished one point clear of Genk and Union Saint-Gilloise, who missed out with a 3-1 loss to Club Brugge.

"It was unreal - there is not a word in any language to describe what it means for them," Belgian football journalist Jan Willem Spaans told BBC Sport. "That Alderweireld goal, Belgium has never seen anything like that.

"I went through Antwerp the next day on the train and it was a mess - people in red and white scarves who looked like they hadn't been to bed, or were out celebrating early again. The parties continued for a week."

It earned Antwerp passage into Europe's elite club competition for the first time. While they got a reality check with a 5-0 defeat at Barcelona in their opening Group H match, the good feeling has not worn off yet.

The club was taken over in 2017 by real estate entrepreneur Gheysens, who has invested millions into Antwerp. It has allowed them to sign household names such as Alderweireld, plus another ex-Spurs player in striker Vincent Janssen.

Former Belgium international Radja Nainggolan also played for the club, while they are managed by Mark van Bommel, previously a midfield destroyer for Barcelona, Bayern Munich and the Netherlands.

'Disappointingly little has been said about Overmars controversy'

Former Dutch international Marc Overmars was named Royal Antwerp's director of football in March 2022

"Since 2017, there has been an absolute revival," Lennart van Walsum, president of Antwerp Supporters Club UK and lifelong fan who claims he has "red and white blood", tells BBC Sport. "The Geysens woke a sleeping giant.

"They have invested in the right people at the right time. You can see that in the coaches hired, in the technical staff, the marketing, the youth teams.

"Last season was legendary, almost our most successful season in 150 years. It was an iconic goal from Alderweireld - 93 minutes and 33 seconds. That 93:33 is like a brand now for Antwerp, you see it on merchandise."

Antwerp may be an awakening giant, but it is not a complete fairytale. As well as owing a lot to Gheysens' deep pockets, the club courted controversy by appointing Marc Overmars as sporting director in 2022.

While the ex-Arsenal and Barcelona star brings great nous and connections, Overmars joined Antwerp having left his former post at Ajax in disgrace after sending inappropriate messages to female colleagues.

"People like to portray it as a fairytale, but the chairman has invested 100m euros (£86.8m) - for Belgium an incredible amount," says Spaans.

"But they have invested well. In spring 2022, they appointed Overmars. He left Ajax in not the prettiest way, but on sporting merits it has been a massive success.

"I think disappointingly little has been said or done about it [Overmars' behaviour at Ajax], maybe a couple of opinion pieces, but after a couple of days the storm died down."

"I cannot comment on anything at Ajax, but it is clear that for Antwerp, the opportunity to sign Overmars was a milestone," admits van Walsum.

Those connections led to signings which have catapulted Antwerp into the Champions League, yet the club have not splurged on major signings or spent big money.

Their most expensive purchase last summer was Nigerian striker George Ilenikhena from Amiens for 6m euros (£5.2m) - half of what they got when they sold left-back Gaston Avila to Ajax.

Van Bommel positive after past grumbles

Royal Antwerp fans saw their club win the league for the first time in 66 years last season

Aged 51, the Antwerp-born Van Walsum has seen the best and worst of the club's fortunes and says it is down to the character of both the club and the city.

"I don't think Antwerp is built around one particular player or star," he adds. "Antwerp is a very energetic place, authentic and raw. It is a city disliked by many outside it, but embraced by those within.

"Historically, the football club embodies that - the authentic rawness, work hard and play hard, no nonsense. It's not about being sophisticated but being unfiltered. That's why Alderweireld and van Bommel are successful here."

For van Bommel, his success at Antwerp has got the 2010 World Cup finalist's managerial career back on track after spells at PSV Eindhoven and Wolfsburg went sour.

"He had a knack of growing negative at previous clubs, he would grumble and grumble," says Spaans. "He has matured out of that it seems.

"At PSV, if they would draw or lose, he would sulk. He fell out with team staff, argued with the bus driver if he was five minutes late. At Wolfsburg it was quite similar.

"When he won his first nine league games with Antwerp last season, people were wondering when they would have a blip and van Bommel would start moaning - but they never looked back."

That success is reward for one of the loudest and most passionate fanbases in Belgium who, if they have followed Antwerp since the turn of the millennium, have witnessed relegation, 13 years in the second tier and their club nearly going extinct.

'Almost dead and buried, but fans stayed loyal'

Royal Antwerp's Champions League debut saw them heavily beaten by Barcelona at the Olympic Stadium

"For a few years it was bumpy, the management didn't follow modern football," recalls van Walsum. "We were nearly bankrupt twice, the stadium almost fell apart. During those gloomy years, the Antwerp spirit continued to shine through.

"The Belgian second division is not like the Championship. You don't usually have more than a few hundred fans at matches, but Antwerp fans continued to turn up in their thousands at tiny stadiums.

"It is easy to be a positive supporter in the last couple of years, but plenty supported when we were almost dead and buried."

After all that, a 5-0 Champions League defeat doesn't seem too bad - although Shakhtar at home is surely a must-win if they are to make anything of their maiden campaign.

"We didn't play badly in that game, but for the first 23 minutes Barca were 100% efficient," says van Walsum on a match where the La Liga champions were 3-0 up halfway through the first period.

"We have lost 5-0 to teams in Belgium, it happens. The future is bright, so the next game can be better."

Spaans added: "As soon as the draw came out, even Antwerp fans knew Barca would be a tough away day. In reality it could have been seven or eight. Now they have to get points off the others, especially Shakhtar.

"If they can't beat Shakhtar at home, it would conclude the Champions League is a wee bit beyond them.

"But they have come a long way. Their first game back [in the Belgian top flight in 2017-18] was at home to Anderlecht - they didn't have an executive box, the away side had to get ready in a shed.

"Now the facilities are second to none in Belgian football. Except the one stand."