Royale Union Saint-Gilloise
Royale Union Saint-Gilloise
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Royale Union Saint-Gilloise

Royale Union Saint-Gilloise ([y.njɔ̃ sɛ̃.ʒil.waz] ), also known as Union Saint-Gilloise, Union SG, USG, or simply Union, is a Belgian professional football club from Brussels based in Forest. Founded in 1897 in the neighbouring Saint-Gilles, the club has played its home matches at the historic Joseph Marien Stadium since the 1920s. One of the most successful clubs in Belgian football history, Union won eleven national titles between 1904 and 1935, dominating the domestic game before World War II. From 1933 to 1935, they went 60 league matches unbeaten—a national record that still stands.

After a long decline that saw the club fall as low as the fourth tier, Union experienced a resurgence in the 2020s following a takeover by British businessman Tony Bloom, also chairman of Brighton & Hove Albion. In 2021, they returned to the Belgian Pro League after 48 years and finished top of the regular-season table in their first campaign back—a first for a newly promoted side. Though they narrowly missed out on the championship in 2022, 2023, and 2024, Union clinched their twelfth league title in 2025, ending a 90-year championship drought—one of the longest in European football.

Alongside their domestic revival, the club has re-established a presence in European competition. They reached the quarter-finals of the 2022–23 UEFA Europa League and have qualified for the UEFA Champions League league phase for the first time. Known for their loyal fan base, inclusive stadium culture, and progressive values, Union Saint-Gilloise has become one of Belgian football's most compelling modern success stories. In 2025 they broke the 30 year old record of Blackburn Rovers with the longest interval between two titles. Blackburn became champion in 1995 after 81 years waiting and Union broke the record by a landslide after 90 years of waiting between 1935 and 2025.

The club was founded in 1897 and obtained its first of eleven titles as Champion of Belgium in 1904. Their matricule is 10.

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 led by captain Jules Pappaert.

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.

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.

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