Next season will (finally!) mark the return of one of Belgium's most iconic clubs to the top flight: Royal Union Saint-Gilloise, or just Union SG
Yesterday they clinched the 2nd division title with 5 games to spare, they have a 20 point lead after winning 19 of their 23 games so far.
Union were founded 123 years ago and are one of the oldest clubs of the country. They were the most dominant team pre-World War II when they won a total of 11 championships, that still ranks as 2nd all time behind Anderlecht and Club Brugge. Even to this day they still hold some noticeable records, the most important one their 60-game unbeaten streak from 1933 to 1935. Their last decent spell came in the late 1950's when they managed to reach the semi final of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (which would later transition into the UEFA Cup) after beating Leipzig and Roma, then in the 1960's they kinda bounced around between the 1st and 2nd division, and in 1973 they went down for good. So it's been 48 years of misery, they mostly played in the 3rd division with even some 4th division years too.
A couple of years ago they were purchased by the Brighton & Hove owner and they've been steadily on the rise since then. Two years ago they had a great cup run, eliminating both Anderlecht and Genk and reaching the semi final. And now they finally achieved promotion.
Their promotion will also bring back a long lost derby. Union are located at the heart of Brussels and are true club of the Brussels people, rich or poor, working man or higher class, Dutch or French speaking, it doesn't matter. Anderlecht's more of a 'national' club with fans flocking in from everywhere, Union doesn't have that. What they do have, besides being one of Belgium's oldest clubs, is also one of the country's oldest stadiums. They have been playing in the same stadium since 1920(!), back then it had a capacity of up to 35.000 and it even hosted 3 games at the 1920 Olympics. It is one of the last true residential area stadiums, the kind you still see a lot in London or Buenos Aires. The art deco style contructed grandstand is still one of a kind and is listed as cultural heritage in Belgium.
The outside may look beautiful however they've got their work cut out for them regarding infrastructure. About 80% of the stands aren't covered, there are no business seats, no VIP room, it's truly a stadium where time's been standing still since the 60's
That may sound great for nostalgic people among us fans who want to go back in time and have an old school 'away trip' experience but looking at the future for Union they will need serious investments or their stay in the 1st division will be short lived once again. And that would be a damn shame after all those years in purgatory. To be continued!