Thursday 29 June 2023 | by Patrick Vincent | adapted translation ASC UK

Last Wednesday coach Mark van Bommel returned on the training field with his men and, later this summer he hopes to reach the Champions League group stage for the first time since 1957 with RAFC. But, in the meantime Royal Antwerp Football Club is seeing love and support from all over the world: Recently, Lennart van Walsum founded the first British supporters club of the Great Old in London.

Due to his career path, Lennart has left Belgium since 2006 and, whilst having lived in several countries, he is now settled in London for almost seven years. He leads a busy life in the southwest of Greater London, focusing on his job and family. But there has always been time for his greatest passion: Royal Antwerp Football Club.

“I come from a genuine red-and-white family,” says the 51-year-old Antwerp-born, on the phone from across the Channel. “I’m born just a stones throw away from the Antwerp stadium, my father went through the youth series of Antwerp and an uncle on my mother’s side – Gino Tomadini – was a player for the first team for a while in the early 1970s. My grandparents, who lived close to the stadium, took me to the matches even as a small toddler, and as I got older I joined all home and away games. It was an unforgettable time, actively watching the club in its previous glory days in the 80’ies and 90’ies. If there was a game, in Belgium or Europe, I would be there.”

What’s missing? Being relocated professionally, Lennart moved to several countries, such as Germany, Italy, Brazil, the United States, and since 2016: the United Kingdom. Being a football-passionate he attended matches in some of the most iconic football stadiums in the world. But even though the atmosphere was ecstatic, there was always ‘a sense of incompleteness’ he says. “The Antwerp crowd is known for its passionate and never ending support, so despite how big or famous the team was, it would never be the same experience as an Antwerp match. Even the crazy atmosphere in Estadio Morumbi, where I saw Sao Paulo become champion of Brazil, could not match my years at the famed ‘Tribune 2’ of the Bosuil Stadium.”

In the early years of his expat career, he continued to follow his favourite team via the website of Gazet van Antwerpen, or via the online broadcasts of Radio 1. Today, much to Lennart’s satisfaction, modern technology with live streams brought by Eleven, provide all games as a pay-per-view anywhere abroad.

Despite being already 7 years in the United Kingdom Lennart stays close to “den Antwerp”

But, he felt he had a more important responsibility: Lennart wanted to share his passion with like-minded people in the UK, and took the initiative to set up the Antwerp Supporters Club United Kingdom. “I want to give the people here the opportunity to join the Antwerp community, not just the Belgian expats, but especially the English football fans. Also to honour the original founders – English students residing in Antwerp around the early 1880’ies. I have already contacted supporters clubs of London teams and Manchester United (where many fans still get a warm feeling when they hear the name Antwerp), to see if there are supporters who would like to join our newborn Supporters Club.” Editor’s note: RAFC had a partnership with Manchester United from the late 1990s until 2009.

Huge respect. Lennart says that Royal Antwerp is a well-known club in the country. “At the end of the last century, the club built a name that has also stuck with football fans here. And many English fans also know the club from the friendly matches that the Great Old played here every year in preparation for the season. The many YouTube videos of Antwerp fans chanting during those matches are still widely shared. There is only respect for how they crossed the Channel en masse to support our team here with relentless passion.”

Moreover, the excitement of the recent Belgian football season has also left a deep impression in the United Kingdom. “Many friends and colleagues mentioned the ecstatic ending of last season” says Lennart. “It was not only spectacular, but then also the fact that it was Toby Alderweireld who scored the decisive goal – that gave Antwerp the double – means a lot here, as Toby is a household name for many English football fans. Many Londoners still call him ‘one of us’.”

The development of ASC UK is ongoing. The Supporters Club House is set up in Hersham, in the ‘Watermans Arms, where club-members gather and watch games together. The next step is to contact the FASC (the umbrella organisation for Antwerp supporters clubs), with the request to make ASC UK an official supporters club. “If that works out, it may also become easier to get tickets for matches in order for our supporters to attend, like a Champions League match in the United Kingdom, for example.”

The Supporters Club House – Watermans Arms, is located in Hersham, South West Greater London

Gazet Van Antwerpen / Original Print Article / Original Digital Article (behind paywall)