RFC Liège

[1] The club's registrations quickly increased, and the Liège team took its revenge against the Brussels FA on a new ground located in the gardens of the Château de Sclessin [nl], this time wearing red and blue jerseys in homage to the London-based English club Dulwich Hamlet.

[1] In 1895, Liège FC became an inaugural member of the Belgian Football Association as Football Club Liégeois (FC Liégeois), and the club won the subsequent inaugural national championship of Belgium in 1895–96, thus becoming first-ever Belgian Champion.

[3][4] Most of the members of that first squad were Belgian, such as Fernand Defalle, Lucien Londot, Ernest Moreau de Melen, Gérard Kleinermann, but also had Englishmen, such as Treharne Reeves, Samuel Hickson, who was the top scorer of the inaugural edition, and Harry Menzies, who was the son of the club's president Ronald Menzies.

[8] However, Liège FC eventually bowed to the superiority of the Brussels teams, which marked the beginning of the dark years since they were the first former Belgian champions to be relegated to the second division.

At the end of the 1980s, RFC Liège played in European competitions, facing such notable clubs as Benfica, Juventus, Rapid Vienna, Hibernian, Werder Bremen and Athletic Bilbao.

In 1995, the club faced bankruptcy when its stadium, Stade Vélodrome de Rocourt, was sold and demolished to build a movie theatre.

[2] Liège FC still is the only club that has played all its seasons (117 as of 2019–20) at a national level, versus county or local levels, having won a total of five First Division championships: 1896, 1898, 1899, 1952 and 1953, thus being the 6th most successful (active) Belgian club, only behind Beerschot (7), Standard (10), Union Saint-Gilloise (11), FC Bruges (13), and Anderlecht (31).

[2] In the 2022–23 season, RFC Liège confirmed promotion to Challenger Pro League from 2023–24 after draw 0–0 at Tienen on Matchweek 35.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply.

RFC Liège Club, the first Belgian Champion in 1896. Alfred Wahl , La balle au pied : Histoire du football (p. 53), " Découvertes Gallimard " collection (vol. 83).