KVC Westerlo – Standard Luik
The very last match of the 2024–2025 season is approaching. This year will be remembered as the season in which we proudly led the Jupiler Pro League for four matchdays. And as the season where our playing style was praised by everyone.
Attacking football, spiced with plenty of goals and a joy to watch. There were some lows, of course — but even the Champions League winner faces those at some point.
KVC Westerlo
This season, 33 different Kemphanen took to the field, with 13 of them playing at least half of the matches. Our three winter signings just missed that mark, with 19 appearances each in the Westerlo shirt.
Let’s take a closer look at these players with some fun facts:
- Andreas Jungdal: was born in Singapore.
- Bryan Reynolds: trained under José Mourinho at AS Roma in 2021.
- Emin Bayram: lives in the same apartment building as Thomas Van Den Keybus and Matija Frigan.
- Luka Vuskovic: his brilliant season earned him a first call-up to Croatia’s senior national team.
- Tuur Rommens: also delivered great acting performances — alongside Dogucan — for our social media this season.
- Dogucan Haspolat: our captain is a true team player who sets the right example every single day.
- Thomas Van Den Keybus: after a challenging start with substitute appearances, he earned his spot in the starting eleven on matchday 26 against Cercle Brugge and never looked back.
- Alfie Devine: was on the bench for Tottenham on Premier League matchday 3 vs Newcastle, before making the move to the Kempen.
- Griffin Yow: is in the preliminary squad of Team USA for the 2025 Gold Cup.
- Allayhar Sayyadmanesh: is always the last to sit down for lunch, as he receives extended treatment after training.
- Matija Frigan: played the most matches and scored the most goals for us this season.
- Roman Neustädter: the experienced veteran — a true professional with a top-class mentality!
- Arthur Piedfort: made his debut for Belgium U21 on March 12.
- Josimar Alcocer: also has a shot at the 2025 Gold Cup with Costa Rica, where he’s been a regular squad member since 2023.
- Isa Sakamoto: can also rap surprisingly well — he demonstrated this during a teambuilding session, hyping up the whole squad, even if it was in Japanese.
- Islam Slimani: so experienced that he’s seemingly immune to nerves, always maintaining a calm and natural presence.
Also worth noting: the battle for “Kemphaan of the Season” has been incredibly tight between two players, with daily shifts in the leaderboard.
And did you know? KVC Westerlo leads the way in goals scored from corner kicks — not just in Belgium, but compared to clubs in the top 10 UEFA leagues.
The gold medal is ours with 13 corner goals, followed by FC Twente (12), Galatasaray (11), Inter (11), Cercle Brugge (11), Arsenal (10), Tottenham (10), Athletic Bilbao (10), and Strasbourg (10).
Referee
Michiel Allaerts will officiate this match. It will be his 17th game of the season. He previously refereed our loss to Dender (1–0) in December.
This will be the first time he takes charge of a match at ’t Kuipje.
Text and statistics: Peter Boons
