The financial year was closed with a record growth in turnover and profit. The growth model has certainly proved its worth, and never before has so much ’shareholder value’ been created as in 2007.

A dividend has been distributed which is 3.4 times bigger than that of 2006. Investors therefore receive a dividend, in 1 year, of 164.8% of their investment in 2002, an enormous achievement.

Wadi Degla is confident that this positive trend shall continue with their worldwide projects and uniquely modelled football division.

On Saturday evening the match between Wadi Degla and Sokar El Hawamdya took place in Cairo, second vs first respectively in the Second Division.

Wadi Degla won the game 2-0.

This brings the title race to an extraordinarily tense stage, as Wadi Degla close to within 1 point of the leaders, with 4 games to go. Wadi Degla play the last match of the season at home on 3rd May, and are hoping that their rival slips up in the run in.

The whole team is in a winning mood and hope that with the support of all Lierse fans, our sister team can be crowned champions!

Our youth teams performed exceptionally well at last weekend’s Easter tournament, despite the bad weather and the especially muddy ground, which caused many postponed matches.

The tournaments of Itegem (17B), Lyra (U13A), Oosterzonen (U13B), Achel (U10A), Heist (U10A), RUSAS Schaerbeek and Begijnendijk were brilliantly won.

There were runner-up places for 9A in Herselt (lost against a team from Tessenderlo, from which the players were 2 years older) and for 9B in Cappellen.

There were also podium finishes for the U12B in Ranst, and for the U14A in Geel; only in Bonheiden did our girls somewhat slip up, and this after a good performance on Saturday in Herselt, where they had won all of their matches.

The most eye-catching results were booked by U13A in Lyra, where KV Mechelen were beaten 3-1 in the final. Teams such as Westerlo (1-0 win for our boys) and Willem II (also 1-0 win for our boys), Brussels, OHL and Lyra found themselves as also-rans. Furthermore according to the jury, we had the best player in our ranks. Well done boys!

The competition in RUSAS was stronger still, with among others Lille (3-1 win in the final for our boys), Roeselare (1-0 win for our boys in the semi-final), Anderlecht, Standard, KV Mechelen, Mons, Charleroi and other Belgian top teams. Present from outside Belgium were Lille, Nantes, PSG, Monaco, Cologne, Metz, Schalke 04 and Montreuil. All of these teams were made to look on as Lierse went and collected the trophy. Here we had the best player and the second best keeper in our ranks according to the jury. A super congratulations to our U9.

Also a big thank you to all our entourage (trainers and helpers), who succeeded in bringing these tournaments to a good conclusion.

Yves Serneels will more than likely become the new youth co-ordinator of K.Lierse S.K.

He will succeed David Brocken, who some time ago gave up the function to go back to Norway. A verbal agreement has been reached with Yves. The definitive contract will be signed on Wednesday.

Yves Serneels was born on 16th October 1972.

He played for 10 years with Lierse, three years with Westerlo and one year with Denderleeuw.

In the 2003-04 season he began as player/trainer with 2nd division Dessel Sport, and was subsequently at 31 years of age, the youngest trainer in the 2nd division. He was also, until the end of last year, trainer of Berchem Sport.

Lierse Sporting Manager Neel De Ceulaer: “With Yves, the club has again acquired a Lierse boy. I’ve known Yves for years and I know only too well what he can mean for the club and more specifically for our youth. A true acquisition.”

On Tuesday morning former Lierse player Goran Miljanovic (b. 2/10/1956) passed away after a long illness.

Miljanovic came to Lierse in 1988 aged 31 via Sloboda Tuzia (1978-88). He played 26 League matches and 1 Cup match for Lierse, and scored 2 goals. Due to injury, he didn’t feature in his 2nd season on the Lisp. The midfielder also played 15 times for the Yugoslavian national team.

Goran later played for FC Herentals and AC Olen. He was also trainer of FC Herentals, and also of SKS Herentals and Netegalm. The Slavian Belgian was also captain and trainer of  ZVC Breitex. Goran settled in Belgium with his wife Dragica and 2 sons, Nenad and Milan.

The Board of Lierse SK offers its deepest sympathy to family and friends of Goran, and wishes them much strength in this difficult period.

Ex-Lierse figurehead Frans Vermeyen was born on the 25th March 1943. He played his first match for Lierse vs Gent on 6th September 1959 after transferring from HIH Turnhout. He scored in each of his first three matches for Lierse, and is still one of the youngest players to debut for Lierse. In his rookie season, he won the Title with Lierse (4 goals in 8 matches), whereby Lierse qualified for European football for the first time. Lierse losing to Barcelona.

Frans was selected for the Belgium national team, and made his debut away to Spain on 1st December 1963 (2-1 win). He was part of a strong squad with Nicolay, Devrindt, Trappeniers, Puis, Semmeling, Van Himst and Lierse teammate Robert Willems. He was third that year in the ‘Golden Boot’ awards.

The blond striker was a key player in the Cup winning Lierse side of 1969, scoring 3 times.

He was part of the fantatstic UEFA Cup run of Lierse in the ‘71-’72 season, which saw Lierse knock out Leeds Utd, Rosenborg and PSV, before losing to AC Milan in the quarter-finals. By winning against Leeds Utd at Elland Road, Lierse became the first Belgian team to win on English soil.

In the summer of ‘73 Frans moved to Antwerp FC, where they were League runners-up in his first season.

Frans Vermeyen played 366 league matches in 16 seasons in the First Division. He was regarded as the leader of the team with a clear match vision, precision passing, and a perfect kicking technique. He amassed 6 caps and scored twice against France (3-0). He played 29 Cup matches, and 14 European matches (5 goals).

Frans is still heavily involved with Lierse. He follows all Lierse matches, and is regularly to be seen at training. The board and the webteam via this tribute wish Frans a happy 65th birthday, and many more years as a faithful and dedicate Lierseman!

Lierse is investigating the possibility of a collaboration agreement with English club Arsenal.

Maged Samy: ” There has been a strong link between Arsenal and Wadi Degla FC for 5 years. In Wadi Degla we have an Arsenal Soccer School, where hundreds of young players have been coached by Arsenal coaches, and Egyptian trainers. The representative of this Soccer School, Jean-Marc Guillou, is a good friend of Arsenal coach Arsène Wenger. We want to extend the strong connection between Wadi Degla & Arsenal to Lierse. We’ve already made initial contact with Arsenal, and agreed to meet in May, either in London or in Lier. Our request will be to place a few B-team players from Arsenal with Lierse.

This collaboration is still in its infancy, but we hope by the end of the season to give more detail.”

On Monday evening, Lierse chairman Leo Theyskens and academy representative Vincent Dufour gave a press conference to announce the launch of a new Jean-Marc Guillou Academy in Belgium. The JMG Academies are famous worldwide for their outstanding training of young players, a few successful examples of famous ex-academy players are Yaya Touré (Barcelona), Salomon Kalou (Chelsea) and Eboué (Arsenal). The Belgian branch of the Academy will launch on 1st September, godfather of the academy will be Aruna Dindane. There is a planned budget of 15 million Euro.

Leo Theyskens: “We are delighted to announce the opening of a new school in Belgium. The JMG Academy is the ideal partner for this project. They have been in existence since 1994, and have 8 academies worldwide, from where a lot of talent has come. This Academy is made up of Lierse youth, who will be able to profit from the infrastructure.”

The idea is that the the new Academy will be in the Lier area.

Theyskens: “There has been no decision made on the location. Within the next fortnight a definite answer must be forthcoming. A suitable site isn’t obvious, given the various demands. It’ll be a somewhat special infrastructure, with among other things, a covered sport hall with an artificial grass pitch. There will also be classrooms, restrooms, medical infrastructure etc.”

The Academy will be a boarding school, with a solid educational schooling.

Theyskens: “The players will be intensively coached. The emphasis will be on languages, PC training, and general subjects. The classes will consist of a maximum of 5 pupils, in order to get the maximum possible personal coaching. After 7 years the pupil will have developed into a fully fledged footballer and person.”

There is a budget foreseen of 15 million Euro. A serious investment, which will only recuperate its costs in the long term.

Theyskens: “Lierse wants to carry out an active transfer policy, and as a result invest in youth. The seeds will be sown now, to ‘harvest’ the results in 7 or 8 years’ time. After 7 years, Lierse will have the first pick from the Academy. The Academy will be self-supporting, and will cost the footballer and his family nothing. We’ve spoken with a number of sponsors, but the budget is near enough attainable.”

Lierse won 1-0 vs KVK Tienen tonight thanks to a goal from Yoni Buyens. Trainer Herman Helleputte saw a good Tienen: ” The visitors were the better side at the start of the match, and had the better chances. We gave them a bit too much space. As the match progressed we came into the game better, and the match was more even.”
After Buyens’ goal, the trainer (on his birthday) saw that his team made the better play: ” We had control until 20 mins before time when Tienen were dangerous. Luckily we could rely on an outstanding Van der Jeugt who kept us afloat a few times and the bar saved us once. We had chances for a second goal but the last pass wasn’t good enough.”

Helleputte cited mitigating circumstances:  “Despite injuries and suspensions, we had to do without some important key ball-holding players. That meant that Jurgen Cavens found himself playing in a strange position. At the start of the match he had to find his feet a bit, but Jurgen did exceptionally well in the
end.”

The Lierse trainer isn’t thinking too much about the play-offs: ” We take each game as it comes, but if we keep winning everything is possible. At a certain point we’ll make an evaluation and see where we stand and what’s still possible.”

Via these links you can watch the highlights of the game (1st and 2nd half).
Pictures of the Match/Players.
Pictures of the Supporters.

A sloppy start to the first half, in which Tienen especially threatened on the left flank. Lierse began to slowly  counter, and that went hand-in-hand with some chances. After 20 mins, Ventose & Janssens cleared the way for the super in-form Buyens, who shot high into the net - 1-0. Same pattern of play up until the break.
After the break, equal possession for both teams, in which Tienen came closest to scoring. A very strong Van der Jeugt and the crossbar kept the visitors from equalising. Lierse also came close to doubling their lead, but each time the move broke down by the last pass going astray. The Pallieters held onto their lead, and won 1-0.

K. Lierse S.K. : Van der Jeugt Sven, Vleminckx Tim, Janssens Chris, Buyens Yoni, Bueno de Castro Ernandes (’76 Omar), Cavens Jurgen, Frans Frederic, Vanderzijl Jerôme, Jarju Mustapha (’91 Meyers), Ventose Dries (’82 Develer), Samir Ahmed
KVK Tienen: Schuermans Ronny, Geebelen Christophe, Vanhees Bart, Bogaerts Jonas, Vandeput Sven, Belme Mathieu, Konon Ernest, Triantafallidis David, Lacroix Michel, De Silva Mike (65′ De Pauw), Lunenburg Benny 
Reserven KVK Tienen: Morreel Bernard, Bayock Thierry, Radovanovic Igor en De Pauw Steven
Goal:  1-0 Buyens (19′)
Yellow Cards: 58′ Bogaerts, 89′ Janssens