Theeratep Winothai is the new acquisition of K.Lierse S.K. He is generally considered as one of the biggest Asian talents. As you would suspect from his name, he originates from Thailand. He’s one of the biggest football stars in his country. He is a regular in the Thai national team and scores consistently.

Winothai was born on in Bangkok on 16th February 1985, and is 23 years old. When he was only fourteen he appeared for the U-17 national team during the World Championships in New Zealand. He went to England, where he played for the youth teams of Crystal Palace and Everton. He returned to Thailand four years ago, to sign for First Division side Tero Sasano. In 2003 the club were second in the Asian Champions League. Last season they finished third in the Thai Premier League. Winothai will always be famous for scoring a hat trick in the final of the South East Asian Games against Vietnam. As a result Thailand were Gold medal winners for the seventh successive time.

Hat tricks are seemingly his speciality, as he’s scored them already this year against China & Nepal. Up to now Winothai has scored fifteen goals for the Thai national team. That’s not gone unnoticed in the football world, because also Manchester City, owned by Thai businessman Thaksin Shinawatra, wanted Winothai in their ranks. But it’s Lierse who have him. Due to the Thai League still being in progress, Winothai cannot be at Lierse for the start of the 2008-09 season. He will come to Belgium in October, and be fully operational for January 2009.

On Lierse TV you can watch a ciompilation of Winothai: Long version - Short Version

On the first training day, the 9th of July, 2 players will come on a trial: de 21-year old Nigerian striker Eze Otorogu (Enyimba International FC), and a 24-yeard old Egytain right midfielder, Barakat Mahmoud Youssef Allam (Wadi Degla)

Just before the start of the season K.Lierse S.K will play a friendly on Thursday 7th August at 20.00 against the Spanish side Getafe CF.
Getafe (a province of Madrid) have played in the Spanish Primera division since 2004.
In the 2006-07 season the club surprisingly reached the the final of the Spanish Cup, the Copa del Rey.
They lost the away leg of the semi-final 5-2 to FC Barcelona.
But in the home leg Los Azulones dominated the match and eventually won 4-0.
As a result Getafe reached the Cup final for the first time, where they lost 1-0 to Sevilla FC.
In September 2007 Getafe made their debut in the UEFA Cup with a 1-0 victory at FC Twente.
They eventually reached the quarter finals, where Getafe with ten players after extra time were knocked out by Bayern Munich.
A week later Getafe were again in the final of the Copa del Rey, but they lost again, this time to Valencia.
So it’s certainly a strong opponent, who produce fantastic attacking football.
Absolutely keep an eye on Ruben De la Red, who shone for Spain a couple of times in the recent European Championships. Also captain David Belenguer and the Swiss Fabio Celestini, the former captain of Marseille are not bad.
Also look out for Getafe’s new coach, Victor Munoz, ex-coach of Zaragoza (amongst others), who succeeded Michael Laudrup as coach a few days ago.
Thursday 7th August 20.00 at the Herman Vanderpoorten Stadium - K.Lierse S.K vs Getafe CF.
A more than fantastic fixture then. Soon we’ll announce the admission prices. These will be published first here.

Because we read in various newspapers that Mama Dissa wants to leave and shall leave to go ‘South’, the Lierse
board wants to point out that for them this chapter is not totally closed.
Lierse is still prepared to put a respectable transfer fee on the table for this player.
But it should be made clear, that the sky’s the limit, and our wallet has its limits.
Additionally we’re also in well progressed negotiations with a Nigerian striker.
He’ll come for a trial in the next few days.
After that the coaching staff will decide if he fits into the Lierse model.
In any case, we’ll of course keep you informed over the progression of any transfers.

The Season ticket campaign is in full swing. The Promo team is taking no prisoners in the Kempen, the supporters gave received a guide in the mail, there special campaigns targeted at business and social members. The K.Lierse S.K. players are also prepared. No mountain is too high, no river too deep, in short there is no trouble spared to make a fantastic season. Also Chris Janssens, last season’s most valued player, only has his mind focused on his job.

This film recorded in the utmost secrecy proves it.

The Chairman of KV Turnhout, Joos Horsten, has unexpectedly passed away in China.
Joos Horsten was born on 22nd April 1942 and died on 21st June 2008 in a hotel room in Beijing (China) where he
was on a three-day business trip.
An enormous shock for the Horsten family and also for KV Turnhout. In February 2002 Joos Horsten took over the reins of the moribund KFC Turnhout. A team without a stadium and a pile of debt.
Thanks to the unbridled effort of Joos Horsten, KV Turnhout has become a financially healthy club who are playing in a new stadium.
We shall always remember him as an exceptionally charming man, a hard worker and one of the most important architechts of the collaboration between Wadi Degla, K.Lierse S.K. and KV Turnhout.
One thing is certain: without Joos Horsten KV Turnhout would not still exist.

K.Lierse S.K. is looking for host families to accommodate young, overseas footballers.
It’s the intention that the young players (around 18 years old) will stay +/- one year with the families.
The club will pay the expenses. We are looking for families not living too far from the club, and where English as a spoken language is not too much of a problem.
Why host families?
This concerns young players, who we don’t want living alone. They must come into a homely, pleasant environment.
They will have rights, but also obligations. Essentially in the short term they have to become a part of the family in
which they’ll be staying.
Interested families should contact Terry Verbiest.
terry@lierse.com or 0475/790.210

Contrary to what was earlier announced, the rebuilding works in the stadium will not go ahead in the near future.
The reason for this is essentially that the final building permit would only be finalised when the season is already under way. Therefore it seems both safer and surer for us to postpone the work at present.
The preparations were ready, but to begin the work now would have brought too many risks with it. We think it
more opportune to wait until we have full assurance over the right timing. That can be later, or even after this season.

So for the supporters nothing changes. The situation regarding places remains the same as last season.
Via the stadium page of the website you can view the plans of the stadium and the new stands.

Today at Belgian FA HQ, the draw took place for the first five rounds of the Belgian Cup. Lierse must start in the 4th round, on 17th August, away to the winner of Union La Calamine (Kelmis, 3rd division) vs ?? (Bas-Oha or Melen or Scalyn or Huy).
If Lierse win that match, the 5th round will be played the following week, at home, against one of the following
opponents: CS Verviers Dilbeek Sport – Jong Neigem VS SK Ternat – SK Oudegem - Herk-de-Stad FC – Overpelt VV VS SK Retie Branddonk - VV Heusden-Zolder en VS Standaard Wetteren

These are the new ones for the season 2008-2009:

The definitive start signal for the building work on the stadium was given last week, when the demolition application
for stands 3 and 4 was applied for. After the legal notice period, the stands will be able to be demolished
(target date 5th July).

In a first phase a new standing terrace will be built on the Berg, and standing places behind the goal for away fans.
In a second phase the seated area above the Berg will be rebuilt. In a third phase, there will be a new stand for
away fans.

As a result of this supporters with a seat in stand 3 (rows L-J), the choice to move for half a year for the same price to the side rows of stand 1 (rows E-F or G). If desired they can also move to another area.