Founding of the Brugsche Football Club
1891 - 1899
The motto “Mens Sana in Corpore Sano” and the first colors, light blue with a dark blue band, were established.
1891
The foundation of the predecessor of Club Brugge
In a melting pot of ideological movements and classes, people gathered on November 2, 1890, in café ‘Ville de Cologne’ at the Oude Statieplaats (today ‘t Zand). There, the ‘Brugsche Football Club’, predecessor of Club Brugge, was founded. Even before official recognition, disagreements arose and the team was dissolved again. However, football was in the pioneers’ blood. On November 13, 1891, the ‘Brugsche Football Club’ was re-established, marking the official beginning of what is now Club Brugge. Their motto became "Mens sana in corpore sano" – “a healthy mind in a healthy body.” There were no official club colors yet. Only a few years later, they played in light blue shirts with a dark blue diagonal band.
1894 - 1895
The first official football season
On November 1, 1894, a split occurred between the Flemish and the more aristocratic French-speaking members. Sixteen members broke away from Brugsche FC and founded their own football club in café ‘La Civière d’Or’ on the Grote Markt: Football Club Brugeois. Both clubs faced problems: Brugsche Football Club was popular but had no home ground. Football Club Brugeois, which participated in the first official football season in 1895-1896, did have its own ground, popularly known as the ‘Rattenplein’, but soon struggled with financial issues and a lack of public interest.
In October 1897, the two clubs merged again. Officially, Football Club Brugeois was absorbed by Brugsche Football Club, but because FCB had a contract with the Fox Terrier Club, owner of the ‘Rattenplein’, the name Football Club Brugeois was retained. The new partnership united the best of both worlds: the broad popular support of Brugsche Football Club on one hand, and the connections and ambitions of Football Club Brugeois on the other.
The Rattenplein
Playing football and catching rats
The ‘Rattenplein’ played an important role in Club’s early years. It was located in Sint-Andries (Bruges) between the Torhoutse Steenweg and Gistelsesteenweg, on the site where the Sint-Baafskerk now stands. Club rented the ground from the local Fox Terrier Club, which used it to let dogs hunt rats, hence the nickname ‘Rattenplein’. From 1894, it became the official home of Football Club Brugeois and remained so until the move to ‘De Klokke’ in 1912.
William Greenhill, probably a former student of the English college Worthams or the Atheneum of Bruges, is officially the first foreigner at Club. He was one of the founders of the Brugsche Football Club.
1899
In 1899, Cercle Sportif Brugeois was founded as a counter-movement
In 1899, the brothers of the Franciscus-Xaverius Institute, also known as the Frères, founded Cercle Sportif Brugeois as a counter-movement to Club Brugge. The relationship between the two Bruges clubs was initially bitter, with fights following the derbies. This poor relationship led in 1909 to a remarkable action by the directors of the Frères and Saint-Louis: they forbade their students from showing any sympathy for FCB.
In 1911, the situation cooled down thanks to the actions of some prominent citizens of Bruges. Agreements were made to stop hostilities and to meet regularly.