Eupen 2

Foundation and early years

KAS Eupen were formed on 9 July 1945 from the merger of Jugend Eupen and FC Eupen 1920, and played its first official match on 21 July during a festive tournament during a national holiday.

A few weeks later, the club would begin on its inaugural season in the Liège Provincial Division II. While the first stand was built in 1947 and lighting was installed the following year, and the infrastructure thus improved, the club could not avoid relegation to the Regional Division II. Under the leadership of player-coach Roger Burgers, Eupen won the first title in its history, which was then repeated the following year, enabling the club to reach national divisions for the first time in 1951.

The club's stint in the national division was short-lived at first, but the club secured another promotion at the end of the 1955–56 season. The team was then led by Albert Bertrand. After a further descent two years later, the club returned with promotion before the 1961–62 season to stabilise in the higher divisions until 1969.

Having arrived at the club in 1966, Hubert Van Dormael took the team to a second-place finish in the 1967–68 season before taking a historic first promotion to the Belgian Third Division the following season, ahead of LC Bastogne and Herve FC in the standings. The club then decided to construct a new stand the following year. In the process, Van Dormael led the team to the Third Division title, which meant its first promotion to the Belgian Second Division. The title-winning team featured some of the most iconic players of the club's history, including Werner Pirard and Karl Franssen, the emblematic captain Günter Brüll, as well as goalkeeper Elmar Keutgen, future mayor of the City of Eupen and member of the Parliament of the German-speaking Community.

The Golden Five

Prior to their first season in the second tier of Belgian football, Eupen and their manager Paul Brossel were ambitious in the off-season: although considered one of the three best goalkeepers in the Bundesliga by the German sports press along with Sepp Maier and Manfred Manglitz, Gerhard Prokop signed from Alemannia Aachen before the 1970–71 season. Eupen lost their first home match against FC Malinois but won the next against Jean Nicolay's Daring Club Bruxelles, earning their first win in the second tier.

After surviving their first season in the second tier, the club recorded another big signing during the off-season as Philippe Garot arrived at the Kehrweg. A few weeks later, a second German player, Helmut Graf, signed from Bonner SC. Eupen survived in the second division once again, finishing in tenth place in the 1971–72 season. At the end of the season and after six years at the club, Hubert Van Dormael was replaced by Gerhard Prokop, who took over the reins as player-coach. But, lacking the funds, the club was forced to part with some key players at the end of the season, including Philippe Garot.

Paul Brossel once again chose to recruit players in Germany in the off-season, with Rot-Weiß Oberhausen top goalscorer Ulrich Kallius arriving in Eupen at the start of the 1972–73 season. Kallius would go down in club history as one of their best strikers, scoring 16 goals in 25 games that season. Despite this, Eupen had an average season, finishing only in thirteenth place.

Still in the throes of their financial woes, the club was once again forced to sell some of their best elements. Kallius and Graf joined Olympique Charleroi. To compensate for these departures, Paul Brossel managed to sign another German striker: using the money received for the sale of Kallius, he signed Rainer Gebauer, a striker from 1. FC Köln. The 1973–74 season also marked the return of Hubert Van Dormael, as coach, with Prokop regaining his status as a player. This proved a positive change, as the team occupied the top of the league standings in the fall. Slightly running out of steam, Eupen remained on course for promotion before the last matchday of the season against Lokeren. While Eupen were up 0–1 fifteen minutes before full-time, Lokeren scored on a penalty kick to equalise, before scoring a second goal at the very end of the match. This meant that Lokeren went past Eupen in the standings, and meant that they missed out on direct promotion. The Pandas then turned to the play-offs for a chance to win a historic promotion, but morale was gone and the team recorded six defeats in as many games.

To the sporting disappointment were added new financial problems which forced the club to once again sell its best players: Gebauer left for Charleroi, Taeter signed with Winterslag and Prokop with Aachen. The club, however, continued developing its infrastructure, creating its first board of directors and installing new lighting at the home ground. The team would struggle performance-wise the next few seasons, and suffered relegation to the Third Division at the end of the 1974–75 season.

Ups and downs

With René Irgel as new manager, Eupen won the title the following season, allowing them to return to the second division. This was, however, short-lived and the club relegated the following year.

After several seasons in the third tier, the club won promotion again at the end of the 1980–81 season. During this period, three major changes took place at the club: the club chose to focus its sports policy on training, the City of Eupen bought the club's facilities for a period of 30 years in May 1979, and the club changed its name to become the Allgemeine Sportvereinigung Eupen.

With mainly young players, Claude Siemianow won the club another title in 1984 on the final day of the season, beating Spouwen 5–1, while their main rivals for the championship, Alken, were beaten 2–0 by Mol. This title allowed Eupen to return to the third division. Top goalscorer in the league for the second consecutive year, Pierrot Thissen played an important part in this success.