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KV Oostende
Full name	Koninklijke Voetbalclub; Oostende
Nickname(s)	De Kustboys
Short name	Oostende
Founded	1904; 121 years ago
Dissolved	14 May 2024; 7 months ago
Ground	Diaz Arena,; Ostend
Capacity	8,400
2023–24	Challenger Pro League, 13th of 16

Koninklijke Voetbalclub Oostende, also called KV Oostende (Dutch pronunciation: [kaːˌveː oːstˈɛndə]) or KVO, was a Belgian professional football club based in Ostend, West Flanders. The team was founded in 1904 as VG Oostende and had matricule number 31. The club was declared bankrupt in June 2024.

History

In 1911, another club was created, AS Oostende, which would soon become the best club of the city, playing regularly in the second division in the 1930s. In the mid-1970s, AS reached the first division while VG was playing at the second level.

The two clubs merged in 1981 to become KV Oostende. The new club played in the third division for eleven years, before finally being promoted. In its first season on the second level, Oostende were immediately promoted again, to the first division, where it would achieve its best result in the club history: a seventh place, in 1993–94.

From 1995 to 2013, Oostende played in the second division, except in 1998–99 and 2004–05, when it was at the higher level again, and in 2001–02 and 2002–03, when it played in the third division.

In 1982, one year after the merger, VG Oostende had been re-founded at the lowest level of the Belgian football competition. The club first used the Armenonville stadium, which was the original ground of VG. In 2001, the stadium was declared unsafe, so the club had to groundshare with KV Oostende in the Albertparkstadion, until 2010. In 2013, the new VG Oostende also disappeared, after a financial breakdown.

In August 2013, shortly after a new promotion to the highest level, it was announced that chairman and majority shareholder Yves Lejaeghere would be succeeded by a new chairman, businessman Marc Coucke.

In the spring of 2016, the main tribune of the Albertparkstadion was rebuilt and the stadium was renamed the Versluys Arena with the capacity increased to 8,432.

Thanks to its success in the previous campaign, Oostende played in the third qualifying round of the Europa League in the 2017–18 season. The team drew French giants Marseille. Oostende was unable to go any further in the competition after losing 4–2 in France on 17 July 2017 and only securing a goalless draw at home on 3 August 2017. While Oostende were clear underdogs, the KVO supporters filled the visitor section of the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille, proud of the team's qualification after having only been promoted to Belgium's first division a few years ago. Marseille would go on to reach the finals in the Europa League that season, falling short to Atlético Madrid.

After a disappointing beginning to the 2017–18 season, manager Yves Vanderhaeghe was set free of his obligations, with the assistant manager, Adnan Čustović, being asked to take over.^[2]^[3]

In December 2017 Marc Coucke announced that he would be leaving, after recently purchasing Anderlecht. It was then announced on 8 February 2018 that Peter Callant would replace Coucke as chairman. Coucke confirmed his continued interest in the club and that he remained a fan and would stay on as a minority shareholder.^[4]

In May 2020 an investment group acquired KV Oostende Football Club and the new investors include Pacific Media Group, Chien Lee, Partners Path Capital and Krishen Sud.^[5]

On 15 April 2023, KV Oostende was officially relegated from the Belgian Pro League to the Challenger Pro League after being defeated 4–0 by OH Leuven after ten years in the top tier.^[6]^[7] On 21 December 2023, the club incurred a deduction of three points, followed by an additional six points on 22 December.^[8] As a result, KV Oostende found themselves bottom of the Challenger Pro League standings with only seven points. These penalties stemmed from the club's failure to meet repayment deadlines, compounded by their existing debt of €8 million.^[9]

On 16 May 2024, it was announced that the club would file for bankruptcy on 3 June 2024 due to the failure to obtain a professional license, an insurmountable debt burden for the Belgian Division 2, and a failed takeover. On 4 June, the commercial court in Bruges declared KV Oostende bankrupt. On 13 June, it was revealed that newly promoted third-tier club KSV Diksmuide intended to collaborate with the city of Ostend to form a new team under the name Koninklijke Voetbalclub Diksmuide-Oostende. The youth teams of Diksmuide and Ostend would continue training at their current facilities, while the first team would play its matches at the stadium in Ostend.^[10]^[11]