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RWDM Brussels
Belgian football club From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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RWDM Brussels[1] is a Belgian professional football club based in Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, a municipality of Brussels. The team competes in the Challenger Pro League, the second tier of the Belgian football league system.
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The club was previously known as Racing White Daring Molenbeek (RWDM) until June 2025, when it briefly rebranded to Daring Brussels and formally reclaimed matricule 2, originally assigned to the now-defunct Daring Club de Bruxelles, founded in 1895. While the present-day club was founded in the 21st century, it identifies itself with the legacy of several predecessor entities, including Racing White, RWD Molenbeek (1973–2002), and the original Daring club.[2]
Daring Brussels play their home matches at the Edmond Machtens Stadium, wear red, black and white as their traditional colours, and incorporate gold detailing in their crest as a reference to early club heritage.[2]
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History
Summarize
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The club was founded in 2015. Standard Wetteren had folded that year and merged with another club, liberating its matricule (registration number), which was sold to people wanting to revive the former RWDM with matricule 47, which folded in 2002. As such the new club was named RWDM47.
The club quickly rose through the ranks, winning two consecutive promotions from the fifth to the third tier. In December 2021, the club announced that it had come under the ownership of American business executive John Textor, who also holds stakes in English side Crystal Palace, Brazilian side Botafogo and French side Lyon.[3]
RWDM's academy is considered one of the best in Belgium, and many footballers have come from there, notably Adnan Januzaj and Michy Batshuayi to name a few Belgian internationals as well as a few internationals for other countries.[4][5]
On 13 May 2023, RWDM secured promotion to the Belgian Pro League by winning the Challenger Pro League title in a narrow 1–0 victory over RSCA Futures, with Mickaël Biron scoring the winning goal.[6][7] They went straight back down at the end of their first season back in the top flight and the following season narrowly missed out on promotion, wasting a strong lead with just two games to go and eventually ending just short of automatic promotion.
On 5 June 2025, the club announced that it would adopt a new name, an initiative proposed by its American owner, John Textor. Effective 1 July 2025, the club would be known as Daring Brussels, a reference to the legacy of the historic Daring Club de Bruxelles, originally founded in 1895. As part of the rebranding, the club planned to adopt a new logo and assume matricule 2. The official club colours were revised to include red, white, black, and gold. The decision provoked significant backlash from supporters of RWDM, many of whom expressed strong attachment to the traditional name and the original red, white, and black colour scheme.[8] The rebranding also drew criticism from the municipality of Molenbeek, which had previously granted the club free use of the Edmond Machtens Stadium on the condition that the name "Molenbeek" be retained.[9]
On 7 July 2025, after protests from supporters, it was decided that the name change would not go ahead and the name "RWDM", the old logo and the colours would be retained while the word "Brussels" would be added to the name to support the club's international interests. The club will also continue under matricule 2.[1]
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Rivalries and fanbase
RWDM's traditional rival is Union Saint-Gilloise,[10] which goes back to the 19th century when RWDM were known as Daring Club.[11] RWDM also have a rivalry with RSC Anderlecht, with just 3 kilometres separating the two clubs and the fixtures often taking over the mantle of the "Derby of Brussels" in the professional era due to Union's relative decline. RWDM also have rivalries with Eendracht Aalst, Lierse,[12] and RFC Liège.[13]
RWDM drew support from across the Belgian capital due to its merger of 4 teams, as well as in the Periphery, where many Brusseleirs migrated to, in contrast to the more locally based Saint-Gilles support and the nationwide Anderlecht support.[14] It had high attendances for a big part of its existence as RWDM, until financial troubles and the subsequent changeover with Johan Vermeesch in charge of the new club led to the name change to FC Brussels,[15] and caused a split in the fanbase. During their years as FC Brussels, the Ultra group Brussels Power 05 emerged,[16] while many of the "old school" casuals "Brussels Boys" boycotted. These days both supporter groups sit in the same Bloc A.
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Players
First-team squad
- As of 30 July 2025.[17]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Club staff
Honours
- Challenger Pro League
- Winner (1): 2022–23
See also
- RWD Molenbeek (1909)
References
External links
Wikiwand - on
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