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Royale Union Saint-Gilloise hail from Brussels and were founded in 1897.

Union usually play their matches at the Joseph Marien Stadium, their home since the 1920s, although due to UEFA restrictions, Newcastle United will meet them on Wednesday at Lotto Park, home of RSC Anderlecht.

Despite being one of the most successful clubs in Belgian football, most of that success came in the early part of the twentieth century when Union won eleven titles between 1904 and 1935.

At the height of their success, they went 60 league matches unbeaten between 1933 and 1935, a national record that stands to this day.

Union tends to draw its support from working class communities in Brussels and their principal city rivalry is with RWD Molenbeek, although Union also shares a longstanding, though historically less frequent, rivalry with Anderlecht. A rivalry rekindled for the first time since 1979 during the 2018 Belgian Cup, when Union defeated their neighbours by three goals to nil.

Growing up in the 1970s, I can distinctly remember two great Belgian sides, Anderlecht and FC Bruges, both of whom met English opposition in European finals. Anderlecht beat West Ham in the 1976 Cup Winners Cup Final before losing a dramatic penalty shootout against Tottenham in the UEFA Cup Final of 1981. Three years beforehand, Kenny Daglish had scored the winner for Liverpool against FC Bruges in the 1978 European Cup Final at Wembley.

Other teams such as Standard Liege, Lokeren and Gent would often fly the flag for Belgium in Europe during that era, but I cannot recall Royale Union Saint-Gilloise ever being on the scene. That’s because the club faltered after the Second World War and went into a lengthy period of decline, bouncing between the First and Second Divisions in the 1960s before dropping out of the First Division in 1973 and not returning for 48 years.

On 21 May 2018, Tony Bloom, chairman of English Premier League side, Brighton and Hove Albion was confirmed as the majority shareholder, and the club’s renaissance began, returning to the Belgian Pro League in 2021 and finishing top of the regular season table in their first campaign back, a first for a newly promoted side. The league title would have to wait though, Belgium’s convoluted system reverts to a play-off arrangement where points tallies are halved and a round robin involving those that have qualified ensues, with Club Brugge edging out Union after back-to-back wins against the newly promoted side.

Nevertheless, the disappointment of finishing runners up was sweetened with Union Saint-Gilloise earning a tilt at the UEFA Champions League qualifying stage the following season, although any hopes they had of competing in the lucrative group stage were extinguished by Glasgow Rangers, the club from Ibrox overturning a 2-0 defeat in the first leg to progress. This defeat meant Union fell into the Europa League where they reached the quarter-finals, losing to Bayer Leverkusen.

Although they narrowly missed out on the championship again in 2022, 2023, and 2024, Union Saint-Gilloise eventually clinched their twelfth league title in 2025. After finishing the regular season in third place behind Genk and Club Brugge, they entered the Championship play-offs in strong form and went unbeaten, winning nine and drawing one of their ten matches, an impressive run that included a crucial 1–0 away win over playoff leaders Club Brugge, before clinching the title on the final matchday, after beating Gent 3–1.

This ended a 90 year championship drought, one of the lengthiest in European football, surpassing Blackburn Rovers’ 81 year interval between two titles back in 1995, a feat that shouldn’t be lost on supporters of Newcastle United who could eclipse this unwanted record if they land the Premier League title anytime soon.

Union Saint-Gilloise have started this season strongly, winning seven and drawing two of their opening league fixtures, a run that has them sitting top, six points clear of Club Brugge. They also made an impressive start to their Champions League campaign, defeating PSV in Eindhoven by three goals to one, so make no mistake, this will be a big test for NUFC against fellow pot four opposition.