Former Brighton and West Brom defender Sebastien Pocognoli has Union St Gilloise dreaming of ending their 90 year wait for title number 12 | OneFootball

If you look through the list of title winners in Belgium, Anderlecht are by far and away the most successful club. The Mauves have won an incredible 34 titles. Behind them in second are Club Brugge. None of this will surprise the casual observer of Belgian football, yet the team in third might. Union St Gilloise have 11 titles, the third best in Belgian football history. What is remarkable about this is that they have not lifted won the Belgian top filght since 1935.

90 years on, that might be set to chance. The side should have ended that wait last season, and could have done a few times before then. However, their lead in the play-offs last year was dismantled by Club Brugge on route to title number 19. This year, Union look to have taken a different approach. Rather than leading from the off, they are peaking at the right time. While leaders Genk and second place Club are starting to drop points, Union are doing the opposite. While a loss to Mechelen was surprising, it is the only blip on their recent domestic resume. They handily beat city rivals Anderlecht 2-0 last weekend, with a 4-1 victory on Saturday afternoon against newly promoted Dender.

These results, alongside Genk’s draw with Charleroi and Club’s draw with Gent, means Union are just one point behind Club and 10 points behind Genk. Halve these points going in to the play-offs, and Union are serious title contenders. To add even further intrigue to the situation, Union travel to Genk for the final day of the regular season. This could prove to be a pivotal game in the title race.

Former West Brom and Brighton defender Sebastien Pocognoli deserved plenty of credit. In his first senior head coaching role he has dealt with a tricky start and turned Union into a well oiled machine. Year on year they lose key players, and year on year they replace them. Pocognoli has the side looking strong in key areas and above all confident. They have certainly made it a three horse race for the title, and Union seem to be the horse peaking at the right time.

GBeNeFN | Ben Jackson