Brussels – Brussels, the Daring is back. Even if it is not exactly welcomed — or even less beloved — as it once was in a time that clearly no longer exists. A revolution with unexpected consequences shakes Belgian football, a sign that old-school football must reckon with a modern society that pays little attention to nostalgia. John Textor, the American tycoon owner of RWDM, the Molenbeek club resulting from mergers between several Brussels clubs, including the historic Daring, has decided to buy back the assets and rights of the defunct Daring Club de Bruxelles and bring back to life one of the oldest football clubs in the kingdom, as well as the most historic of clubs in the Belgian capital.
Union Saint-Gilloise – Daring Brussels, a unique rivalry
“Those were the days when Brussels was Brussels,” as Jacques Brel sang of a changed and changing city. In those days, the years preceding what would go down in history as the Great War, there were two teams above all contending for a Belgian championship title that was much more; it was also a matter of city supremacy: Union Saint Gilloise and Daring Brussels, between 1908 and 1914, gave rise to a rivalry that was unique in the national football scene: three league titles for the Union, two for the Daring, in a rivalry that would resurface between 1932 and 1937: once more, three titles for Saint-Gilles and two for the one from Molenbeek.
This all-Belgian and quintessentially Brussels story inspired Joris d’Hanswyck and Paul Van Stalle to write a play destined to become a piece of local-national culture in 1938: Bossemans et Coppenolle. Bossemans and Coppenolle re-proposes Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet in a Belgian, all football key, with the difference that there is opposition to the marriage between two young lovers because of the different sporting beliefs of the two fathers: monsieur Bossemans was a fan of the Daring Bruxelles, and monsieur Coppenolle of the Union-Saint Gilloise.
Daring Brussels, a loss of cultural identity, and the dispute with the municipality
The 1930s also marked the end of the glory years for both clubs. Union Saint Gilloise began a slow descent that would see it fall to the fourth division. Meantime, corporate problems began for Daring, culminating in bankruptcy and dissolution in 1973. From then on, Molenbeek football survived by creating new teams, mergers, and takeovers. The union between White Star and Racing White gave the municipality continuity in its sporting tradition. Daring was later added to the name of RWD Molenbeek, but it disappeared in June of this year.
The new ownership decides to completely erase the last 50 years of history. RWDM is gone, and there is a return to its historical origins: Daring Brussels, registration number 2, year of foundation 1895. However, fans do not appreciate the choice as they are now attached to the brand and the name RWDM, proof of a social change so strong and deep-rooted as to deny a past steeped in Belgian and Brussels identity that has been lost. The Molenbeek municipality does not like the name change either. The local administration wants the municipality’s name to remain on the football club. The City Council adopted a resolution calling for no name change, and the municipal administration, which owns the stadium where RWDM plays, is threatening the newly reborn Daring Brussels with eviction. The name change, in essence, does not please.
Molenbeek, a name linked to terrorism. New ownership distances itself
The new club, however, distances itself and moves forward: it has decided and will not turn back. It unveils a new website and uniforms. However, it is not a result of purely historical and nostalgic motivation but the desire to do business with Belgian football. Yet, in the collective imagination, the name
Molenbeek is now associated with Islamic terrorism, having been the home of those responsible for the Paris attacks. A negative idea that neither pays off nor compensates. Hence, the decision to drop Molenbeek from the name of the football club that will be relaunched in a big way. The name change stems from this.
The return of Daring causes debate, divides the fans, and animates the political debate. With Union Saint Gilloise’s comeback in style to dominate the national football stage, the Molenbeek team’s new course gains meaning and fascination. Even though the old story of Brussels is back, Brussels is no longer what it was then.
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
