A Unique History & Exciting Future – OH Leuven In Profile
The 1pm kick-off sees two sides owned by King Power International go head-to-head in a pre-season friendly ahead of the 2022/23 campaign. Leuven are now established in the Jupiler Pro League – Belgium's top flight – while City have lifted the Premier League and Emirates FA Cup over recent years.
OH Leuven were born in 2002, as three teams – F.C. Zwarte Duivels Oud-Heverlee, Daring Club Leuven and Stade Leuven – joined forces to create a new club. The Whites would start their journey in the Belgian Third Division and eventually won promotion four years after their reformation as OHL.
In 2011, they climbed into the First Division – handing a Leuven-based club a place in the top tier for the first time since 1950. Although OHL would preserve their status a year later, becoming the first side from the city to remain in the top league for more than one season, relegation was around the corner.
A period of yo-yoing soon followed, with OHL returning to the First Division and then back to the Second Division before, in 2017, the club was taken over by the King Power International Group, led by Khun Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha. A period of financial investment and off-field expansion was about to begin.
Under the management of Vincent Euvrard, promotion back to the Jupiler Pro League was secured in unusual circumstances. OHL had played the first leg of their promotion play-off against Beerschot, losing 1-0 to De Mannekes, but COVID-19 disruption created a delay for the deciding encounter.
Before the second leg could be contested, a decision was made to expand the Pro League to 18 teams – from 16 – meaning both Leuven and Beerschot would be promoted. That second game was still played, however, with Beerschot winning, but it didn't stop OHL from rejoining Belgium's elite sides.
Experienced manager Marc Brys was then handed the task of consolidating Leuven in the top flight, an objective he has achieved over the past two seasons. Successive 11th-placed finishes offer the Whites an opportunity to build on that progress ahead of the club's 21st season of existence.
OHL's colourway, on the other hand, is a striking indicator of its past. The club's crest and its kits usually combine the green of Stade Leuven, the black of Zwarte Duivels Oud-Heverlee and the red of Daring Leuven. They play at the 10,020-capacity King Power At Den Dreef Stadion.
It's a venue which has hosted several Belgium international fixtures over the years, meaning Youri Tielemans, Dennis Praet and Timothy Castagne will be on familiar ground. Praet, on the other hand, was in fact born in Leuven and emerged through the academies of Stade Leuven and OH Leuven.
The Club's Development Squad played at Den Dreef in the summer of 2020, but Saturday's fixture – which you can watch live on LCFC TV – will be the first time an LCFC senior side have ran out under the Leuven sky. It promises to be a memorable occasion for two clubs with tight and unique links.