{{short description|Belgian football club}} {{No footnotes|date=December 2014}} {{Infobox football club | clubname = Waterschei Thor | image = [[Image:THOR Waterschei Logo.png|240px]] | fullname = [[Koninklijke]] Waterschei <br>Sportvereniging Thor Genk | nickname = | founded = 1919 | dissolved = 1988 | ground = | capacity = | pattern_la1=|pattern_b1=|pattern_ra1=| leftarm1=FFFF00|body1=FFFF00|rightarm1=FFFF00|shorts1=000000|socks1=FFFF00| }} '''K. Waterschei S.V. Thor Genk''' was a [[Belgium|Belgian]] [[football club]] from the city of [[Genk]], [[Limburg (Belgium)|Limburg]] ([[Belgium]]).
It was created in 1919 as Waterschei's Sport Vereeniging Thor with Thor being the acronym of ''Tot Herstel Onzer Rechten'' ("To recover our rights"), later changed to ''Tot Heil Onzer Ribbenkas(t)'' ("For The Benefit Of Our Rib Cage"). It registered to the [[Belgian Football Association|FA]] only in 1925 and received the [[matricule]] n°553. The club enjoyed a spell in the [[Belgian Pro League|first division]] in the late 1950s to the early 1960s and again from 1978 to 1986. After two seasons in the [[Belgian Second Division|second division]], K. Waterschei S.V. Thor Genk merged with ''[[K.F.C. Winterslag]]'' to form [[K.R.C. Genk]]. [[File:KRC Genk Performance Chart.png|thumb|Historical league performance chart of KRC Genk and its predecessors (Waterschei SV Thor in yellow)]]
During the 1981–82 season, [[Standard Liège]] won the championship after a {{ill|match against Waterschei had been fixed|fr|Affaire Standard-Waterschei}}, which was uncovered two years later.
Waterschei won the [[Belgian Cup]] twice (1980 and 1982). The latter victory led to Waterschei unexpectedly reaching the semi-finals of the [[UEFA Cup Winners' Cup|European Cup Winners Cup]] in [[UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1982–83|1982–83]]. After defeating [[Paris Saint-Germain F.C.|PSG]] in the quarter-finals, Waterschei lost the first leg of the semi-final 5–1 at Pittodrie, home of the eventual winners, [[Aberdeen F.C.|Aberdeen]]. A 1–0 victory in Genk, courtesy of [[Eddy Voordeckers]], could not reverse the position.
Notable players were among others [[Lei Clijsters]] (international, and father of former tennis star [[Kim Clijsters]]), keeper Klaus Pudelko, striker Heinz Gründel, Icelandic striker Larus Gudmundsson, midfielder Pier(re) Janssen, Patrick Van Minsel and Dutch defender and international Adrie Van Kraaij.
==Honours== '''[[Belgian Cup]]''' *'''Winners:''' 1979–80, 1981–82 *Runners-up: 1954–55
==See also== *[[:Category:Waterschei SV Thor players]]
==References== * [http://users.skynet.be/pluto/Textbelgium/Teams.html Belgian football clubs history] * [https://www.rsssf.org/tablesb/belghist.html RSSSF Archive] – 1st and 2nd division final tables * [https://archive.today/20121203172525/http://www.thor-waterschei.blogspot.com/ THOR WATERSCHEI Football-Blog] (German)
{{Belgian Pro League}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Waterschei}} [[Category:Association football clubs established in 1919]] [[Category:Defunct football clubs in Belgium]] [[Category:Association football clubs disestablished in 1988]] [[Category:1919 establishments in Belgium]] [[Category:1988 disestablishments in Belgium]] [[Category:Organisations based in Belgium with royal patronage]] [[Category:Belgian Pro League clubs]] [[Category:Waterschei SV Thor]] [[Category:KRC Genk]] [[Category:Football clubs in Limburg (Belgium)]] {{Belgium-footyclub-stub}}