Badge of the Day #69 (KRC Genk #2)

Today we present an image of another of the recently-acquired additions to the collection in the form of a second object to represent KRC Genk, in this case an earlier, 1990s' vintage, version of the club’s logo, with the ‘G’ composed of a number of small yellow stars on the blue ground appearing, at least at first glance, not entirely dissimilar to the European Union symbol. For more background on TOoT’s leanings towards Genk, & the badge of what is their current crest, please redirect here.

As an aside, investing-in & blogging the first badge had hardly enhanced the team’s fortunes on the pitch, with only one league victory for Genk since, until yesterday's 2 - 0 win at Mechelen arrested the alarming slump of a run of six successive defeats either side of the Jupiler League’s mid-winter break, with recent elimination from the Belgian Cup – as holders - also being factored-in as the other aspect of a double-whammy, but of course on-field successes & failures, & the vagaries of, are regarded philosophically, & affection endures (being the operative word, under such inauspicious & trying circumstances).

Badge of the Day #61 (Lommelse SK)

Another of the very recent additions to the European football club collection is this object representing Lommel, or Lommelse SK, whose name as such sadly ceased to be in 2003 (although, via mergers & rebrandings, are now known as Lommel United), but happened to be another of those, like Genk & Westerlo, that held a particular appeal amongst those encountered via Ceefax when indulging in the weekly treat of checking the Belgian aspect of the selected European league football results & tables in the early years of the millenium.

Again, there just seemed, & enduringly seems, to be something ineffably romantic about smallish town/city Belgium, or its football teams, both in themselves & in relation to the bigger familiar names domestically & who enjoyed a significant continental profile in the less financially-imbalanced 1970s & 80s.
The club’s green & white colours, as represented on the badge, that hauntological object of desire, physical manifestation of the ghost of the name, are, of course, another aspect of the appeal, partial as we are to that combination.

Badge of the Day #12 (KRC Genk)

Today’s badge from the expanding collection features the magical (by their own admission) KRC Genk, a name that simply appeals a great deal.
Genk are a relatively new name on the European football map, having been formed in 1988 from a merger of Winterslag & Waterschei Thor Genk, who, respectively, one recalls playing against Arsenal (beating) & Aberdeen (losing to) in continental club competitions in the early 80s, but quickly established themselves as a force to be reckoned with, not least in TOoT’s affections, where today they occupy an elevated position indeed.

Such is the nature of football devotion that it tends not to be especially shaken even in the face of an apparently testing result like this evening’s ‘what the heck?’ 0 – 4 defeat for Genk (starting the day in second place in their league) at previously-struggling Oostende, what one might term a rather bracing visit to the coast, but, still, they really must do better.