Mario Wuyts is a long time fan of Lierse and a current member of the Fagoempel Lierse SK Supporters Club.
Question : How long have you been a supporter of Lierse SK?
Answer: I have been a Lierse fan since I was 7 or 8 years old. It was passed down from my father. I came to my first match when I was 8 or 9. This year I’ll be forty, so it will be 32 years since I became a fan.
Q: When were Lierse SK relegated from the Jupiler League?
A: Two years ago, this is their second season in the Second Division.
Q: Lierse SK were in serious debt when an Egyptian Entrepreneur (Maged Samy) cleared their debt and bought the team. Is that correct?
A: Yes but first there was another investor then after half a year Samy came and bought the club. At the beginning we were sceptical about whether or not he had good intentions, but now we have confidence in him. He is a really nice man; sometimes he will travel with the supporters in the bus to away games. Altogether we trust him and his intentions.
Q: Do you know anything about his short-term and long-term goals?
A: From what I know, he wants to make Lierse one of the top teams in Belgium and even in Europe.
Q: What has been the most memorable experience you’ve had as a supporter?
A: Definitely the Champions League in 1996 when we played against Sporting Lisbon, Bayer Leverkusen and AS Monaco. Another great moment was when we won the league. Nobody believed that a little club could be champions in Belgium. After we won there was a two-week festival here in Lier which was great.
Q: Are you feeling confident that Lierse SK will be promoted to the Jupiler League this year?
A: Yes we hope so but we are still five points behind first place Sint-Truidense.
Q: Who is your favourite player for Lierse SK?
A: Jurgen Cavens and then Tomasz Radzinksi.
Q: Together this season they have scored 26 goals, which is impressive. Do you think they form a good strike partnership?
A: Yes. Unfortunately, Tomasz only came to the team after 5 or 6 matches. During the period before he came we lost 2 and drew 2. In my opinion, if Tomasz had been here from the beginning of the season we would probably have won those matches and would subsequently be top of the table right now.
Q: How many years are left on Radzinksi’s contract?
A: I think he’ll be here for one more year after this season.
Q: Being that Lier is a small city of 33,000 people where do the majority of supporters come from? The city itself or from surrounding communes?
A: I would say that maybe 2 or 3,000 are from the city itself. For example tonight, there will probably be around 6000 supporters. 1500 will probably be from Lier and the rest from neighbouring areas as far as 20 kilometres away.
Q: Who is the number one rival of Lierse SK?
A: K.V. Mechlen. It another club 15 kilometres from Lier. When we were a good team they were in the second division. They then had financial problems and were relegated to the Third division. Now they are in the Jupiler League and we are in the Second division.
Q: So I imagine you are looking forward to being promoted so you can play them once again?
A: For sure. Coincidentally, both of us are in the semi-final of the Belgian Cup so we could meet them in Brussels if we make the finals.
Q: Can you tell me about the atmosphere in and around the stadium when you play against K.V. Mechlen? Is the match more tense than usual?
A: It isn’t that much more tense although some supporters from each team get into fights but then again this happens all over the world. Other than that it’s pretty calm. Although these days I would say that the younger generation of fans are becoming more aggressive.
Q: Do you support another team other than Lierse SK?
A: Not any other club, but I do support the Belgian National Team.
Q: Do you think they will qualify for the World Cup 2010?
A: Last time they didn’t have a chance, but this time they have several good players including Dembélé and Witsel so I think that they definitely have a better chance of qualifying this time around.
Thank you very much Mario for allowing me to interview you.
0 comments:
Post a Comment