KRC Genk - The Belgian academy that produces some of football's biggest stars

Nestled in the east of Belgium, closer to the Dutch border than the major Belgian cities, Genk is a former mining town where less than 70,000 people live. Even in a small country it clearly falls into the provincial category, but the city has become the unlikely starting point for some of football's biggest stars.

Within a radius of approximately 160 km around Genk, you will find Brussels, Bruges, Antwerp and Liège, not to mention Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Eindhoven and Dortmund. Not only big cities, but also those steeped in footballing history, home to clubs that had already racked up a sea of ​​honors just as KRC Genk came into existence, following the merger of two local clubs in 1988.

Despite two stints in the second tier in the early years, the decision to merge Waterschei SV Thor Genk and KFC Winterslag proved over time to be an unqualified success, and by the turn of the century Genk was really starting to make some waves in Belgian football. They first won the title in 1998/99, repeating the trick three years later. It was the catalyst for a first appearance in the UEFA Champions League group stage where they earned creditable draws against Italian giants Roma and defending champions Real Madrid.

However, in a European setting, Genk will still be just a small fish in a very big pond. To have a chance of being competitive against bigger clubs from stronger leagues in the modern era, they were going to have to do something out of the ordinary.

That's why, to understand the history of Genk, the most important step is not an individual title or trophy, nor a big Champions League night. Rather, it goes back to the decision taken in the early 2000s to invest heavily in the infrastructure necessary for a modern and thriving youth academy.

It was this decision, coupled with the unwavering faith in young talent that followed, that laid the foundations that saw the club become one of European football's success stories of the 21st century. From Kevin De Bruyne and Thibaut Courtois to Yannick Carrasco, Christian Benteke, Divock Origi and Leandro Trossard, the list of Genk Academy graduates is long, impressive and growing.

Illustration by Charbak Dipta

Roland Breugelmans has been part of the journey from the very beginning, and in nearly 35 years at the club he has seen all of Genk's brightest young talent come to light and, in many cases, continue to shine on the biggest stages.If he insists that there is no secret recipe to which Genk's success can be attributed, the director of the Academy is in a position to strip himself. ..