KAA Gent and Club Brugge win Pro League+ award

KAA Gent and Club Brugge win Pro League+ award

At the Pro League Gala in Belgium, EFDN-members KAA Gent and Club Brugge both received the trophy for being the best Belgian football in the community-clubs in 2018.

The Gala is organised every year by the Pro League and Sportspress.be, the association of the Belgian sports journalists. Through the Pro League + Awards, the Pro League and its partner, the Football + Foundation wants to highlight the best practice community programmes and social engagement of the clubs in the first class of Belgian football. KAA Gent and Club Brugge won the award for best community programme and the best football in the community-club already a couple of times in the last years – but it is the first time that two clubs win the Award together. 

Rivals on the pitch, partners in the community 

Wim Beelaert, community manager of KAA Gent said; Our clubs are rivals on the pitch but we are friends off the pitch and cooperate together in the field of social responsibility and community programmes.  Thanks to the efforts of the employees and volunteers of the KAA Gent Foundation we have won this award. It is their commitment that makes the difference. Our cooperation with colleagues from other European countries though EFDN has a major impact on our work. Thanks to this international cooperation, we gain and use additional experience and knowledge to further develop our programmes in Ghent “, explained Wim Beelaert, Coordinator of the KAA Gent Foundation. 

Club’s community manager Peter Gheysen and Gent’s foundation manager Wim Beelaert pose with the ‘Pro League + Club Gold’ trophy for the club with the best social projects, on the red carpet of the third edition of the Professional Soccer Player of the Year 2018 gala evening, Monday 14 May 2018, in Brussels. BELGA PHOTO THIERRY ROGE

Both award winners are delivering a large number of community programmes, supporting youth football and solidarity between the clubs, local residents and supporters. More information on the community programmes of KAA Gent and Club Brugge can be found in the EFDN member section.