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Koninklijke Atletiek Associatie Gent ((:ˈkoːnɪŋkləkə ˌɑtləˈtik ˌɑsoːˈʃaː(t)si ˈɣɛnt), English: ''Royal Athletic Association Ghent''), often simply known as Ghent or by their nickname ' ((英語:The Buffalos)), is a Belgian football, track and field and field hockey club, based in the city of Ghent, East Flanders. They have been playing in the Belgian Pro League since the 1989–90 season. They won the national league once, in 2014–15, in addition to three Belgian Cup victories. Ghent played their home matches in the Jules Ottenstadion in Gentbrugge from 1920 until 2013, when they moved to the Ghelamco Arena. Their team colours are blue and white. The principal sponsor is the financial institution VDK NV. The field hockey and track and field divisions were founded in 1864, making it one of the oldest sporting clubs in Belgium. The club was then known under their French name La Gantoise (and they are still referred to as such in the French-speaking part of Belgium). They changed their name to the current Dutch version in 1971. The football division opened in 1900. The nickname of the club is ', a term coined after a visit of the original Buffalo Bill and his Wild West circus to the city in the early 20th century. Ghent enjoyed a first spell at the highest level in Belgian football between 1913–14 and 1928–29, and a second one from 1936–37 to 1966–67. In the 1970s and 1980s, the club had several promotions and relegations between the first and second divisions, to come back at the highest level in 1989. The club reached the 1991-92 UEFA Cup quarter-finals, which is their best achievement ever in European competitions. == History == In 1864, an association called the 'Société Gymnastique la Gantoise', which was tasked with promoting gymnastics, was founded. Some branches quickly became independent and in 1891 the team merged with the Association Athlétique, which was in itself a merger of younger teams, such as Racing Club, Running Club and Red Star. The new merger team was called Association Athlétique La Gantoise, and aside from gymnastics, the activities were broadened to athletics, boxing, cricket, cycling, fencing, hockey, swimming and tennis. In this context, the athletics team KAA Gent was founded. In the last decade of the 19th century, organized football was introduced in Ghent. Different small teams were founded and some merged into Racing Club Gantois on 1 April 1899, which would later become the biggest challenger of KAA Gent. Only in 1900, a football section was founded by the students of the College of Melle, which is a place close to Ghent. The first president of the team was doctor Hector Priem. The games were played on the Carpentierplein, which was situated at the crossroads of the Kortrijksesteenweg, the Clementinalaan, the Oostendestraat and the Astridlaan. Initially, the colours black and white were chosen, but by 31 October 1900, when the team became an official member, the colours were changed to blue and white. On 15 November 1900, the first regular game was played, against Omnium Sporting Club. In January 1901, the team played against Racing Club Gantois, which was, at that time, the larger of the two. KAA Gent lost the game with 10–0. Nevertheless, at the end of the 19th century the team already became a member of the UBSSA (Union Belge des Sociétés de Sports Athlétiques or the Belgian Union of the Athletic Sports Society, and although Racing Club Gantois was the elder team in the city, KAA Gent would receive a lower matricule number than Racing Club, which would receive 11. In 1901 AA La Gantoise played its first games in the lower divisions. For the first few years, the team mostly played in the Belgian Second Division, and later on in the First Division. In 1904 the team moved to the Mussenstraat. In 1913, the World Exposition was held at that place, and the team moved once more, this time to the Albertlaan. Over there, a football pitch, training fields, tennis courts, an athletics court, galleries and other accommodations were being built. At 9 December 1915, during the First World War, the stadium completely burned down. In 1912–13, AA La Gantoise became champion in the Second Division. In 1914, the team received the royal title and was called Association Royale Athlétique La Gantoise, which was abbreviated to ARA La Gantoise. During the world exposition, the team organized several sporting events. The first season in the First League, 1913/14, was nevertheless very difficult for the team and only by means of a test match against Standard Club Liégois, relegation was avoided. In 1920, the team moved again, this time to Gentbrugge, where the Jules Ottenstadion was built. La Gantoise fell back to the Second Division and it was not until 1936 it managed to win the promotion play-offs and return to the First Division. In the mid-fifties, the team played their strongest football yet. In 1953–54 it ended third with an equal total of points as KFC Malinois and only one point behind the champions RSC Anderlecht. The next season, La Gantoise was alone on the second spot, this time with three points less than the champions. In 1964 it won the Belgian Cup (Beker van België), which was the first major tournament victory for the team. Because of their cup win, it became the first Belgian team to participate in the newly founded UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. La Gantoise was defeated in the first round by West Ham United. In 1967, the club relegated once more, after three decades of playing in the First Division. It did, however, only take them one year to clinch promotion again. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「K.A.A. Gent」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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