The Union Saint-Gilloise will be the top table in Belgium. The club is back in the top division for the first time in 48 years, but this is an odd tale. They are the third most successful club in Belgian football.
The last of Union Saint-Gilloise's 11 league titles came in 1935, but they are thriving again thanks to an English owner and an Irish-born sporting director. It is a story that has captured the imagination of people all over the world.
Dante Vanzeir is a young player in the national team. The former Pompey defender is enjoying the adventure of a lifetime. Both scored in a win last week.
The stained-glass window at Union's stadium was the site of Spain's first ever match. The stadium is a protected building and we love playing there.
This is a modern success story, with Alex Muzio now the envy of Belgium. This club has been taken back to the top because of poor decision-making.
The rise was not inevitable. Union did not have the funds to beat Anderlecht and Club Brugge in the second division. It has not been easy. O'Loughlin remembers his first week in the job.
He started as the sporting director on the Thursday after finishing his coaching job. We had a meeting in the morning after the coach came in. He went to join Amiens in France after knocking on my door.
"Welcome to being a sporting director."
I was planning to focus on recruitment and creating a culture, but now I have to take some training sessions and look for a new coach. It was difficult because there was no coaching staff. They left for France as well.
Chris O'Loughlin has had an unusual path to the job.
It was a steep learning curve for a man whose own journey is just as remarkable as that of his club. O'Loughlin moved to South Africa as a young boy and was often seen watching Western Province play cricket at Newlands.
He has worked in South Africa, Australia, and England, as well as in Belgium. The Northern Irish FA has a pro licence.
His earliest coaching experiences were in the townships.
"People think my first job was with the Pirates, but it was before that, coaching for free." There was no grass on the pitches in the townships.
Thabo Mokgothu, the friend who introduced this white guy to the young hopefuls of Daveyton, forged bonds. He says that his past experiences could not have prepared him for his current job. That is not completely true.
A lot of my love for the game comes from the townships.
The new cultural values at Union were established with passion in mind. The squad has something to prove and is a mix of ages and background. There is an emphasis on qualities not seen on the spreadsheet.
There is a value system here. It isn't just made up. We put a lot of work into it. We met with specialists who helped us figure out what we were looking for. There are a lot of things in players.
A player recently came through the divisions. This is not the same country as England with a pyramid system all the way down. The fourth division is semi-professional in some countries.
You can see examples of our value system when a player does that. You can begin to define them. I can tell you that a player was out for a whole season when he was 19 after he tore his anterior cruciateeum.
He comes back stronger in a certain time. We do our research and find out that a player has a foundation, but he doesn't put it out on social media. You begin to build pictures of a guy.
We are not looking for angels. The loud one, the quiet one, and the joker are what we want. It's important to have a dynamic. There has to be something that ties everyone together. Our value system helps that.
Think about it logically. We all come from different places, but we all agree on a common goal and spend an average of 250 training sessions a season together. You can be different but you need to be the same player.
The success at the moment is a result of the work done in the first season. There was a big change. Clear assessments were made. We identified what players we wanted at the club and what kind of human beings we wanted in the building.
Dante Vanzeir of Union Saint-Gilloise has been called up to the Belgium national team.
The whole squad celebrated when Vanzeir was called up. He was picked up from Genk but as O'Loughlin looks at the player board in his office, he sees two other players who were allowed to leave big clubs in Belgium to find success here.
Siebe van der Heyden had been a prominent figure in Anderlecht's academy and was tipped for big things before finding himself in the Dutch second division. It would be easy for him to feel lost.
SENNE LYNCH was played out of position at right-back in the Netherlands, despite leaving Club Brugge to play first-team football. He played a key role in Union's electric start to the season before an injury.
The stories of two players who were at elite clubs in Belgium in their youth are nice. They were top talents, but football has a lot of guys who were captains of youth teams at big clubs who suddenly disappear.
One of the ways we define courage is being able to respond well to adversity. Football is full of challenges even for the best players. Difficult moments are part of being the best. The guys came through that.
The man who has pulled it all together is 55 years old. He had something to put right after only a few months, but he was fired by Genk in 2019.
His arrival at Union led to promotion.
O'Loughlin says that he is a special kind of coach. He knows how to motivate a group. He knows how to push a winning mentality. The players are told that they must win every training session. He has embraced the club's values.
The players of Union Saint-Gilloise celebrated their promotion last season.
It would be the most remarkable title win in Europe this season if Mazzu could deliver the title at Union. They extended their lead at the top to six points after coming from two goals down to win.
There is a lot of uneasiness at title talk. There is nothing close to a decision. Union have already won whatever happens now. One of the most famous names in Belgian football has been restored to the top table.
The media duties are becoming more familiar to O'Loughlin. The agents are calling him. Some doors are easier to open. People are hearing about a club for the first time. It was more difficult to get people to listen.
There is a determination to take advantage of the opportunity. "Sustainability is a part of our future." There is a lot of work going on. They must not lose what makes the Union Saint-Gilloise story so special.
There are plans to grow and maintain that special element. We want to keep the unique. It is easy to fall in love with this club.
Belgian football is finding that again.
