State of the Unions: In the Heart of the European Union, at Royal Union St. Gilloise in Brussels

The EU, Europe's great post-war peace project, can feel beleaguered today. Global and continental uncertainties collide, and things are complicated in Brussels, Belgium, the heart of the European Union. Two clubs from that capital survived in the Europa League, though none bear Brussels’ city name: RSC Anderlecht, with the beautiful color of purple, and Royal Union St Gilloise, a recent regular guest in European club competitions. And in a multinational, multilingual European Union, in Brussels, Belgium, a multilingual, multiethnic country (French, Dutch and German are Belgium’s official languages), it’s Royal Union that fittingly has a multinational, multilinguistic fanclub. Its beginnings lie in a group of EU employees from other countries who met on the standing terraces of the Stade Joseph Marien, St. Gilles' legendary homeground. Joining me today are Ana, from Portugal, who works for the European Commission, one of the Branches of the European Union, and Seppe, from Belgium, who "works a normal job”. They are members of the above mentioned multinational, multilingual fanclub - "beunion" is its name. This is a conversation about the rise back to the top of one of Belgium’s oldest and most unique clubs, about the state of the Union that is Union St Gilloise, but also the European Union, and the continent, these days. HELPFUL LINKS FOR THIS EPISODE: bEUnion - fanclub website, in EnglishThe full cup final of Union vs. Royal Antwerpen FC 2024, with nice USG pyro to startUSG's history on wikipediaStade Joseph Marien, stadium guide with photosNEW: send me a text message! (I'd love to hear your thoughts - texts get to me anonymously, without charge or signup) Please leave a quick voicemail with any feedback, corrections, suggestions - or just greetings - HERE. Or comment via Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky or Facebook. If you enjoy this podcast and think that what I do fills a gap in soccer coverage that others would be interested in as well, pleaseRecommend The Assistant Professor of Football. Spreading the word, through word of mouth, truly does help. Leave some rating stars at the podcast platform of your choice. There are so many sports podcasts out there, and only ratings make this project visible; only then can people who look for a different kind of take on European soccer actually find me.Artwork for The Assistant Professor of Football is by Saige LindInstrumental music for this podcast, including the introduction track, is by the artist Ketsa and used under a Creative Commons license through Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/