Alfred Grisar

Alfred Félix Grisar (22 July 1881 – 27 November 1958) was one of the most important pioneers in the sporting history of Belgium, most notably in polo, being known as "The Father of Belgian Polo", and football, being the fundamental head behind the foundation of Beerschot AC in 1899, for whom he played as a goalkeeper. He competed in the polo tournament at the 1920 Summer Olympics. and as the son of a well-off family, he was sent to Britain to complete his studies, doing so in a college in Brighton. His father died a few weeks later in November, so Alfred became the owner of the facilities and the club, which he named Beerschot because of a nearby wooded park called "Beerschotshof", and which had departments in field hockey, polo, cricket, tennis, athletics and football.

Grisar sought advice for his start in management and surrounded himself with friends to help him, giving each of them a sports section to manage, but choosing his favorite sport for himself, football, whose section was started in February 1900, and then officially registered in July of that year. Among the players who moved were the Potts brothers (Herbert and Walter), the Robyns brothers (Jan and Paul), with Herbert Potts and Jan Robyns being named captain and vice-captain of the football team, who played their first match on 6 May 1900, in a friendly game against the Antwerp Reserves.

On 15 May, Beerschot officially became a member of the Belgian FA, which allowed them to participate in the 1900–01 Belgian First Division, making their official debut on 21 October 1900, in which Grisar started as a goalkeeper and helped his club to a 10–2 victory over FC Brugeois. The two sides contested the so-called Coupe Vanden Abeele, which was offered by Beerschot's secretary Frédéric Vanden Abeele, and Grisar himself featured as Belgium's goalkeeper in the second match on 5 January 1902, in which he kept a clean sheet in a 2–0 win.