Spirou Basket, commonly known simply as Spirou, is a Belgian professional basketball club that is located in Charleroi. The club competes in the BNXT League, the highest tier of basketball in Belgium. The club's home arena is the Spiroudome which can host 6,300 people.
Established in 1989, the team is named after the long-running Belgian comics magazine Spirou, the publisher of which, Dupuis, is based in Marcinelle, Charleroi.
Spirou Charleroi has won the Belgian League championship ten times (1996âÂÂ99, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011), the Belgian Cup 5 times (1996, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2009), and the Belgian Supercup 7 times (1996, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2008, 2010).
In the 1996âÂÂ97 season, Spirou made its debut in the Euroleague, the highest continental league of Europe. The club participated in the regular phase of the tournament in four other seasons (2000âÂÂ01, 2001âÂÂ02, 2010âÂÂ11, 2011âÂÂ12).
During the 2004âÂÂ05 season, Spirou reached the quarter-finals of the EuroCup, its best result on the European stage to date.
On July 29, 2014, Jacques Stas became the new head coach of the club while his predecessor Giovanni Bozzi replaced him as team president.
Since the 2021âÂÂ22 season, Spirou plays in the BNXT League, in which the national leagues of Belgium and the Netherlands have been merged.
Partly due to sponsorship reasons, the club has known several names: