College Melle
Royal Antwerp were formed in about 1880 by British expatriates and the Koninklijke Belgische Voetbalbond was established in 1895. Football had first arrived in Belgium in 1863. One football, a leather ball, a luxury item, was taken to The College of the Josephite Fathers at Melle by Cyril Bernard Morrogh . Morrogh was a young student from Ireland. Apparently it was his English classmates who showed most enthusiasm for the game. How closely their activities adhered to the Association Laws of the Game we will never know. Very little, I suspect.
The information, illustration and post title are taken from Kroniek van het Belgisch Voetball (Fraiponts & Willcox, 2003)
Not the actual ball. This one dates from the 1880s