KV Mechelen was founded in 1904 in Mechelen, a city in the Antwerp province of Belgium. Playing in yellow and red stripes, the club — also known as Malinwa or by their former French name Malinois — has spent the bulk of its history competing at the top level of Belgian football, though their path has not been without turbulence.
The club's first golden era came in the 1940s, when they claimed the Belgian First Division title in 1942–43, 1945–46, and 1947–48. Decades later, under coach Aad de Mos, a second and even more storied era arrived. After winning the Belgian Cup in 1987, Mechelen entered the European Cup Winners' Cup and, in 1988, defeated Ajax 1–0 in the final to lift the trophy — a feat that remains the last European club title won by a Belgian side. They followed it the next season by claiming both the Belgian league championship and the UEFA Super Cup, beating PSV Eindhoven 3–1 on aggregate.
Financial difficulties in the 1990s eroded that squad, and the club eventually fell as far as the third division in the early 2000s. After successive promotions, they returned to the top flight in 2007. A turbulent period from 2017 to 2019 involved match-fixing allegations and disciplinary proceedings, though Mechelen also memorably won their second Belgian Cup in May 2019, defeating Gent 2–1 in the final.
The club's defining local rivalry is with KRC Mechelen, rooted in the city's historical Catholic-versus-secular divide. Mechelen play their home matches at the AFAS-stadion Achter de Kazerne — literally "Behind the Barracks" — which remains a stronghold for supporters across the Antwerp region.