Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: KVC Deerlijk Sport

Sunday 4 January 2009

BELGIUM: KVC Deerlijk Sport

Guido Gezellelaan, Deerlijk (KVC Deerlijk Sport)

Belgium, province: West Flanders

4 I 2009 / KVC Deerlijk Sport - KFC Langemark 0-0 / West Flanders, Provincial League 1 (= BE level 5)

Timeline

1929 / Foundation of Voetbalclub (VC) Deerlijk Sport, which joins Belgium's FA under matricule 1634. The club's first ground was situated at Vrijputsstraat (groundsman - Jules Peers).
1930 / VC Deerlijk Sport joins the Belgian Football Association, obtaining matricule 1634.
1956 / The club acquires the royal epithet, thus becoming Koninklijke Voetbalclub (KVC) Deerlijk Sport.
1969 / Abandoning Vrijputsstraat, Deerlijk Sport settles at a newly built ground at Guido Gezellelaan. The first match is played here in September 1969.
1971 / KVC Deerlijk Sport wins promotion to West Flanders' Provincial League 1.
1972 / After having taken part in West Flanders' provincial leagues for the first four decades of its existence - and just one year after gaining access to P1 -, KVC Deerlijk Sport wins promotion to National Division 4. The successful trainer is Norbert Delmulle.
1973 / For the benefit of youth players from the outlying hamlet of Sint-Lodewijk, extra training facilities are created at 'Saint-Louis's' Boy Scouts (Chiro) club.
1974 / KVC Deerlijk Sport has its best result in National Division 4, finishing seventh - an accomplishment which is repeated the following season.
1975 / In Sint-Lodewijk, a proper football pitch is put in place at Oliebergstraat, with a small clubhouse being built alongside it thanks to the efforts of Jacques Garremijn, Karel Vanassche, and Roger Delobelle. Delobelle also is the first groundsman of Deerlijk's "Campus B", later being succeeded by Etienne Dejonckere.
1977 / After five consecutive seasons in D4, Deerlijk is relegated back to West Flanders' Provincial League 1.
1980 / Following three years in Provincial League 1, KVC Deerlijk Sport is relegated, thus finding itself in P2 for the first time since 1971.
1984 / Deerlijk Sport finds its way back to P1 by winning the promotion play-offs with its trainer Jacques Ampe. The adventure at the highest provincial level lasts no longer than just one season, though, with relegation following in 1985.
1995 / The nadir in club history is reached, as Deerlijk Sport suffers the humiliation of a relegation to Provincial League 4, the lowest provincial level.
1996 / Bouncing back immediately, Deerlijk Sport celebrates its return to Provincial League 3.
2002 / After six years in P3, KVC Deerlijk Sport manages a promotion to Provincial League 2. In the following two decades, the club mainly competes in P2, with short excursions to Provincial League 1 (2006-07, 2008-09, 2018-19, 2022-) - the promotion in 2022 being achieved under the leadership of trainer Fabian Duyck.
2015 / KVC Deerlijk Sport abandons the premises at Oliebergstraat. Since the club's departure, the pitch in Sint-Lodewijk has been in use exclusively by various local recreational teams.
2023 / In spite of finishing in a respectable 6th place in P1, KVC Deerlijk Sport takes a voluntary step back to Provincial League 4, the bottom of the league ladder, making clear its intentions to focus on its youth academy rather than on its first team.

Note - Part of the information above was provided by Caroline Buyck, Christ Rommens, Ivan Bekaert, Annick Dobbelaere, Chris Deleersnijder, Peter Decleir, Carine Vermoere, Jean-Paul Verleye, Kurt Vandenberghe, Krist Demunck, Martin Bijttebier, Roger Terryn, Rezy Christiaens, Mieke Calewaert, Lucas Decraene, and Kimmy Naessens; thanks to all of them!