Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: ES Olloy (1938-1939) / Olloy Sports (1945-1952) / ESV Olloy (1967-2018, 2019-) / RES Couvin-Mariembourg (C) (2018-2019)

Sunday, 20 September 2026

BELGIUM: ES Olloy (1938-1939) / Olloy Sports (1945-1952) / ESV Olloy (1967-2018, 2019-) / RES Couvin-Mariembourg (C) (2018-2019)

Terrain du Néviau, Olloy-sur-Viroin (Entente Sportive du Viroin-Olloy, formerly ES Olloy / Olloy Sports)

Belgium, province: Namur = Namen

20 IX 2026 / ESV Olloy - SC Graide 2-5 / Namur, Provincial League 4C (= BE level 9)

Timeline

1938 / Foundation of a first football club in Olloy-sur-Viroin, a village in the picturesque Thiérarche region in the southwest of the Province of Namur. The new club takes on the name Etoile Sportive (ES) Olloy, acquiring membership of Belgium’s Football Association (URBSFA / KBVB) with registration number 2652. Most probably, ES Olloy already played its football on the Terrain du Néviau on the boards of the River Viroin – still in use as a football ground today – the river being a practical asset, allowing players to wash themselves after the match.
1939 / After an existence of barely one year, ES Olloy folds, ceasing all activities.
1945 / Foundation of Olloy Sports, a new football club in Olloy-sur-Viroin, which joins the Belgian FA with registration number 4271. Most probably, Olloy Sports also played its football on the Terrain du Néviau.
1952 / After an existence of seven years, Olloy Sports folds, ceasing all activities.
1967 / Foundation of a third successive club in Olloy-sur-Viroin. This time, the more verbose name Entente Sportive du Viroin-Olloy, usually abbreviated as ESV Olloy, is chosen. The club, which acquires membership of the Belgian FA with registration number 7043, settles on the Terrain du Néviau, agreeing on a lease agreement with its owner, Pierre Lopez. Behind the western end of the ground, near the entrance, a makeshift clubhouse is erected in wood, with a caravan serves as the dressing room for both teams. In the 1967-68 season, ESV Olloy probably competed in the reserves’ divisions, as was customary in those days with emerging clubs in the Province of Namur.
1968 / After a first season which was most probably spent in the reserves’ divisions, ESV Olloy is placed in Provincial League 3 – at that time the bottom level of the provincial pyramid in the Province of Namur.
1979 / With the wooden clubhouse having to make way for a proper stone dressing room, a new clubhouse in stone is constructed alongside the northern touchline of the Terrain du Néviau.
1980 / Clinching the title in Namur’s Provincial League 3, ESV Olloy wins promotion to Provincial League 2 for the first time.
1982 / After two years in Namur’s Provincial League 2, ESV Olloy drops back into Provincial League 3. In subsequent years, a Provincial League 4 is added to Namur’s provincial league pyramid as the new bottom level.
± 1989 / ESV Olloy wins promotion to Namur’s Provincial League 2 for the second time.
± 1991 / After two seasons in Namur’s Provincial League 2, ESV Olloy drops back into Provincial League 3.
1996 / With no data available regarding the club’s performance in the preceding years, we now find ESV Olloy in Namur’s Provincial League 3B.
1997 / Finishing in third-last place in Namur’s Provincial League 3B, ESV Olloy descends into Provincial League 4, along with FC Clermont and bottom club FC Dailly.
1999 / Gaining promotion from Namur’s Provincial League 4 following a tie-break match against RCS Florennois, ESV Olloy accedes to Provincial League 3 – with the club avoiding relegation in the following season thanks to the temporary abolition of Provincial League 4.
2002 / With Provincial League 4 being reintroduced in Namur in the 2002-03 season, ESV Olloy, finishing in second-last place in Provincial League 3D, does not escape relegation, with the other drop-outs being ES Petigny-Frasnes, RUS Yvetoise, FC Somzée, FC Dailly, JS Fraire, derby rivals FC Oignies, and bottom club Flavion Sport.
2013 / Runaway champions in Namur’s Provincial League 4E, 12 points ahead of closest followers RCS Florennois, ESV Olloy manages a return to Provincial League 3 after eleven years.
2014 / Finishing in third-last place in Namur’s Provincial League 3B, just 1 point short of REFC Moustier and safety, ESV Olloy descends into Provincial League 4 after one season, along with FC Ligny B and bottom club R Ham FC.
2018 / In August 2018, having played only its first league match in Namur’s Provincial League 4C, ESV Olloy withdraws its first – and only – team; this is all the more disappointing, given the hopeful fifth place in Provincial League 4F of the previous season. In the 2018-19 season, the Terrain du Néviau is only used by the ladies’ team of RES Couvin-Mariembourg – which, in fact, used to be the ladies’ team of ESV Olloy.
2019 / With the ladies of RES Couvin-Mariembourg leaving the Terrain du Néviau after one year, ESV Olloy resumes its activities with a reserves’ team and one youth team.
2021 / After an absence of two years, ESV Olloy returns with a first team in Namur’s Provincial League 4. Since, the club has remained a regular feature in the bottom half of that division.

Note 1 – Thanks to Pascale Jacqmart for providing essential parts of information for the article above.

Note 2 – Below, a compilation of photos of two different visits: pictures 1-6 = non-matchday visit, September 2018 / pictures 7-25 = match visit, September 2026.