Sunday, 30 March 2025

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All photos: (c) W.B. Tukker / www.extremefootballtourism.blogspot.com. Publication of any of these images only after permission of author

BELGIUM: R Jeunesse Magnétoise

Terrain des Hirondelles, Magnée (R Jeunesse Magnétoise)

Belgium, province: Liège = Luik

30 III 2025 / RJ Magnétoise - FC Trois Frontières B 1-2 / Liège, Provincial League 4E (= BE level 9)

Timeline
  • 1938 / Foundation of a football club in Magnée, which is given the name Jeunesse Magnétoise. The club applies for membership of the Belgian Football Association, obtaining registration number 2876 upon being accepted. There is a possibility that the club already had existed previous to 1938 as a member of a different football association, notably the Fédération Socialiste, which enjoyed considerable membership in the Province of Liège prior to World War II. Another matter which remains shrouded in clouds is if Jeunesse Magnétoise played at Terrain des Hirondelles from the outset; if the club played elsewhere in its early days, it must have moved to their current ground in the early 1950s at its latest.
  • 1971 / Obtaining the royal epithet, the club adapts its name to become Royale Jeunesse (RJ) Magnétoise.
  • 2010 / R Jeunesse Magnétoise manages a ninth place in Liège’s Provincial League 2B, possibly the best achievement in club history. It is clear that RJ Magnétoise never rose above the level of Provincial League 2.
  • 2011 / Finishing second from bottom in Liège’s Provincial League 2B, RJ Magnétoise drops back into Provincial League 3 along with R Elan Dalhem and bottom club RUS Glontoise.
  • 2012 / Finishing in joint thirteenth position in Liège’s Provincial League 3C with FC Cheratte, RJ Magnétoise has to play a tie-break match against that club to avoid relegation – successfully doing so by winning the encounter (0-2). Also in or around 2012, RJ Magnétoise was allowed to make use of the neighbouring Stade Walthère Delvigne in Romsée for lower team football and training sessions.
  • 2013 / Finishing in second-last place in Liège’s Provincial League 3C, RJ Magnétoise descends into Provincial League 4, the bottom division in Belgium’s league pyramid, along with R Battice FC B and bottom club RUS Glontoise.
  • 2015 / RJ Magnétoise stops making use of the Stade Walthère Delvigne in Romsée for lower team football and training sessions.
  • 2016 / Runners-up in Liège’s Provincial League 4C, 5 points behind champions R Sougné-Remouchamps Sports, RJ Magnétoise qualifies for the promotion play-offs. Knocking out R Fraiture FC in R1 (6-1), the club is eliminated in R2 by RSC Tilffois (3-3 & penalty shoot-out).
  • 2018 / Finishing in third place in Liège’s Provincial League 4C, RJ Magnétoise qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is knocked out in R1 by Alliance Fexhe et Slins-Fragnée (0-0 & penalty shoot-out).
  • 2019 / Finishing in fourth place in Liège’s Provincial League 4E, only 4 points behind champions JS Liégeoise, RJ Magnétoise qualifies for the play-offs, but fails to win promotion yet again.




















All photos: (c) W.B. Tukker / www.extremefootballtourism.blogspot.com. Publication of any of these images only after permission of author

BELGIUM: RSC Tilffois (±1927-±2015) / RSC Tilffois (B) (±2015-)

Stade Hubert Colleye terr. 1, Tilff Sainval (B pitch of RSC Tilffois, formerly A pitch of RSC Tilffois)

Belgium, province: Liège = Luik

30 III 2025 / RSC Tilffois B - R Fraiture Sports B 5-2 / Liège, Provincial League 4C (= BE level 9)

Timeline
  • 1921 / Foundation of Sporting Club (SC) Tilffois on October 1st, 1921. Settling at the Vélodrome de Tilff, the club starts its life in Liège’s Provincial League 4 – winning promotion to League 3 in its first season.
  • 1926 / Upon Belgium’s FA introducing the matricule system, SC Tilffois is assigned matricule 172.
  • ± 1927 / Moving away from the Vélodrome, SC Tilffois settles on the western side of the Ourthe, at Chemin de Halage in Sainval, a hamlet on the northern outskirts of Tilff.
  • ± 1937 / The ground at Chemin de Halage is renamed Stade Hubert Colleye in honour of a local coal merchant who had been instrumental in the club’s survival in its early years.
  • 1946 / Upon the club’s 25th birthday, SC Tilffois obtains the royal epithet, thus becoming Royal Sporting Club (RSC) Tilffois.
  • 1928 / SC Tilffois manages to win promotion to Provincial League 2, the top division of Liège’s Provincial League system at that time. In the following seasons, the club finishes runners-up at that level on multiple occasions. 
  • 1963 / Having spent 34 consecutive seasons in Provincial League 2, RSC Tilffois now descends into P3.
  • 1965 / Winning the title in Provincial League 3 without any defeats and just one draw, RSC Tilffois finds its way back into Provincial League 2.
  • 1970 / Finishing second-last in Provincial League 2, RSC Tilffois descends into P3 after losing a relegation play-off.
  • 1972 / Winning the title in P3, RSC Tilffois accedes to Provincial League 2 once again – a spell which lasts just for one season, with relegation duly following in 1973. 
  • 1973 / Stade Hubert Colleye is extended with a second pitch, mainly used for training purposes.
  • 1975 / A clubhouse is added to Stade Hubert Colleye.
  • 1978 / Floodlights are added to the ground’s main pitch.
  • 2009 / Finishing in last place in Provincial League 3C, RSC Tilffois descends into Provincial League 4, the bottom division of Liège’s provincial league system, along with R Aywaille FC and R Excelsior FC Lambermontois.
  • ± 2015 / First team football is moved to Pitch 2 of Stade Hubert Colleye, an arrangement which has lasted until the present day. Pitch 1 has remained in use for lower team football and training sessions.
  • 2021 / In July 2021, as Eastern Belgium is marred by severe floodings, Stade Hubert Colleye is rendered unusable for two months. Playing its preparatory matches at FC Jupille’s ground at Rue de Visé, the club returns to its home ground in September of that same year. All training sessions, however, are moved to Site Bonnet in Tilleur for the entire season.

























All photos: (c) W.B. Tukker / www.extremefootballtourism.blogspot.com. Publication of any of these images only after permission of author

Saturday, 29 March 2025

NETHERLANDS: GSV '28

Jean Nijsten-Sportpark, Genhout Groot Genhout (GSV '28)

Netherlands, province: Limburg

30 III 2025 / GSV '28 - RKVV Volharding 4-0 / Combined Sunday & Saturday League 1E (= NL level 6)

Timeline
  • 1928 / Foundation of a football club in Groot Genhout, a hamlet in the municipality of Beek in Limburg, which takes on the name (RKVV?) Grootgenhout. A first pitch is laid out for the club on a plot of farmland owned by the Stassen family, referred to locally as Terrein ‘t Gebösjelke (or Gebusselke). 
  • 1930 / (RKVV?) Grootgenhout changes its name to become Genhoutsche Sportvereeniging (GSV). That same year, the club becomes a member of the so-called Roomsch-Katholieke Limburgsche Voetbalbond (RKLVB), the Limburg sub-branch of the RKF (Roomsch-Katholieke Federatie), the Netherlands’ Roman-Catholic football association. It is unclear if the club still played at Terrein ‘t Gebösjelke at the time, or if it had already moved to a pasture also owned by the Stassen family at the back of their farmstead at Grootgenhoutschestraat 99.
  • 1933 / GSV ceases its activities for the time being.
  • 1934 / Refoundation of GSV after one year of inactivity, with the club being readmitted by the RKLVB.
  • 1940 / As the RKF and all its sub-branches fold to be absorbed into the Netherlands’ official Football Association (KNVB, renamed NVB after the German oppression of the Netherlands) at the behest of German occupation authorities, GSV is placed in Afdeling Limburg (Sunday) Division 1 for the 1940-41 season – Afdeling Limburg being the NVB’s Limburg sub-branch.
  • 1941 / Given that the name GSV has already been adopted by several other NVB member clubs, the association orders GSV in Genhout to adapt its name. In February 1941, the club becomes GSV 1934, but, one month later, the decision is taken to use the year of foundation of the original (RKVV?) Grootgenhout, 1928, with the club thus taking on the name GSV ’28.
  • 1945 / At its own request, GSV ’28 is retrograded from Afdeling Limburg Sunday Division 1 to Division 2.
  • 1946 / Clinching the title in Afdeling Limburg Sunday Division 2 following a tie-break match against vv Caesar Reserves (1-0), GSV ’28 manages an immediate return to Division 1.
  • ± 1950 / Moving away from Terrein Stassen (at Grootgenhoutsestraat), GSV ’28 has a pitch laid out for itself on a plot of farmland at the crossroads of Grootgenhoutsestraat and Printhagen, owned by a local smallholder called Mr Vrencken.
  • 1961 / GSV ’28 drops back from Afdeling Limburg Sunday Division 1 to Division 2 after fifteen years.
  • 1966 / In the face of the looming danger of being forbidden to take further part in Afdeling Limburg competitions due to the absence of dressing rooms at their ground, GSV concludes an agreement with Beek’s municipal authorities to create new facilities for the club at Op den Hoogen Boom in Groot Genhout.
  • 1970 / Inauguration of the newly laid-out Sportpark Genhout at Op den Hoogen Boom in Groot Genhout, the new park of GSV ’28, which consists of one pitch only. Moreover, a wooden clubhouse has been erected.
  • 1976 / Champions in Afdeling Limburg Sunday Division 2, GSV ’28 wins promotion to Division 1 after an absence of fifteen years at that level. The successful coaching duo consists of Ger Bruynen and Pierre Stassen.
  • 1985 / Champions in Afdeling Limburg (Sunday) Division 1D, GSV ’28 wins promotion to KNVB District South II’s Sunday League 4 for the first time. The successful coach is Hay Halmans.
  • 1989 / GSV ’28 finishes as runners-up in District South II’s Sunday League 4B, 2 points behind champions RKSV Wit Groen VC.
  • 1991 / Replacing its wooden predecessor, a new clubhouse is erected in stone at Sportpark Genhout, with Beek’s mayor Bert van Goethem laying the foundation stone. The construction has been designed by architects J. Wehrung and R. Swelsen.
  • 1992 / Champions in District South II’s Sunday League 4B, 3 points ahead of closest rivals SV Simpelveld, GSV ’28 wins promotion to Sunday League 3 for the first time. The successful coach is John Vrancken.
  • 1993 / Champions in District South II’s Sunday League 3A, 5 points ahead of runners-up vv Bunde, GSV ’28 wins its second promotion in a row, acceding to Sunday League 2 for the first time. The successful coach is Ed Smeets.
  • 1998 / Runners-up in Sunday League 2G, 6 points behind champions RKSV Groene Ster, GSV ’28 manages to win a historic promotion to Sunday League 1 in the play-offs. The successful coach is Rob van Barneveld. 
  • ± 1999 / A training pitch is added to the set-up at Sportpark Genhout.
  • 2003 / GSV ’28 celebrates its 75th anniversary with a gala match against professional league side Roda JC.
  • 2005 / In the best season in club history so far, GSV ’28, coached by Jean Hoedemakers, finishes in third place in Sunday League 1D, 5 points behind champions SV Panningen. The club reaches the play-offs, but no promotion is achieved.
  • 2006 / Repeating the achievement of the previous season, GSV finishes in third place in Sunday League 1D, 7 points behind champions RKSV Groene Ster. In the promotion play-offs, the club is eliminated by SV Deurne.
  • 2008 / In the summer of 2008, Sportpark Genhout is renamed Jean Nijsten-Sportpark in honour of longtime club chairman Jean Nijsten, who had fallen fatally ill and would pass away in October of that same year.
  • 2012 / Michel Haan becomes the head coach at GSV ’28. Haan is a former professional league striker who had spells at Roda JC, KSC Hasselt, SC Heracles ’74, and VVV, before bowing out into non-league at FC 1910 Germania Teveren in 1994. 
  • 2013 / Coached by Michel Haan, GSV ’28 finishes in second-last place in Sunday League 1D, failing to save its skin in the promotion-relegation play-offs, in which the club is knocked out in R1 by SVC 2000 (2-2 aggr. & penalty shoot-out). As such, GSV ’28 drops back into Sunday League 2 after fifteen years, along with HVV Helmond and bottom club vv Caesar.
  • 2014 / Runners-up in Sunday League 2G, 6 points behind champions RKSV Minor, GSV ’28 qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is eliminated in R1 by RKVV Erp (5-4 aggr.). Following the 2013-14 season, Michel Haan leaves the club. Also in 2014, the main pitch at the Jean Nijsten-Sportpark is laid out anew as a 3G.
  • 2017 / GSV ’28 merges its youth academy with neighbour club RKVV Schimmert.
  • 2018 / Finishing in fourth place in Sunday League 2G, GSV ’28 qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is knocked out in R1 by RKVV Venlosche Boys (4-1).
  • 2020 / As GSV ’28 finds itself in a race for the Sunday League 2G title, only 1 point below leaders RKSV Heer and FC Geleen Zuid, the 2019-20 season is cut short due the first COVID lockdown. No promotion and relegation is carried through following the season.
  • 2023 / GSV ’28 and RKVV Schimmert conclude an agreement with SV Hulsberg to field combined U15, U17, and U19 teams.
  • 2024 / Runners-up in Sunday League 2F, 21 points behind runaway champions RKSV Bekkerveld, GSV ’28 qualifies for the promotion-relegation play-offs. Drawing a bye in R1, the club knocks out vv Handel in R2 to reach the final, played at RKSV De Ster’s Sportpark ‘t Hetjen in Stein. On the day, GSV ’28 defeated SHH, 2-1 (goals by Thom Brinkhof & top scorer Per Hendrix), resulting in the club returning to Sunday League 1 after an absence of eleven seasons. 
















All photos: (c) W.B. Tukker / www.extremefootballtourism.blogspot.com. Publication of any of these images only after permission of author