CHOOSE YOUR WAY TO EXPLORE THIS WEBSITE

ALPHABETICAL INDEX BY COUNTRY

ALL GROUNDS ON GOOGLE MAPS 

FULL BELGIAN NATIONAL LEAGUE (LEVELS 1-5) GROUNDS INDEX VIA GOOGLE MAPS (2024-25)

FULL BELGIAN PROVINCIAL LEAGUE 1 (LEVEL 6) GROUNDS INDEX VIA GOOGLE MAPS (2024-25)

FULL NETHERLANDS' NATIONAL LEAGUE (LEVELS 1-5) GROUNDS INDEX VIA GOOGLE MAPS (2024-25)

FULL NETHERLANDS' LEAGUE 1 (LEVEL 6) INDEX VIA GOOGLE MAPS (2024-25)

FULL LUXEMBOURG NATIONAL DIVISION GROUNDS INDEX VIA GOOGLE MAPS (2024-25) 

LATEST UPDATE - ADRIAANSSTADION, GERAARDSBERGEN (BELGIUM)

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

BELGIUM: KSK Geraardsbergen (1979-1981) / KSV Geraardsbergen (1981-1988) / VK Jong Geraardsbergen (±2012-±2014) / VC Geraardsbergen United (2022-2023) / Sparta Moerbeke-Geraardsbergen (B) (2019-)

Adriaansstadion "Stedelijk Sportstadion", Geraardsbergen (B ground of Sparta Moerbeke-Geraardsbergen, formerly KSK Geraardsbergen / KSV Geraardsbergen / VK Geraardsbergen)

Belgium, province: East Flanders = Oost-Vlaanderen

5 IV 2025 / VK Young Boys - VK Buizingen 0-3 / KAVVV Vlaams-Brabant & Oost-Vlaanderen, Division 3A

Timeline

• ± 1975 / Construction of a municipal sports stadium at Zonnebloemstraat in Geraardsbergen, the so-called Stedelijk Sportstadion, with a gravel track surrounding a football pitch. The facilities are used by Atletiekclub (AC) Geraardsbergen as well as several recreational football clubs. At the time, a recreational competition is organised with teams from Geraardsbergen and surrounding villages. 
• 1979 / As KSK Geraardsbergen wins promotion from East Flanders’ Provincial League 1 to National Division 4, the club is allowed to move into the Stedelijk Sportstadion at the behest of Geraardsbergen’s municipal authorities. SK Geraardsbergen, founded in 1921 (registration number 1950), had acquired the royal epithet in 1950, becoming KSK Geraardsbergen. During its time at Terrein Zonnebloemstraat – probably the original ground of the club, accidentally situated at the same street as the future municipal stadium, but on a location further up the hill – the club had had several spells in National Division 3 (‘Promotion’: 1937-38, 1943-44, 1945-48, 1950-52) and National Division 4 (1952-56, 1960-66). When its ground at Zonnebloemstraat has to make way for housing, probably in the mid-1970s, the club moves to a much more modest ground, Terrein Oudenaardsestraat. When promotion to National Division 4 follows, it is clear that this ground is not up to hosting national league football – and the decision to move to the municipal stadium mentioned above is taken. Municipal authorities have a clubhouse built with dressing rooms at the ground floor; facilities which had not been in place until that time. Moreover, a covered stand flanked by two bits of terracing at the western side of the pitch are added. As Terrein Oudenaardsestraat is abandoned once and for all, KSK Geraardsbergen moves its youth academy as well as lower league football to a newly laid-out B ground at Molendreef in Nederboelare, on the northern outskirts of Geraardsbergen. 
• 1981 / After two seasons in National Division 4, KSK Geraardsbergen drops back into East Flanders’ Provincial League 1. Following the 1980-81 season, the club concludes a merger with VK Geraardsbergen, a Provincial League 4 club which had been founded as Sparta Goeferdinge in 1969 (registration number 735), but renamed VK Geraardsbergen four years later. The new merger club, Koninklijke Sportvereniging (KSV) Geraardsbergen, retains KSK Geraardsbergen’s number 290. First team football continues to be played at the Stedelijk Sportstadion, while all other club activities take place at Terrein Molendreef.
• 1988 / After nine years of first team football at the Stedelijk Sportstadion, KSV Geraardsbergen moves the home games of its flagship team to Terrein Molendreef, later renamed Complex Depoorter in honour of the club’s former honorary president Roger Depoorter. In the following decades, the pitch at the municipal stadium continues to be used for recreational football.
• ± 2012 / VK Jong Geraardsbergen from Onkerzele has just won promotion to Provincial League 3. As the club’s presidency prefers to move first team football to Saturday evenings (instead of Sunday afternoons) and the floodlights at the club’s Wilgierstadion are not strong enough to allow league football, the club successfully files a request at Geraardsbergen’s municipal authorities to be allowed to move its first team football to the Stedelijk Sportstadion.
• 2014 / Works get underway on a thorough renovation of the Stedelijk Sportstadion. Also in or around 2014, VK Jong Geraardsbergen’s flagship team moves back to the Wilgierstadion in Onkerzele.
• 2015 / After completion of the renovation works at the Stedelijk Sportstadion, which involved replacing the gravel track for a proper athletics track as well as the removal of the bits of open terracing on both sides of the grandstand, the stadium is reinaugurated in October 2015 with a new name, Adriaansstadion, named after the patron saint of the nearby church, St Adrian.
• 2019 / Sparta Moerbeke-Geraardsbergen, a provincial league club from Moerbeke, loses its second pitch at Terrein Zikastraat following the passing of the owner of the plot of land on which this B pitch is situated. With the inheritance issue proving unsolvable for the moment, the club is no long allowed to make use of the second pitch. Thereupon, a successful request is filed at Geraardsbergen’s municipal authorities to be allowed to use the Adriaansstadion’s pitch for lower team football and training purposes.
• 2022 / A new football club is founded in Geraardsbergen, VC Geraardsbergen United, which acquires membership of Belgium’s Football Association with registration number 9776. VC Geraardsbergen United does not field a first team, instead taking part in the reserves’ leagues only, with the club settling at the Adriaansstadion.
• 2023 / After one year at the Adriaansstadion, VC Geraardsbergen United leaves the ground, concluding a groundsharing agreement with KSV Geraardsbergen at Complex Depoorter.
• 2026 (projected) / The inheritance issue which kept Sparta Moerbeke-Geraardsbergen from using its second pitch at Zikastraat has been resolved in 2025. The club are hoping to get its B pitch ready for use by January 2026, which would mean the club would leave the Adriaansstadion to the exclusive use of recreational teams, notably FC Nederboelare and VK Polder (the VK Young Boys home match I visited had been moved to the stadium as the Wilgierstadion, the team’s usual home ground, was unavailable due to a youth tournament being organised there). 

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

LUXEMBOURG: FCM Young Boys Diekirch

Stade Municipal - Rue Joseph Merten, Diekirch (FCM Young Boys Diekirch)

Luxembourg, canton: Diekirch

2 IV 2025 / FCM Young Boys Diekirch - FF Norden 02 Weiswampach-Hupperdange 4-2 A.E.T. / Coupe FLF QF

Timeline

• 1908 / Two years after the foundation of the first club in Luxembourg, CS Fola Esch, a football club sees the daylight in Diekirch as well, with the founding meeting being held in Café Schumacher, where Auguste Schneider is elected as first chairman of the newly formed Football Club Diekirch (FCD or FC Diekirch). The club does not take part in any competition yet, sticking to playing matches among members at the middle ground of the local velodrome, Terrain Lorenzwues, situated on a plot of open land between the Sûre River and the Route d’Ettelbruck.
• 1909 / FC Diekirch changes its name to become FC Young Boys Diekirch, as the club plays its first friendly match against another team – a home game against FC Marisca Mersch (1-4). In the early days, club activities comprise not only football, but various track and field activities as well. Also in 1909, FC Young Boys Diekirch joins Luxembourg’s sports federation Fédération des Sociétés Luxembourgeoises de Sports Athlétiques (FSLSA), later to become the Luxembourg Football Federation (FLF).
• 1912 / In its first season as a competitive club, in which FC Young Boys Diekirch is placed in Division B, the second and lowest division in the fledgling Luxembourgian league pyramid, the club finishes as runners-up behind AS La Jeunesse d’Esch.
• 1914 / As the German Reich annexes Luxembourg in the early stages of World War I, Terrain Lorenzwues in Diekirch is temporarily taken over by Wehrmacht troops. 
• 1916 / Champions in Division 2 Group 1 (level 2), 3 points ahead of runners-up SC Differdange, FC Young Boys Diekirch wins promotion to Division 1, the top flight of Luxembourg’s league pyramid at that time.
• 1918 / In the best season in club history, FC Young Boys Diekirch finishes in fourth place in Division 1, the top division of Luxembourg’s football pyramid at that time, behind CS Fola Esch, US Hollerich-Bonnevoie, and SC Luxembourg.
• 1919 / After three seasons in Division 1, FC Young Boys Diekirch now finishes bottom of the table in that division, thus dropping back into Division 2. In the years 1919-21, however, the club does not take part in regular league football. This has to do in part with the fact that Terrain Lorenzwues had been ravished in a flood in 1919, with the club moving to the middle ground of Diekirch’s hippodrome, Terrain Sauerwiss. This new ground, however, proves no more than a temporary solution, as the soil proves too muddy to create an even pitch.
• 1920 / Léon Metzler, a Young Boys player, is part of the Luxembourg squad which is knocked out by the Netherlands in the Round of Last 16 in the football tournament of the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp – although the match (0-3) is staged in Brussels. It was to remain Metzler’s only international game. Léon Metzler passed away in 1930 at the age of 34.
• 1922 / Having re-entered Luxembourg’s league pyramid in Division 3, the fourth and lowest level at that time, FC Young Boys Diekirch immediately wins the D3 title, thus acceding to Division 2 along with runners-up FC Marisca Mersch, which had finished 5 points behind them. 
• 1923 / FC Young Boys Diekirch moves away from its makeshift pitch since 1919, Terrain Sauerwiss, settling at a newly laid-out ground, the so-called Parc des Sports, at Rue d’Ettelbruck. The ground, situated on a plot of land purchased by YB Diekirch members one year previously, is adorned with a wooden grandstand as well as a set of dressing rooms, while there is also space for two tennis pitches beside it.
• 1924 / Runaway champions in Division 2 Group 1 (level 3), 7 points ahead of closest followers FC Etzella Ettelbruck and AS Luxembourg, FC Young Boys Diekirch wins promotion to Promotion.
• 1928 / Finishing bottom of the table in Promotion (level 2), FC Young Boys Diekirch drops back into Division 2 along with the club in second-last place, FC Mansfeldia Clausen.
• 1930 / FC Young Boys Diekirch finishes as runners-up in Division 2 Group 1, 2 points behind champions FC Egalité Weimerskirch.
• 1934 / Finishing in second-last place in Promotion (level 3 / new name of Division 2 since 1932), FC Young Boys Diekirch descends into Division 2 along with bottom club SC Bettembourg.
• 1936 / Champions in Division 2 Group 2 (level 4), FC Young Boys Diekirch wins promotion to Promotion along with runners-up US Niederwiltz, which had finished 2 points behind them.
• 1938 / Champions in Promotion (level 3), FC Young Boys Diekirch accedes to Division 1 along with the clubs in second and third place, FC Blue Boys Muhlenbach and CS Pétange, which had finished 2 and 3 points behind them respectively.
• 1940 / Finishing in third-last place in Division 1 (level 2), FC Young Boys Diekirch drops back into Promotion along with SC Tétange and bottom club SC Bettembourg. Following the German annexation of Luxembourg in May 1940, FC Young Boys Diekirch, like all other Luxembourgian clubs, has to take on a German name – becoming FK (Fussballklub) Diekirch. Luxembourg’s league system is incorporated into the German league pyramid.
• ± 1941 / An over-zealous nazi mayor in Diekirch commandeers the Parc des Sports for potato cultivation, as he is eager to make a good impression on German authorities with their Versorgungsschlacht an der Heimatfront, a campaign to keep all mouths fed in the ongoing war. On the lookout for a new pitch, FK Diekirch settles on a plot of land known locally as Terrain Aalt Waasser, situated at Rue de Larochette (Felser Straße) – the location of the synthetic side-pitch of FCM Young Boys Diekirch nowadays, although the original pitch, laid out during the war years, had been laid out in a north-south direction, rather than east-west, as the current 3G pitch. 
• 1944 / After the liberation of Luxembourg, FK Diekirch reverts to its old name FC Young Boys Diekirch. For the 1945-46 season, the first after war’s end, the club is placed in Promotion (level 3).
• 1945 / As municipal authorities help the club by evening the pitch at Rue de Larochette, FC Young Boys Diekirch resolves to stay on this location, forced on them by the Germans during the war years.
• 1947 / Champions in Promotion Group 2 (level 3), FC Young Boys Diekirch accedes to Division 1 along with runners-up FC Progrès 08 Grund, which had finished 3 points behind them.
• 1948 / Coached by Camille Libar, FC Young Boys Diekirch finishes in third-last place in Division 1 (level 2), dropping back into Promotion after just one year, along with FC Avenir Beggen, FC Progrès 08 Grund, and bottom club AS Remich.
• 1949 / Runners-up in Promotion Group 1 (level 3), 5 points behind champions FC Avenir Beggen, FC Young Boys Diekirch wins promotion to Division 1. The successful coach is Nicolas Kettel.
• 1950 / Finishing in third place in Division 1 (level 2), FC Young Boys Diekirch wins promotion to the Division of Honour, the top flight of Luxembourg’s football pyramid, for the first time, along with champions FC Racing Rodange and runners-up FC Chiers Rodange. This second promotion in a row is achieved under the leadership of coach Nicolas Kettel.
• 1951 / Coached by Albert Reuter, FC Young Boys Diekirch finishes bottom of the table in the Division of Honour (level 1), thus dropping back into Division 1 instantly, along with FC Chiers Rodange and FC US Dudelange.
• 1955 / Coached by Remy Wagner, FC Young Boys Diekirch finishes in second-last place in Division 1 Group 1 (level 2), thus descending into Promotion along with bottom club Daring Club Echternach.
• 1956 / Champions in Promotion Group 1 (level 3), FC Young Boys Diekirch wins promotion to Division 1 along with runners-up FC Orania Vianden. Also in 1956, the club wins one of the few pieces of tangible silverware by defeating FC Sporting Bertrange (1-0) in the final of the Coupe FLF, Luxembourg’s second cup competition. The successful coach is Remy Wagner.
• 1957 / In a reorganisation Luxembourg’s league pyramid, Division 1, the second level, is renamed Promotion d’Honneur, a name it has borne ever since. In the following decade, Young Boys prove a regular feature at this level.
• 1958 / Paul Pemmers, chairman of FC Young Boys Diekirch, passes away after a tenure of 34 years.
• 1968 / Coached by François Neu, FC Young Boys Diekirch finishes in second-last place in Promotion d’Honneur, thus descending into Division 1, the third level of the league pyramid, along with bottom club FC Koeppchen Wormeldange. Also in or around 1968, possibly on the occasion of the club’s sixtieth anniversary, FC Young Boys Diekirch adapts its name to become Football Club Municipal (FCM) Young Boys Diekirch (anyone able to shed further light on this matter is heartily invited to get in touch with me!).
• 1972 / Coached by Norbert Schnennetten, who had replaced Francis Pilot in the course of the season, FCM Young Boys Diekirch finishes in third-last place in Division 1 Group 1, thus suffering relegation into Division 2 along with AS Differdange, FC Résidence Walferdange, and bottom club FC Mamer 32.
• 1974 / Champions in Division 2 Group 1, FCM Young Boys Diekirch wins promotion to Division 1 along with runners-up FC Blö-Weiss Medernach, which had finished 1 point behind them. The successful coach is Paul Ries.
• 1976 / In the Luxembourg Cup, FCM Young Boys Diekirch has an excellent run with successive victories over US Sandweiler, US Rumelange, SC Tétange, and FC Jeunesse Biwer – ultimately being knocked out in the semifinal by AS La Jeunesse d’Esch (5-1 aggr.).
• 1977 / Champions in Division 1 Group 1, 5 points ahead of closest followers FC Jeunesse Schieren, FCM Young Boys Diekirch wins promotion to Promotion d’Honneur. The successful coach is Marcel Welter.
• 1978 / Runners-up in Promotion d’Honneur, 9 points behind champions FC Aris Bonnevoie, FCM Young Boys Diekirch achieves its second promotion in a row, acceding to the National Division after an absence of 27 years in the top flight of Luxembourgian football. The successful coach is Marcel Welter.
• 1979 / Coached by Marcel Welter, FCM Young Boys Diekirch finishes bottom of the table in the National Division, dropping back into Promotion d’Honneur after one season along with the club in second-last position, CS Alliance Dudelange. The club has never managed a return to the top division of Luxembourg’s league pyramid ever since. Also in 1979, in the Luxembourg Cup, FCM Young Boys Diekirch manages to knock out SC Tétange, US Esch, and FC Sporting Mertzig successively, eventually being eliminated in the semis by FA Red Boys Differdange (4-2 aggr.).
• 1982 / Coached by Marcel Welter, who had returned to the club in the course of the 1981-82 for a second spell at the club, replacing Arthur Schoos, FCM Young Boys Diekirch finishes bottom of the table in Promotion d’Honneur, dropping back into Division 1 along with the club in second-last place, FC Swift Hesperange.
• 1983 / Runners-up in Division 1 Group 1, with an equal number of points as champions FC Sporting Mertzig, but with an inferior goal difference, FCM Young Boys Diekirch goes on to win a set of promotion-relegation play-offs against FC Racing Rodange and US Mondorf-les-Bains, thus achieving an immediate return to Promotion d’Honneur. The successful coach is Marcel Welter. Also in or around 1983, the new Stade Municipal in Diekirch is inaugurated, situated only a stone’s throw away from the football ground at Rue de Larochette. The new facilities at Rue Joseph Merten feature a football pitch surrounded by an athletics track (inaugurated in 1984) as well as an indoor sports hall. First team football is moved to this new stadium, although the old pitch at Rue de Larochette, which is in walking distance from the new stadium, remains in use for lower team football (anyone able to give more information about the exact year of the move to the Stade Municipal is very welcome to get in touch with me!).
• 1984 / Coached by Marcel Welter, FCM Young Boys Diekirch finishes in third-last place in Promotion d’Honneur, going on to finish in last place in the promotion-relegation play-offs against US Mondorf-les-Bains and FC Atert Bissen. As such, the club suffers relegation to Division 1 along with US Dudelange and bottom club Daring Club Echternach.
• 1988 / Champions in Division 1 Group 1, FCM Young Boys Diekirch wins promotion to Promotion d’Honneur along with the clubs in second and third place, FC Orania Vianden and FC Sporting Steinfort, who had finished 5 and 9 points behind them respectively. The successful coach is Robert Thillens.
• 1989 / In the Luxembourg Cup, FCM Young Boys Diekirch has a fine run with successive victories over AS Hosingen, SC Tétange, CS Sanem, and FC Olympique Eischen, thus reaching the semis for the third time, in which the club is knocked out by Union Luxembourg (0-3).
• 1990 / The Stade Municipal in Diekirch hosts a U21 European Championship qualifier between Luxembourg and West Germany (0-3), attended by some 1,600 spectators.
• 1991 / Finishing in second-last place in Promotion d’Honneur Group 1 with coach Joé Schilling, FCM Young Boys Diekirch goes on to finish bottom of the table in the relegation play-offs, thus dropping back into Division 1 along with FC Olympique Eischen. 
• 1992 / Champions in Division 1 Group 1, FCM Young Boys Diekirch manages an immediate return to Promotion d’Honneur, along with runners-up FC Olympique Eischen, which had finished 2 points behind them. The successful coach is Carlo Calmes.
• 1997 / Coached by Gilbert Dresch, FCM Young Boys Diekirch finishes in second-last place in Promotion d’Honneur, dropping back into Division 1 along with Union Mertert-Wasserbillig and bottom club AS Differdange.
• 1999 / Champions in Division 1 Group 1, with an equal number of points as FC Jeunesse Schieren, but with a better goal difference (+48 vs. +29), FCM Young Boys Diekirch wins promotion to Promotion d’Honneur. The successful coach is Jacek Complak.
• 2000 / Young Boys’ midfielder Alphonse Leweck, who had broken into the club’s first team at the age of sixteen in 1998, leaves the club to sign a deal with FC Etzella Ettelbruck. Leweck would go on to have spells at AS La Jeunesse d’Esch and FC 72 Erpeldange before hanging up his boots in 2018. He also earned 52 caps for Luxembourg’s national team between 2002 and 2009.
• 2003 / Former Belgian professional league defender Bernard Wegria (RFC Liège & KFC Germinal Ekeren) signs a deal with FCM Young Boys Diekirch as head coach, but he leaves the club after just one season in the summer of 2004. Also in 2003, Young Boys’ midfielder Charles Leweck, the younger brother of Alphonse, who had broken into the club’s first team at the age of eighteen in 2001, signs a deal with FC Etzella Ettelbruck. The younger Leweck brother would go on to have spells as AS La Jeunesse d’Esch and FC 72 Erpeldange, eventually hanging up his boots in 2019. He also earned 39 caps for Luxembourg’s national team between 2004 and 2012.
• 2005 / Coached by Nico Dhamen, who had replaced Jacek Complak in the course of the season, FCM Young Boys Diekirch finishes bottom of the table in Promotion d’Honneur, tumbling back into Division 1 along with Daring Club Echternach and CS Fola Esch.
• 2008 / As FCM Young Boys Diekirch celebrates its centenary anniversary, two gala matches are held at the Stade Municipal; in May, FC Metz and R Excelsior Virton are invited (1-2), while F91 Dudelange entertains CS Sedan Ardennes in a pre-season friendly in July (1-4).
• 2009 / Champions in Division 1 Group 1, FCM Young Boys Diekirch accedes to Promotion d’Honneur along with runners-up FC Jeunesse Schieren, which had finished 2 points behind them.
• 2012 / Finishing in third-last place in Promotion d’Honneur, FCM Young Boys Diekirch avoids the drop thanks to edging past SC Steinfort in a promotion-relegation play-off (2-2 A.E.T. & penalty shoot-out).
• 2013 / Finishing bottom of the table in Promotion d’Honneur, FCM Young Boys Diekirch drops back into Division 1 along with CS Oberkorn, FC Mondercange, and FC Mamer 32.
• 2014 / Finishing in second-last place in Division 1 Group 1, FCM Young Boys Diekirch suffers a second relegation in a row, descending into Division 2 along with bottom club US Feulen.
• 2015 / Finishing in third-last place in Division 2 Group 1, FCM Young Boys Diekirch only avoids a third relegation in a row thanks to a 3-0 (A.E.T.) win over US Folschette in a promotion-relegation play-off.
• 2019 / Finishing in third place in Division 2 Group 1, FCM Young Boys Diekirch goes on to defeat FC Sporting Bertrange (1-0), resulting in the club managing a return to Division 1 after five years, along with champions US Feulen and runners-up AS Hosingen.

Note 1 – Important parts of the information provided above were derived from a book published on the occasion of the centenary anniversary of FCM Young Boys Diekirch: “FCM Young Boys Diekirch. Livre d’Or 1908-2008”, by Nicolas Peschong & Henri Bressler, ed. FCM Young Boys Diekirch: Diekirch, 2008.

Note 2 – Below, a compilation of photos of three different visits: pictures 2 & 6 = non-matchday visit, July 1995 / pictures 1 & 3-5 = non-matchday visit, July 2010 / pictures 7-28 = match visit, April 2025.

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