Extreme Football Tourism: May 2008

Freethielstadion "De Freethiel", Beveren (SK Beveren matr. 4068, formerly SK Beveren-Waes / KSK Beveren matr. 2300 / KV Red Star Waasland-SK Beveren)

Belgium, province: East Flanders

11 V 2008 / KSK Beveren - KV Kortrijk 0-1 / Tweede Klasse (= BE level 2)
23 X 2011 / KV Red Star Waasland-SK Beveren - R Antwerp FC 1-0 / Tweede Klasse (= BE level 2)

Timeline

1920 / Construction of a velodrome with a circumference of 333 metres on a plot of particularly infertile farmland to the west of the town of Beveren. Much of the construction works is carried out by volunteers and jobless locals, who help erecting an open wooden stand with 12 dressing rooms below. With the enormous popularity of cycling events in post-World War I Belgium, the initiative to build a velodrome in Beveren was taken by a local entrepreneur, Frederik Thielemans.
1922 / A first football match between two teams from Beveren is recorded, as Eendracht Beveren and Standaard Beveren meet at Terrein Hof ter Saksen on May 14th, 1922. Standaard Beveren saw the daylight earlier in 1922 under the aegis of a local businessman, Paul Verhaert. Moving away from Terrein Hof ter Saksen in September 1922, Standaard Beveren settles at the newly laid-out Kasteeldomein Ter Gaver, situated at Kasteeldreef; the old ground at Hof ter Saksen is taken over by another team, Amical Beveren. For the moment, none of Beveren's fledgling football clubs seeks affiliation with the official Belgian Football Association.
1926 / Standaard Beveren joins Belgium's FA under the slightly adapted name Standaard Football Club (SFC) Beveren. Later that same year, with the matricule system being introduced, the club obtains matricule 737.
1930 / With the heyday of track cycling having passed, Frederick Thielemans' company, with which he managed the velodrome named after him, goes bankrupt. No more cycling contests are held at the stadium.
1931 / Standaard FC Beveren folds, one year after having withdrawn its first team from East Flanders' regional leagues.
1934 / Foundation of a new football club in Beveren, given the name Voetbalclub (VC) Sportkring (SK) Beveren. The club starts its life at Terrein Van Houts, a makeshift ground situated immediately to the west of the local velodrome, with the entrance gate at Meerminnendam.
1935 / VC SK Beveren joins Belgium's Football Association under matricule 2300 and a slightly adapted name, SK Beveren-Waes. A new ground is laid out for the club at Oud Schuttershof (near the local train station) - but this pitch being deemed unsuitable by Belgian FA officials, the club is constrained to groundshare with VC De Zwarte Leeuw Vrasene in the first half of the season before returning to Terrein Van Houts in the early months of 1936.
1937 / Managing its first success, SK Beveren-Waes wins promotion to East Flanders' Regional League 2 (Tweede Gewestelijke).
1938 / Frederik Thielemans takes the decision to transform his stadium into a football ground. The track itself is removed - and a grass pitch is put in place. Thielemans allows SK Beveren-Waes to use the ground, with an inaugural match being played on July 31st, 1938, against National Division 1 team RAS Renaisienne. Apart from the wooden stand, spectators can find a place on earth walls around the pitch.
1940 / A conflict haven broken out in SK Beveren-Waes' board, a breakaway club is founded, Hoger Op Beveren, which does not join the Belgian FA, instead affiliating itself with the rivalling Vlaamse Voetbalbond. Hoger Op plays its matches on a pitch situated at Soldatendreef.
1942 / As the dispute between SK Beveren-Waes and Hoger Op Beveren is settled, the latter club folds - its membership returning to SK.
1949 / Guided by its coach Bob Paverick, who had an impressive career as a player with R Antwerp FC and Belgium's national team (41 caps), SK Beveren-Waes wins the title in East Flanders' Provincial League 2, the highest provincial level at the time. The crucial match against fellow title contenders SK Geraardsbergen draws a crowd of 4,000 to De Freethiel. With the title, SK Beveren-Waes accedes to the national divisions for the first time - more specifically to Promotion, the third and lowest tier of Belgium's national league system at the time. To allow more spectators to attend home matches, the wooden stand, dating back to 1920, is removed and replaced by a concrete construction holding 400 spectators, which is inaugurated in a match against SC Eendracht Aalst (5-2); a new set of dressing rooms is built in one of the corners of the ground. With the sandy state of the pitch at the velodrome leading to complaints from players, the underground of Kasteeldomein Ter Gaver is dug out and transferred to De Freethiel, thus solving the problem permanently.
1951 / 500 metres of terracing is added to the stadium's spectators' area.
1952 / Having had three relatively easy seasons in Promotion B , resulting in 4th, 7th, and 5th place finishes successively, SK Beveren-Waes is placed in the newly formed National Division 3, a level created between the two top tiers of Belgium's national divisions and Promotion, henceforth referred to as National Division 4.
1959 / SK Beveren-Waes' new training ground is inaugurated at Bankwegel near Haasdonk.
1960 / Finishing in 15th place in National Division 3A, SK Beveren-Waes suffers relegation to Division 4 along with RCS Schaerbeek.
1963 / Winning the title in National Division 4B with a staggering 16-point advantage over closest followers KACV Brasschaat, SK Beveren-Waes manages a return to D3. A renovation of the ground sees the addition of 2,000 extra places, with total capacity now being 8,000 (of which 600 seated places).
1966 / After a closely-fought contest with KSK Roeselare, SK Beveren-Waes clinches the title in National Division 3B, thus winning access to Division 2 for the first time. To allow a larger number of spectators to attend D2 fixtures at the velodrome, temporary wooden stands are added to the set-up occasionally.
1967 / Winning the D2 title on goal difference over R Olympic Club Charleroi - incidentally the club's second title in a row -, SK Beveren-Waes manages a historic promotion to National Division 1, the top flight of the Belgian football pyramid. The club's coach is Guy Thys, future trainer of Belgium's national side. To bring the stadium up to D1 standards, the decision is taken to undertake a thorough renovation of De Freethiel, involving the replacement of the 1949 grandstand for a much bigger version, holding 2,850 spectators. Uncovered terraces are added to the southern and eastern ends of the ground - the eastern end being nicknamed 'Den Berg' (The Mount) and the new southern terrace holding some 7,000 spectators. The estimated costs of the construction works, which raise the ground's capacity to 16,350, are about 6 million Belgian francs - about half of which is paid for by the club, the other half by local authorities. With the works not yet finished, SK Beveren-Waes manages a convincing 2-0 win over Daring Club Bruxelles in its first D1 home game in the 1967-68 season, in which the club holds its own with a 13th place. On December 29th, 1967, Frederick Thielemans, the original owner of the velodrome, passes away; the decision is taken to rename the stadium in his honour, 'De Freethiel' - this name being an acronym of the first syllables of Thielemans' name and surname combined.
1969 / Two extra practice pitches are added on the stadium's western end for the benefit of the club's youth academy, along with the construction of four makeshift dressing rooms.
1970 / Having finished in 5th place in D1 - with an advantage of 1 point over local rivals K Beerschot VAV, SK Beveren-Waes qualifies for Europe for the first time - more specifically for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, the precursor of the UEFA Cup. As De Freethiel is deemed unfit for international football, the club disputes its R1 and R2 matches against Wiener SC and Valencia CF in Beerschot's Olympisch Stadion, managing a sensational win over the Spanish side (1-0 away, 1-1 at 'home'); and the semi-final tie against Arsenal FC at Antwerp's Bosuilstadion. Having lost 4-0 at Highbury, Beveren holds the London club to a stalemate in Antwerp (0-0).
1972 / Having finished in the top-half of the table in the three preceding seasons, SK Beveren-Waes has a disastrous 1971-72 season, ending in a 16th and last place in Division 1, resulting in relegation to National Division 2. Even so, that same year, the stadium's capacity is slightly raised to allow a maximum of 18,000 spectators in.
1973 / Winning the D2 title, SK bounces straight back, returning to D1 after a one-year absence.
1974 / De Freethiel is undergoing new reconstruction works, involving the addition to the ground of a massive covered terrace at its western end. Moreover, floodlights are added to the set-up, the pylons being installed by Beveren players Freddy Buyl and Roger Rogiers, both of whom have a daytime job as electricians. To mark the inauguration of the floodlight installation, SK Beveren-Waes plays a gala match against Dutch side Sparta, resulting in a 3-1 win.
1976 / Beveren's goalkeeper Jean-Marie Pfaff, who had his breakthrough in the club's first team in 1973 after 8 years SKB's youth academy, makes his debut in the Belgian national team, going on to become Belgium's number-one goalkeeper for the next ten-odd years - playing in the successful 1982 and 1986 World Cup campaigns and managing a total of 64 caps.
1978 / Defeating R Charleroi SC in the final in Brussels' Heysel Stadium, SK Beveren-Waes manages its first-ever Belgian cup win (2-0, goals by Johan Conincx & Bob Stevens). That year, the club officially abbreviates its name to become SK Beveren. Also in 1978, the pitch at De Freethiel is widened, resulting in total capacity on the main stand being reduced with 200 to 2,650. Having qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup, SK Beveren has a sensational European run in the 1978-79 seasons, successfully fending off Ballymena United FC, NK Rijeka, and Italian powerhouse FC Internazionale - a 0-0 away in Stadio Giuseppe Meazza is followed by a 1-0 win at De Freethiel, the winning goal being scored by Bob Stevens. In the semi-finals, the club bows out against FC Barcelona with two 1-0 defeats. The home tie in Beveren is attended by a record crowd of 19,780 - part of the spectators being seated on temporary stands.
1979 / With an advantage of five points over closest followers RSC Anderlecht, SK Beveren manages the unthinkable and clinches the National Division 1 title for the first time in club history. In the following season, the club suffers an unexpected defeat in the European Cup's R1 at the hands of Switzerland's Servette FC. Adding insult to injury, SK Beveren does not manage more than an 11th place in D1 in the 1979-80 season. That year, a further extension of the ground sees total capacity going up to 22,000.
1980 / Beveren's town council takes over the ownership of the stadium and the surrounding pitches. Also in 1980, being transferred from K Beringen FC, veteran Belgian international player Wilfried Van Moer joins SK Beveren, playing for the club for two seasons before leaving for K Sint-Truidense VV in 1982.
1981 / SK Beveren qualifies for international football after finishing in fourth place in D1. After defeating Linfield FC, the club bows out in the UEFA Cup's R2 against Yugoslavia's HNK Hajduk Split.
1982 / Club goalkeeper Jean-Marie Pfaff earns himself a transfer to West Germany's FC Bayern München.
1983 / SK Beveren manages its second Belgian cup win, beating Club Brugge KV in the final, once again played at Heysel Stadium. Beveren's goals in the 3-1 win over the Bruges' side are scored by Paul Theunis, Ronny Martens, and Heinz Schönberger. In the 1982-83 Cup Winners' Cup, the club has the better of Cypriot minnows Enosis Neon Paralimni before being eliminated in R2 by Aberdeen FC.
1984 / The club has another miraculous season, seeing off the traditional Belgian top sides to win its second nationwide title, with a record average of spectators (9,671) finding its way to De Freethiel. That same year, the club celebrates its 50th anniversary, acquiring the royal epithet to become Koninklijke Sportkring (KSK) Beveren. In the European Cup, the club defeats Iceland's ÍA Akranes, but loses the R2 tie against IFK Göteborg.
1986 / Finishing in 5th place in D1, KSK Beveren qualifies for the UEFA Cup, in which it defeats Vålerenga IF (R1) and Athletic Club (Bilbao, R2) before bowing out against Italy's Torino Calcio. The terrace opposite the main stand at De Freethiel is enlarged with six extra steps.
1987 / Again finishing 5th in D1, KSK Beveren is drawn against Bohemains CKD in the UEFA Cup's R1 - defeating the Czechoslovak side before suffering a defeat at the hands of Vitória SC (Guimarães, Portugal).
1990 / Finishing in 17th place in D1, just one point short of KSV Waregem and a safe place in the table, KSK Beveren drops back into National Division 2 alongside bottom finishers KRC Mechelen, after having spent 17 consecutive seasons in the top flight of Belgian football.
1991 / Bouncing back from the previous year's humiliation, KSK Beveren clinches the D2 title with an advantage of six points over closest followers - and derby rivals - K Sint-Niklase SK Excelsior. The large terrace opposite the main stand is knocked down to make way for an all-seater stand, which includes a set of business seats; total capacity has meanwhile been reduced to 15,000.
1992 / Netherlands' striker Peter van Vossen, who had joined the club in 1989 from Dutch non-league side VC Vlissingen, earns himself a transfer to RSC Anderlecht, having scored 36 goals for KSK Beveren in three seasons; still in 1992, Van Vossen also makes his debut in the Netherlands' national team.
1996 / Finishing in 17th place - 13 points short of a secure place on the table -, the club drops back into National Division 2 alongside RFC Seraing and bottom side KSV Waregem.
1997 / Once again, KSK Beveren's stay in the antechamber of Belgian football does not last longer than one year, clinching the D2 title with a two-point advantage over KVC Westerlo. Meanwhile, 'Den Berg', the large terrace at the stadium's eastern end, is deemed partly unsafe - and henceforth only used to house away supporters.
2002 / KSK Beveren finishes last in National Division 1, but escapes relegation due to both KSC Eendracht Aalst and RWDM failing to obtain a D1 licence. To avoid further damage, the club's president Frans Van Hoof signs a deal with French agent Jean-Marc Guillou. Guillou, a personal friend of Arsenal FC manager Arsène Wenger, signs a partnership deal with the London club, while also allowing KSK Beveren to sign players from his football academy ASEC Mimosas in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Among others, future stars such as Eboué, Gervinho, Yaya Touré, and Romaric have spells at KSK Beveren before moving on to larger European clubs.
2004 / Defeating RSC Anderlecht in the semis, KSK Beveren reaches the final of the Belgian Cup at Heysel Stadium (meanwhile renamed Koning Boudewijnstadion), in which it is defeated by Club Brugge KV (2-4). As the Bruges' side qualified for the Champions League by virtue of its second place finish in D1 that season, KSK Beveren qualifies for UEFA Cup football in spite of a modest 12th place in the final table. In the European campaign, Beveren defeats FC Vaduz and Levski Sofia to qualify for the group stage, in which it loses all of its four matches (against VfB Stuttgart, GNK Dinamo Zagreb, SL Benfica, and SC Heerenveen).
2006 / Relations with the Frenchman having soured over the past years, KSK Beveren terminates the partnership deal with Jean-Marc Guillou.
2007 / Predictably, given that Guillou took all of his prodigy players with him, KSK Beveren finishes last in D1 in the 2006-07 season, thus dropping back into National Division 2 after ten years. All fencing around the pitch in the stadium is removed.
2008 / De Freethiel's main stand, which dated back to 1967, is knocked down to make way for a new, much larger replacement, which is inaugurated on October 23rd, 2009.
2010 / KSK Beveren finishes 18th and second-last in D2, thus having to play relegation play-offs to avoid descending into National Division 3. However, due to heavy financial difficulties, club president Dirk Verelst, who previously turned down merger overtures by KSC Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen, sees no other option but to cease activities. The club withdraws from the play-offs, thus suffering automatic relegation - but no first team football is undertaken under matricule 2300 in the 2010-11 season. Although no official merger takes place, D2 rival KV Red Star Waasland from nearby Sint-Niklaas (matricule 4068) takes on the diffuse name KV Red Star Waasland-SK Beveren, moving its first team football to De Freethiel, with Waasland's own Stadion Puyenbeke remaining in use for lower team football. Matricule 2300 is preserved, though, with KSK Beveren youth academy sides as well as a women's team continuing life on the side-pitches of De Freethiel.
2011 / KV Red Star Waasland-SK Beveren - colloquially referred to as Waasland-Beveren - finishes in fourth place in National Division 2, thus qualifying for the promotion play-offs. In a group with RAEC Mons, KAS Eupen, and Lommel United, it finishes in joint-first place with the Hainaut-side. The subsequent test match, played at Tubize's Stade Leburton, is lost 2-1 - as a result of which RAEC Mons wins promotion to D2. Meanwhile, KSK Beveren's youth academy is taken over by KV Red Star Waasland-SK Beveren, with just the women's team continuing under the old name and matricule. A group of disgruntled KSK Beveren supporters takes the decision to found a club of its own, Yellow Blue Beveren (matricule 9577); the new, fan-owned club starts its life at the very bottom of the league ladder, in East Flanders' Provincial League 4. With no permission to play at De Freethiel or one of its side-pitches being granted, YB Beveren plays its home matches on one of the side-pitches of SK Sint-Niklaas' ground at Meesterstraat in Niewkerken-Waas.
2012 / Finishing in second place in D2 behind RSC du Pays de Charleroi, KV Red Star Waasland-SK Beveren wins the promotion play-offs convincingly in a group against KAS Eupen, KVC Westerlo, and KV Oostende. Meanwhile, Yellow Blue Beveren is given permission to move its first team football to De Freethiel's pitch 7, nicknamed 'Lions Park' - hitherto used by KSK Beveren (2300) and Waasland-Beveren (4608) for reserves' matches and training sessions.
2017 / In spite of heavy resistance from Waasland-Beveren, Yellow Blue Beveren wins a court case over its plans to take on the name Yellow Blue Supporterskring (YB SK) Beveren.
2018 / Waasland-Beveren abandons its B ground, Stedelijk Sportstadion Puyenbeke in Sint-Niklaas, which is eventually knocked down in the summer of 2022. All activities are moved to Beveren's Freethielstadion and its side-pitches. Meanwhile, YBSK Beveren and women's club KSK Beveren (the near-dormant matricule 2300) make known their intentions to conclude a merger - but because this would entail a first team football team using the name KSK Beveren again, something which had been explicitly forbidden in an agreement between KSK Beveren and KV Red Star Waasland-SK Beveren in 2011, the latter club takes the case to Belgium's official court for sports' cases. The case takes until mid-2019, with the court judging in favour of Waasland-Beveren's viewpoint. A new attempt by YBSK Beveren to merge with KSK Beveren by beginning a civil court case the following year also fails.
2020 / Having had several narrow escapes in the previous seasons, Waasland-Beveren places 16th and last in National Division 1A (as D1 was renamed in 2016) based on 29 of 30 matches - the season remaining unfinished due to the COVID lockdown. The point difference between the club and its rivals KV Oostende and Cercle Brugge KSV being just two and three points respectively, the club decides to take the case to court in an attempt to avoid relegation. Winning its case, the club saves its skin - and, in despair, the Pro League, the conglomeration of professional league clubs, sees no other way out of the impasse but to extend the number of teams in Division 1A from 16 to 18. Meanwhile, Yellow Blue SK Beveren, down in Provincial League 2, changes its name to become Supporterskring (SK) Beveren.
2021 / Finishing second-last in Division 1A, Waasland-Beveren has to play the relegation play-offs, in which it is defeated by D1B side RFC Seraing. The club drops back into the second tier of the Belgian football pyramid after a nine-year spell in the top flight.
2022 / After KV Red Star Waasland-SK Beveren was taken over by an American investor, Antoine Gobin, in the fall of 2021, conciliatory talks are held between Waasland-Beveren and YBSK Beveren, resulting in Waasland-Beveren being allowed to take on the name SK Beveren; and in the professional league club giving up its resistance against the merger between YBSK Beveren and KSK Beveren. With YBSK Beveren and KSK Beveren officially merging to become Koninklijke Sportkring (KSK) Beveren (with matricule 2300 being retained), this new merger club starts its life in East Flanders' Provincial League 1 due to YBSK Beveren having won the Provincial League 2C title in the 2021-22 season. Although KSK Beveren continues to play its football at De Freethiel's pitch 7, the club is allowed to move its top fixtures to the stadium - the first occasion being the derby encounter with KVK Svelta Melsele in September 2022, attended by some 1,300 supporters.