Extreme Football Tourism: November 2008

Regenboogstadion "Stadion aan de Gaverbeek", Waregem (SV Zulte Waregem, formerly KSV Waregem / SV Zulte-Waregem)

Belgium, province: West Flanders

29 XI 2008 / SV Zulte Waregem - Sporting Charleroi 4-2 / National Division 1 (= BE level 1)
15 XII 2013 / SV Zulte Waregem - K Lierse SK 3-0 / National Division 1A (= BE level 1)

Timeline

1925 / Foundation of Waereghem Sportif, the oldest football club in Waregem. The club, which joins the Belgian Football Federation, plays its home matches - probably from the outset onwards - at Terrein Het Leeuwken in the eponymous neighbourhood.
1926 / When Belgium's FA introduces the matricule register, Waereghem Sportif obtains matricule 552.
1928 / Foundation of Red Star Waregem, which joins Belgium's FA under matricule 1153. Red Star's ground is situated at Vijfseweg, not far from Waregem's railway station.
1932 / Overall champion of West Flanders' regional divisions, Waereghem Sportif wins promotion to Promotion, the third and lowest tier of the national league pyramid. In its first season, the club finishes in a respectable ninth place.
1933 / Winning the title in P2, Red Star Waregem has its first taste of Provincial League 1.
1934 / Waereghem Sportif drops back into West Flanders P1 after suffering relegation from Promotion.
1935 / Waereghem Sportif slightly adapts its name to become FC Waereghem Sportief.
1937 / Finishing sixth in Provincial League 1, Red Star Waregem has the best season in its history as an independent club.
1943 / After ten consecutive seasons in Provincial League 1, Red Star Waregem suffers a setback in the shape of a relegation to P2.
1944 / Red Star Waregem finds its way back to P1 by winning the Provincial League 2 title.
1946 / A merger is concluded between FC Waereghem Sportief and Red Star Waregem, who finished second in P2 and eighth in P1 in their last season as independent clubs respectively. Following FA rules of those days, the new club, named Sportvereeniging (SV) Waregem, is given a new matricule (4451) - not yet following the later practice of retaining the matricule of one of the merging partners. Following the merger, 'Essevee' moves all its activities to FC Waereghem Sportief's ground, Het Leeuwken.
1948 / Fourteen years after Waereghem Sportif's last season in Promotion, SV Waregem opens the door to the third and lowest tier of Belgium's national league.
1951 / Acquiring the royal epithet, SV Waregem adapts its name to become Koninklijke Sportvereniging (note the modernised orthography, 'vereniging' instead of 'vereeniging') (KSV) Waregem.
1952 / Waregem's municipal authorities purchase a plot of land near the town centre - and works to create a park with a multisports stadium get underway shortly afterwards; due to the subsoil on the chosen location turning out to be extremely soggy, a fishing pond was created next to the stadium - allowing the dug-up soil to be used for the necessary elevation of the pitch level. Meanwhile, still playing at Het Leeuwken, KSV Waregem is placed in National Division 4 following a reorganisation of Belgium's football pyramid involving the addition of an extra national league tier.
1954 / KSV Waregem wins promotion to Division 3 after winning the title in National Division 4D. In the following seasons, the club establishes itself as one of the stronger teams in D3.
1957 / Most probably in 1957, KSV Waregem abandons Terrein Het Leeuwken to settle at the newly built Regenboogstadion, a multisports ground with an athletics track and two stands - a small main stand with some 500 seats (preserved as the lower tier of the current main stand), with a modest covered wooden terrace opposing it. The stadium is inaugurated in majestuous fashion on August 18th, 1957, hosting the World Cycling Championships - with the finish line being drawn in the stadium proper, which was filled with a sell-out crowd of some 10,000 (including Belgium's King Baudouin). The first cyclist to cross the bridge drawn over Waregemse Vijvers leading into the stadium is Belgium's Rik Van Steenbergen - being the new world champion, he is adorned with the rainbow jersey (or, in Dutch, 'regenboogtrui'), giving the stadium its official name - a name thought up by KSV Waregem club secretary Rik Vererfen, who wanted to prevent the ground being named after a local politician. On August 17th, 1957, one day before the cycling championships, Waregem played its first match at the new ground, drawing 2-2 in a friendly against derby rivals Kortrijk Sport.
1963 / Winning the league title in D3A, KSV Waregem accedes to National Division 2 for the first time. Whereas the club used to draw an average home crowd of some 3,000/4,000 since the inauguration of the stadium, some 6,000 to 7,000 fans show up for home matches in D2.
1966 / Largely thanks to the goals of its 'golden trio' of forward players, Frans Damman, Julot Bettens, and Paul Ghistelinck, KSV Waregem wins the title in D2, thus acceding to the top flight of Belgian football for the first time. In its first season in Division 1, the club holds its own admirably by finishing seventh. To allow a larger number of spectators to attend home matches, the wooden terrace is replaced by a much larger, concrete version, able to give some 10,000 fans a covered place. Shortly afterwards, two open terraces are added flanking the new stand - raising total ground capacity to 20,000.
1968 / With a fourth place in its second season in D1, KSV Waregem qualifies for European football for the first time. To allow home matches to be played in Waregem proper, a floodlight installation is put in place. In the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, the club eliminates Club Atlético de Madrid on away goals before bowing out in R2 against Poland's Legia Warszawa SA. That same year, 18-year-old Marc Millecamps makes his debut in KSV Waregem's first team - destined to grace Essevee's midfield for the following twenty seasons (563 matches).
1969 / One year after his older brother Marc, Luc Millecamps experiences his breakthrough in KSV Waregem's squad. Like his brother, Luc Millecamps, a stubborn defender, goes on to become a club hero - with 421 matches in 17 uninterrupted seasons at Regenboogstadion.
1972 / Unexpectedly, after a string of good results in the preceding five seasons, KSV Waregem is relegated from D1.
1973 / After an absence of one year, KSV Waregem finds its way back to National Division 1 by finishing second in the D2 table. Around this time, terracing is constructed behind both goal ends, raising total capacity to 23,000.
1974 / Reaching the final of Belgium's Cup, played in Stade du Heysel in Brussels, KSV Waregem defeats D2 side KSK Tongeren to pick up its first-ever piece of tangible silverware. In the following season, representing Belgium in the Cup Winner's Cup, KSV Waregem is eliminated at the first hurdle, by FK Austria Wien.
1979 / Luc Millecamps makes his debut in Belgium's national team - with his brother Marc picking up his first selection the following year.
1982 / At Stade du Heysel, KSV Waregem loses its second Belgian Cup final 2-0 against K Waterschei SV Thor Genk - though Essevee manages to win Belgium's Supercup later that year. In the summer of 1982, Luc Millecamps is one of Belgium's key players in the successful 'Mundial' - the World Cup finals in Spain. Between 1979 and 1983, he picks up 35 caps. Marc Millecamps, also part of the 1982 Belgian squad in Spain, gathers a more modest total of 6 international games (1980-82).
1985 / The main stand is partly rebuilt, raising total capacity to just under 24,000. In the 1984-85 season, KSV Waregem finishes fourth in D1, equalling its achievement of the 1967-68 season - and qualifying for the UEFA Cup. In a memorable cup run, Waregem successively sees off AGF (Denmark), CA Osasuna (Spain), AC Milan (Italy), HNK Hajduk Split (Yugoslavia), before being eliminated by 1. FC Köln in the semi-finals. Due to tightened security measures after the Heysel Stadium disaster, only 10,000 spectators are allowed in for the home match against Milan, while the encounter against Cologne is played at Courtray's Guldensporenstadion rather than in Waregem proper. Meanwhile, nationally, KSV Waregem has a rather modest 1985-86 season, resulting in an eighth place in D1.
1986 / Club icon Luc Millecamps ends his professional career - continuing as a player/coach at a lower level for some more seasons with KFC Izegem and SC Wielsbeke. Later on, he goes into local politics in his native Zulte, representing the Flemish Christian-Democrats.
1988 / Qualifying for the UEFA Cup, KSV Waregem beats Norway's Molde FK before bowing out against East Germany's SG Dynamo Dresden in R2.
1993 / After some less successful years, KSV Waregem manages a fourth place in D1 again - for a third time in club history. In the UEFA Cup, the club is humiliatingly eliminated by Finnish minnows FC Kuusysi Lahti (aggregate score: 6-1). Meanwhile, the large terrace opposite the main stand is demolished to make way for a replacement, leaving just a small terrace topped by a second tier with 4,668 seats. Because of this - and also due to new, even stricter security regulations forcing the club to reduce the maximum number of spectators allowed onto the small terraces behind both goals, total capacity is reduced to 13,673.
1994 / Having played in National Division 1 for 20 uninterrupted years, KSV Waregem finishes seventeenth, dropping back into D2.
1995 / Winning the title in Division 2, KSV Waregem manages an immediate return to D1.
1996 / Finishing dead-last in D1, KSV Waregem drops out of the top flight of Belgian football for good - having played at that level for 28 seasons between 1966 and 1996. After the relegation, Marc Millecamps takes over as manager, but after coming very close to promotion in 1997, the club's achievements in the following seasons are ever less impressive.
1998 / The two covered terraces behind the goal ends are closed down, reducing the ground's maximum capacity to 8,942.
1999 / KSV Waregem finishes seventeenth in D2, with a relegation to National Division 3 being the result - but due to financial mismanagement, the club is punished with an extra relegation, meaning that KSV Waregem begins the 1999-00 season in D4 - a level at which the club last played 45 seasons ago.
2000 / Coming close to promotion in its first season in D4A, KSV Waregem is eliminated in the promotion play-offs by KVV OG Vorselaar.
2001 / Although still drawing an average of 1,500 spectators to home games, KSV Waregem again fails to win promotion from D4. After its last match against RSC Templeuve, the club enters liquidation - avoiding bankruptcy by concluding a merger with neighbour club Zultse VV; Zultse VV, itself a merger of SK Zulte and VC Zulte Sportief, concluded in 1976, had absolved a successful decade of national league football after first winning promotion to National Division 4 in 1991. Led by head coach Francky Dury, the club twice climbed up to Division 3 - finishing second in D3A in its last season as an independent club. The result of the merger between Zultse VV and KSV Waregem is Sportvereniging (SV) Zulte-Waregem, retaining Zultse's matricule 5381 (but losing KSV Waregem's royal epithet). First team football moves to Waregem's Regenboogstadion, but Zulte's Gemeentelijk Sportstadion Kastanjelaan remains in use for lower team football and training sessions.
2002 / Guided by Francky Dury, SV Zulte-Waregem wins the league title in National Division 3A in its first season, thus acceding to D2.
2005 / Continuing its impressive climb up the league ladder, SV Zulte-Waregem clinches the title in Division 2, acceding to the top flight of the Belgian league pyramid nine years after KSV Waregem dropped out of it. That summer, the club changes a tiny detail in its name, losing the hyphen between Zulte and Waregem - thus becoming SV Zulte Waregem. Also in 2005, Tribune Y, the covered terrace at the northern end of the stadium, is knocked down to make way for a large advertising hoarding.
2006 / In its first season in D1, SV Zulte Waregem comfortably holds its own - finishing seventh. Furthermore, sensationally, qualifying for the Belgian Cup final in Stade Roi Baudouin, Francky Dury's men defeat R Excelsior Mouscron (2-1). That same season, SV Zulte Waregem's modest neighbour club KRC Waregem wins promotion to National Division 2 for the first time; as that club's own Mirakelstadion in Nieuwenhove is hardly prepared to receive large crowds, some of the club's home matches in the 2006-07 season are moved to Regenboogstadion. Unsurprisingly, KRC Waregem drops back into D3 in 2007.
2007 / For the qualifying round of the 2006-07 UEFA Cup, with Regenboogstadion no longer meeting the requirements of international football, SV Zulte Waregem moves its home match against FK Lokomotiv Moskva to Ghent's Jules Ottenstadion. Having defeated the Russian side, 'Essevee' is drawn in a group with FK Austria Wien, RCD Espanyol, AFC Ajax, and AC Sparta Praha. Finishing third, the club qualifies for the eliminatory stage, in which it is finally defeated by Newcastle United FC.
2010 / After having coached SV Zulte Waregem for nine years - and matricule 5381 for sixteen successive years (having signed his first contract at Zultse VV in 1994!), Francky Dury leaves Waregem, accepting the managership at KAA Gent.
2011 / A temporary stand is erected at the northern end of Regenboogstadion - shortly behind the goal, thus sounding the death-knell of the running track in the stadium. In November 2011, having stayed on at KAA Gent for just one season before signing a contract at Belgium's FA as youth trainer, Francky Dury signs a new contract as manager of SV Zulte Waregem.
2013 / With a team mixing experience (e.g. Davy De fauw) with youthful talent (e.g. Junior Malanda, Thorgan Hazard), SV Zulte Waregem has an incredible season in which it is a serious title contender. Playing at RSC Anderlecht on the last matchday, a win would hand Essevee its first-ever national title. After taking the lead, Anderlecht manages the 1-1 - resulting in Anderlecht winning the league rather than Zulte Waregem. As second in the final table, Francky Dury's men qualify for the preliminary rounds of Champions League, in which it is eliminated by PSV (Netherlands). Going on to defeat APOEL Nicosia in a Europa League qualifier, the club is drawn in a group with Wigan Athletic FC, NK Maribor, and FK Rubin Kazan. Playing its home games at Jan Breydelstadion, Bruges, rather than in Waregem, Essevee's run ends with a third place - entailing elimination.
2014 / Reaching the Belgian Cup final at Stade Roi Baudouin, SV Zulte Waregem loses against KSC Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen (1-0). That same year, the stadium in Waregem undergoes thorough renovation works, with Tribune X, the old terrace at the ground's southern end, being demolished and replaced by a new, two-tier all-seater stand. The temporary stand and the running track are removed.
2016 / A new all-seater stand is erected at the northern end of the ground, replacing the advertising hoarding in place since 2005. Inaugurated in June 2016, the stand has a capacity of 2,700.
2017 / At Stade Roi Baudouin, SV Zulte Waregem clinches its second cup win by defeating KV Oostende (3-3 A.E.T., penalty shoot-out: 4-2). Meanwhile, in a new round of renovation works at the ground in Waregem, an angle stand is contructed in the corner between Tribune 4, raising total capacity to 12,414. In the 2017-18 season, as Cup winners, Essevee qualifies directly for the Europa League's group stage. Drawn against OGC Nice, SBV Vitesse, and SS Lazio, the club is eliminated after finishing third in the group.
2021 / After a second spell of ten years - and a total of 26 years of managership in Zulte and Waregem (1994-2010, 2011-21) - Francky Dury is sacked by SV Zulte Waregem's board.
2023 / After 18 consecutive seasons in National Division 1(A), SV Zulte Waregem now finishes second-last, thus dropping back into D1B along with bottom club RFC Seraing and KV Oostende.
2024 / Finishing in fifth place in D1B, SV Zulte Waregem qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is eliminated in R1 by Lommel SK.

Note 1: Thanks to Miet Casier of Waregem's Municipal Archives for providing additional information included in the article above.

Note 2: Below, a compilation of photos of four different visits: pictures 1-10 = non-matchday visit, August 2010 / pictures 11-24 = match visit, December 2013 / pictures 25 & 29-30 = non-matchday visit, October 2022 / pictures 26-28 = non-matchday visit, April 2022. No photos of my November 2008 match visit have been included.