Extreme Football Tourism: January 2010

Stade de la Verte Chasse, Péruwelz (Péruwelz FC, formerly R Racing Club Péruwelz)

Belgium, province: Hainaut = Henegouwen

31 I 2010 / RRC Péruwelz - Excelsior Veldwezelt 1-0 / National Division 3B (= BE level 3)
12 V 2019 / Péruwelz FC - RAS Monceau 0-2 / Hainaut, Provincial League 1 - promotion play-off (= BE level 6)

Note 1: RRC Péruwelz (matricule 216) played at the Stade de la Verte Chasse from the club's foundation in 1922 onwards. In 1928, a small wooden stand was constructed, which lasted for 85 years - making it one of the oldest pieces of football furniture in Belgium. It was finally knocked down on October 9th, 2013 to make way for a much bigger replacement - with 350 seats and a clubhouse -, which was inaugurated in the course of 2014. Meanwhile, in the course of the 2009/2010 season, when R Excelsior Mouscron went into administration (December 2009), RRC Péruwelz (at that time playing in National Division 3) moved their first team away from their own tiny ground, instead finishing the season at Mouscron's stadium, Le Canonnier. In 2010, a new name was chosen: R Mouscron-Péruwelz - giving the town of Mouscron a new football club, who later got rid of the second half of their name altogether and have continued life as Excel Mouscron until today. That same summer, a new club was founded in Péruwelz itself: Péruwelz FC (matricule 9540), which had to start at the bottom of the league pyramid, in Hainaut's Provincial League 4.

Note 2: below, a compilation of photographs of three different visits: non-matchday visit, August 2009 = pictures 1 & 3-6 / match visit, January 2010 = pictures 2 & 7-18 / match visit, May 2019 = pictures 19-34.

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

Stade Heysel II "Annexe Heysel / Petit Heysel" = Heizelstadion II "Kleine Heizel", Brussels / Bruxelles / Brussel Laken = Laeken (formerly R Stade de Bruxelles / Racing Jet de Bruxelles / FC Atlas de Bruxelles / AS Etoile Bruxelles-Capitale / CWAS Etoile Bruxelles-Capitale / SC Etoile Bruxelles / FC Bleid-Molenbeek)

Belgium, Brussels Capital Area

24 I 2010 / CWAS Etoile Bruxelles-Capitale - RSD Jette 4-1 / Brabant, Provincial League 1 (= BE level 5)
6 X 2012 / FC Bleid-Molenbeek - KSC Grimbergen 1-4 / National Division 3B (= BE level 3)

Timeline

1907 / Foundation of Union Sportive (US) de Laeken. It is unclear if this club played at its ground at Rue Jules Lahaye from the outset.
1926 / At the introduction of the Belgian Football Association's matricule register, US Laeken receives matricule 281.
1932 / Obtaining the royal epithet, US de Laeken changes its name to become Royale Union Sportive (RUS) de Laeken.
1938 / For the first time, US Laeken finds itself in Promotion, the third and lowest tier of Belgium's national league system at the time.
1947 / After a second spell of six years in Promotion, RUS Laeken drops back into Brabant's provincial leagues. That same year, a new club sees the daylight in Laeken: Union Sportive (US) du Centenaire (matricule 4630). Probably, this club played at Avenue de Boechout / Boechoutlaan (the ground known nowadays as Stade Heysel - terrain 3) from the outset, but no confirmation of this can be found. In the 17 years of its existence as an independent club, US du Centenaire never manages a promotion from Provincial League 3.
1964 / RUS Laeken and US du Centenaire conclude a merger, forming Royal Stade de Bruxelles - retaining Laeken's matricule 281. Probably among the reasons why RUS Laeken gave up its existence as an independent club were the plans to replace its ground at Rue Jules Lahaye with several blocks of flats. It is unclear if Stade Heysel II or Annexe Heysel was built expressly to serve the new merger club R Stade Bruxelles, but several sources confirm that the small stadium in the shadow of Stade du Heysel was constructed in the 1960s - and that Royal Stade de Bruxelles played at this ground, most probably from the outset in 1964.
1970 / After six relatively anonymous years in Brabant's Provincial League 2, R Stade de Bruxelles concludes a merger with one of its more successful neighbours, Racing Club de Jette, resulting in the foundation of Racing Jet de Bruxelles - strikingly retaining Racing Jette's matricule 4549 instead of Stade Bruxelles' much lower number. Following the merger, all club activities move to Stade Heysel II, while Racing Jette's ground at Avenue du Laerbeek / Laarbeekstraat is abandoned and taken over as training ground by neighbour club RSD Jette.
1971 / Having begun its life as a merger club in National Division 3 - the level at which Racing Club de Jette had been playing from 1965 onwards -, Racing Jet Bruxelles has an unsuccessful first season at the Annexe Heysel, resulting in relegation to Division 4.
1972 / Crowning itself champion of National Division 4A, Racing Jet Bruxelles returns to D3.
1973 / Racing Jet de Bruxelles obtains the royal epithet, thus becoming Racing Jet de Bruxelles Société Royale - but the additional letters 'SR' are seldom used when referring to the club, not even by the club itself. The procedure started to retrieve the royal stamp was necessary given that the merger in 1970 had been concluded using Racing Jette's rather than Stade de Bruxelles' matricule - the former club being younger than the 50 years necessary to apply for royal assent. Only after ample proof of the participation of Stade de Bruxelles - and thereby RUS Laeken, one of its forebears - in the 1970 merger had been given, the royal cabinet assented to Racing Jet Bruxelles' request.
1979 / After seven consecutive seasons in the third tier of Belgium's football pyramid, Racing Jet Bruxelles wins the title in National Division 3A, thus acceding to D2 for the first time.
1980 / In its first season in National Division 2, Racing Jet manages an impressive fifth place in the final ranking.
1982 / After two less successful seasons, Racing Jet Bruxelles drops back into D3.
1983 / Clinching the title in D3A for the second time in four years, Racing Jet de Bruxelles manages an immediate return to the second level of Belgium's football pyramid.
1984 / Back in D2, RJ Bruxelles turns out to be a force to be reckoned with; after having finished third, the club even wins the promotion play-offs, thus attaining an historic promotion to National Division 1.
1985 / Racing Jet's first taste of D1 football teaches the club some hard lessons - finishing rock bottom and falling back to Division 2. That summer, the club achieves a major coup by attracting Raymond Goethals, who had worked in Portugal for the past seasons due to his two-year ban from Belgian football due to his involvement in the Standard-Waterschei corruption affair, as its managing director. Goethals attracts another big name of international football, former Hungarian international player László Fazekas, as his trainer/coach
1986 / With Goethals and Fazekas at the helm, Racing Jet de Bruxelles achieves direct promotion back to D1 via the play-offs. Fazekas leaves the club for KSC Eendracht Aalst, with his assistant Daniël Renders taking over the role as head coach under Goethals.
1987 / In the most successful season in club history, RJ Bruxelles achieves a twelfth place in National Division 1, thereby easily assuring itself of a second season of top flight football.
1988 / In spite of Goethals signing Romanian international player László Bölöni from Steaua Bucharest, Racing Jet de Bruxelles has a disastrous season, ending in relegation to D2. Raymond Goethals abandoned the sinking ship in February 1988, having been approached by RSC Anderlecht to take over the managing role at Astridpark following the sacking of Georges Leekens. After the 1987-88 season, Racing Jet de Bruxelles changes its name to Racing Jet Wavre, moving into Wavre's Stade Justin Peeters at the invitation of local municipal authorities. Hereby, the connection of Racing Jet with Brussels is severed once and for all. Meanwhile, Stade Heysel II is taken over by a new club, FC Atlas de Bruxelles (matricule 9123), apparently a continuation of the former Athlétique Association Sportive (AAS) Schaerbeek, a club not affiliated to the Belgian FA.
1990 / Having achieved back-to-back titles in its first two seasons as a competitive club, FC Atlas de Bruxelles finds itself in Brabant's Provincial League 2.
1993 / Via the P2 promotion play-offs, FC Atlas accedes to Provincial League 1.
1998 / FC Atlas de Bruxelles achieves the best result in its short history, finishing fourth in P1.
2000 / After seven seasons in P1, FC Atlas drops back into Provincial League 2. The club does not manage to form a competitive team for the new season and folds, with the official deletion from the Belgian FA's membership list following in the summer of 2001.
2001 / In an unofficial merger between FC Etoile Marocaine Wemmel (founded in 1987) and (what remained of) FC Atlas de Bruxelles, Association Sportive (AS) Etoile Bruxelles-Capitale is formed, retaining Etoile Marocaine's matricule 9093. The new club is allowed the use of Stade Heysel II, which had fallen into disuse following the demise of FC Atlas.
2005 / After spending its first four seasons in Provincial League 3, AS Etoile Bruxelles-Capitale wins the title in P3C, thus climbing one level up the league ladder.
2009 / Clinching the title in Provincial League 2C, AS Etoile Bruxelles-Capitale retraces the steps of FC Atlas by acceding to Provincial League 1 - a level also attained previously by FC Etoile Marocaine Wemmel, although for one season only (1997-98). In an attempt to widen its attraction beyond Brussels' Moroccan community, AS Etoile Bruxelles-Capitale slightly adapts its name to become Citizens of the World Association Sportive (CWAS) Etoile Bruxelles-Capitale.
2010 / In its first season in P1, CWAS Etoile Bruxelles-Capitale achieves a respectable fourth place - a feat repeated in the 2011-12 season.
2012 / CWAS Etoile Bruxelles-Capitale abridges its name, becoming Sporting Club (SC) Etoile Bruxelles. That same summer, a group of investors gathered around former Belgian international player Michel De Wolf purchased the matricule (9026) of a national league side from Belgian Luxembourg, FC Bleid-Gaume, in an attempt (certainly not the first) to revive the days of the former RWDM. However, being late to apply for a name change, the club moves to Brussels under its old name, FC Bleid-Gaume - usually referred to in the media as FC Bleid-Molenbeek. Another problem is constituted by the lack of a ground to play its home matches in National Division 3, the level at which FC Bleid-Gaume played at the time. Not being given permission by FC Brussels' chairman Johan Vermeersch to groundshare with his club at Edmond Machtensstadion or that ground's C pitch, FC Bleid-Molenbeek plays its first home match at Wemmel's Marcel Van Langenhovestadion, subsequently moving on for a short time to Rebecq-Rognon's Stade André Cheron before finally receiving permission to settle at Stade Heysel II in the early fall of 2012.
2013 / SC Etoile Bruxelles concludes a merger with Blue Star Bruxelles, forming Sporting Bruxelles - retaining Blue Star's matricule 6576. All club activities are moved to Blue Star's ground at Petit Chemin Vert / Korte Groenweg in Neder-Over-Heembeek, with Stade Heysel II being abandoned. Meanwhile, the FC Bleid-Molenbeek project had stalled miserably, with the club finishing in bottom position in National Division 3B - resulting in a drop to the fourth and lowest tier of the national league pyramid. In the summer of 2013, the club was renamed BX Brussels by its new owner Vincent Kompany. After a brief stop at Berchem-Sainte-Agathe's Hunderenveld, Kompany moved his pet project to Stade Communal de Jette "Complexe Expo". Since 2013, no regular national or provincial league football has been played at Stade Heysel II. Instead, the ground was used for recreational football (e.g. RSC Anderlecht's women's team), while it also hosted matches of Belgium's national rugby team from the 1990s onwards.
2017 / From October 2017 onwards, when the so-called Sportcentrum Nelson Mandela in Neder-Over-Heembeek was inaugurated as the new home ground for Belgium's national rugby team, Stade Heysel II saw even less sporting action than in previous years. Only part of RSC Anderlecht's youth academy has continued to make use of the ground.
±2020 / The covered stand opposite Stade Heysel II's main stand is knocked down to make way for the tram stop Koning Boudewijn.