Extreme Football Tourism: January 2012

Sportpark De Melkweg II, Amsterdam Oostzanerwerf (formerly RKSV T.O.B. = Rooms-Katholieke Sportvereniging 'Trouw Ons Beginsel')

Netherlands, province: North Holland = Noord-Holland

28 I 2012 / RKSV TOB - AFC (za) 2-1 / Saturday League 2A (= NL level 6)

Note 1: RKSV TOB, founded in 1947, played their football at a ground called Sportpark De Melkweg between 1947 and 1963, when the premises had to be vacated due to an important highway tunnel (the Coentunnel, which links the parts of North Holland north and south of the North Sea Canal) being constructed on the spot. After groundsharing with De Volewijckers for three years (1963-66), the club settled down at a new Sportpark De Melkweg, situated several hundreds of yards to the east of their old home. In 1982, a covered stand was constructed - the one featuring in the photos below. On January 1st, 2013, TOB moved away from Sportpark De Melkweg, finding a new home at Sportpark Oostzanerwerf (West), home of Sporting Noord until that club's demise in mid-2012. At Sportpark De Melkweg, all football pitches were replaced by other facilities. TOB's club house has been turned into a restaurant - initially Proost & Stroop, later POF Amsterdam -, while the remnants of the aforementioned covered stand are now surrounded by allotment gardens.

Note 2: Below, a compilation of photos of two different visits: pictures 1-22 = match visit, January 2012 / pictures 23-29 = lost ground visit, November 2021.

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

Stade au Sans-Fond, Braine-le-Comte = 's-Gravenbrakel (formerly US Brainoise / R Stade Brainois / B ground of R Union Tubize Braine)

Belgium, province: Hainaut = Henegouwen

22 I 2012 / R Stade Brainois - OC Warcoing 0-2 / Hainaut, Provincial League 1 (= BE level 5)

Timeline

1923 / In Braine-le-Comte (a village in the northeast of the Province of Hainaut, referred to in Dutch as ‘s-Gravenbrakel), a football club is formed, which is given the name Amicale Athlétique (AA) Brainoise, joining the Belgian Football Association (URBSFA / KBVB) one year later and obtaining registration number 343 upon the introduction of the system of registration numbers in 1926. The club probably started its life on a pitch situated at Rue de la Bienfaisance. AA Brainoise may not have been the first football club to see the daylight in Braine-le-Comte, given that sources mention the existence of an Union Sportive (US) Brainoise, which was formed in 1907 and folded in 1908 or shortly thereafter; it is unclear, however, if US Brainoise was a club from Braine-le-Comte or one of the other villages called Braine; Braine-l’Alleud (Eigenbrakel) and Braine-le-Château (Kasteelbrakel).
1937 / Fourteen years after the foundation of AA Brainoise, a second football club sees the daylight in Braine-le-Comte, Union Sportive (US) Brainoise. The new club settles on a newly laid-out pitch, referred to locally as the Stade au Sans-Fond. Remarkably, the distance between the pitches of AA Brainoise and US Brainoise is no more than some 100 metres.
1938 / Joining the Belgian FA one year after its foundation, US Brainoise acquires registration number 2607, starting its existence as a competitive club in Hainaut’s Regional League 3.
1945 / Following the restart of regular non-league football in Belgium after the havocs of World War II and the German occupation, US Brainoise is placed in Hainaut’s Provincial League 2, two levels above Regional League 3, with two P2 groups being created rather than one. At this time, Provincial League 2 is the top level of the provincial league pyramid.
1951 / Obtaining the royal epithet, rival club AA Brainoise adapts its name to become Royale Amicale Athlétique (RAA) Brainoise. Throughout their co-existence, US Brainoise and (R)AA Brainoise regularly crossed swords in Provincial League 2 and 1.
1952 / US Brainoise suffers relegation from Hainaut’s Provincial League 2 into Regional League 2, which, rather confusingly, is renamed Provincial League 2 in the summer of 1952 following the introduction of a Provincial League 1 as the new top level of Hainaut’s provincial divisions.
1957 / Runaway champions in Hainaut’s Provincial League 2B, 11 points ahead of closest followers FC Saint-Vaast, US Brainoise wins promotion to Provincial League 1.
1958 / Finishing bottom of the table in Hainaut’s Provincial League 1, US Brainoise descends into Provincial League 2 after one season only, along with RU Jemappienne and town rivals RAA Brainoise.
1959 / Obtaining the title in Hainaut’s Provincial League 2B ahead of runner-up RUS Lessinoise, US Brainoise manages a return to Provincial League 1 after one year only – and holding out at that level in the following decade.
± 1965 / Moving away from its ground at Rue de Bienfaisance, RAA Brainoise settles at a newly laid-out ground at Rue du Poseur.
1969 / In its last season as an independent club, US Brainoise narrowly misses out on promotion to the national level, finishing as runner-up in Hainaut’s Provincial League 1 behind champions RFC Houdinois. Following the 1968-69 season, a merger is concluded between RAA Brainoise and US Brainoise, resulting in the foundation of Stade Brainois. Although the merger club retains Amicale's registration number 343, the royal epithet is lost due to negligence on the part of the new club’s board – and not retrieved in the following three decades. The new club plays in all-white shirts, thus avoiding any reference to the colours of the two old clubs (Amicale's blue and black; and Union's red and white). Stade Brainois starts its existence in Hainaut's Provincial League 1, the level at which US Brainoise played in its last season as an independent club. From the merger onwards, first team football is played at Stade au Sans-Fond, the old ground of Union Sportive, while Amicale's Stade du Poseur remains in use for lower team football and training sessions.
1970 / In its first season following the merger, Stade Brainois finishes as runner-up in Hainaut’s Provincial League 1, 4 points behind champions R Gosselies Sports.
1971 / Clinching the title in Hainaut's Provincial League 1 with an advantage of 4 points over nearest contender R Enghien Sports, Stade Brainois accedes to National Division 4 for the first time in the history of football in Braine-le-Comte.
1979 / Having been a modest contender in National Division 4 for eight consecutive seasons, with a seventh place in 1975 being the best performance, Stade Brainois now finishes in third-last place in National Division 4B, only 1 point short of SC Pâturageois and safety, thus tumbling back into Provincial League 1 along with KAV Dendermonde and bottom club R Enghien Sports.
1981 / Stade Brainois finishes as runner-up in Hainaut’s Provincial League 1, with an equal number of points as champions FC Elouges, but with 20 victories as opposed to Elouges’ 21.
1985 / Stade Brainois finishes as runner-up in Hainaut’s Provincial League 1, 3 points behind champions FC Lignette.
1986 / After a tight title race with RA Marchiennoise des Sports, eventually finishing 2 points ahead of this club, Stade Brainois succeeds in clinching the Provincial League 1 title, thus beginning a second spell of national league football in National Division 4.
1988 / Having spent two years in National Division 4, Stade Brainois now finishes in second-last place in National Division 4A, thus descending into Provincial League 1, along with KSV Sottegem and bottom club URS Centre.
1992 / In a thorough renovation of the clubhouse at Sans-Fond, an extra tier is added, allowing sponsors and other guests to watch the matches comfortably behind glass.
1993 / Finishing top of the table in Hainaut’s Provincial League 1, with an equal number of points as runner-up RFC Athois, but with 19 victories as opposed to 16 for the club from Ath, Stade Brainois wins promotion to National Division 4 after a five-year absence.
1994 / Finishing in third-last place in National Division 4D, Stade Brainois has to save its skin in a relegation play-off against the three teams in the same position in the three other Division 4 groups, successfully doing so by edging past RSC Theux in R1 (1-1 A.E.T. & penalty shoot-out) and K Londerzeel SK in R2 (2-0).
1995 / The ladies’ football branch of Stade Brainois forms a breakaway club, founding Standard Fémina de Braine (registration number 9286), which took on the new name FC Fémina Braine-Rebecq in 2001 and FC Fémina Braine in 2011; having groundshared with Stade Brainois at Stade au Sans-Fond, the club moved to the side-pitches of the Stade Communal des Carrières in Soignies in 2009, eventually folding, probably in 2013.
1996 / Stade Brainois' third spell of national league football ends after three seasons, finishing dead-last in National Division 4A and thus dropping back into Provincial League 1 with KWSC Lauwe and RU Jemappes-Flénu.
1999 / After a nail-biting title race between Stade Brainois and RRC Estaimpuis, both clubs finish with an equal number of 61 points at the top of Hainaut's Provincial League 1, with Stade Brainois being declared champions – not on the basis of its number of wins (both clubs gathered 17 victories), but its superior goal difference (+37 vs. +31). As such, the club manages a return to national league football after three years. That same year, Stade Brainois finally retrieves its royal epithet, thus officially becoming Royal Stade Brainois.
2000 / R Stade Brainois has the best season in club history, finishing fifth in National Division 4D - but just missing out on the promotion play-offs.
2002 / Finding itself in a strong National Division 4A, mainly consisting of teams from West Flanders and East Flanders, R Stade Brainois finished in second-last place, thus descending into Provincial League 1 alongside SK Eernegem and bottom club KVK Ninove.
2011 / Finishing in fifth place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 1, R Stade Brainois qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club knocks out derby rivals R Soignies Sports in R1 (2-0), only to suffer elimination in R2 against CS Entité Manageoise (1-0).
2012 / In spite of having played promotion play-offs the previous season, R Stade Brainois have an abysmal follow-up season, finishing in third-last place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 1 and having to save its skin in the promotion-relegation play-offs. After knocking out RUE Estinnoise in the first match, the club suffers defeat against RUFC Ransartoise in the second (1-2), thus officially sealing its own fate - but due to an extra place in Provincial League 1 becoming available, the club stays up in the most precarious of ways.
2014 / Finishing bottom of the table in Hainaut’s Provincial League 1, R Stade Brainois descends into Provincial League 2 for the first time since the merger between US Brainoise and RAA Brainoise in 1969, with RUSC Anderlues, RUS Beloeil, OC Warcoing, and PAC Buzet being the four other drop-outs.
2015 / R Stade Brainois finishes in third place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 2B behind RUE Estinnoise and US Neufvilloise. In the ensuing promotion play-offs, the club suffers defeat in R1 against AEDEC Hyon (0-1).
2016 / R Stade Brainois secures the coveted return to Provincial League 1 by clinching the title in Hainaut’s Provincial League 2B with a commanding 11-point advantage over closest followers RFC Houdinois.
2017 / In spite of finishing 'only' in seventh place in its return season in Hainaut’s Provincial League 1, R Stade Brainois qualifies for the promotion play-offs. Defeating Péruwelz FC in R1 (3-1), the club also manages to fend off R Soignies Sports after a penalty shoot-out in R2 (1-1 A.E.T.), thus unexpectedly acceding to the national leagues following a fifteen-year absence, alongside champions RJE Binchoise. Given that the national league pyramid has meanwhile undergone a thorough restructuring the previous year, the club is placed in ACFF Amateur Division 3, the fifth and lowest national league level.
2018 / Finishing in thirteenth place in ACFF Amateur Division 3A, R Stade Brainois goes on to suffer defeat in a relegation play-off against RE Bertrigeoise (3-1), but in the end, both clubs are saved due to extra national league places being available.
2021 / Having held its own in ACFF Amateur Division 3 for four years, R Stade Brainois now concludes a merger with former professional league side AFC Tubize from nearby Tubize in Walloon Brabant. The new club, which retains Tubize’s registration number 5632, is officially given the name Royale Union Tubize Braine-le-Comte, although it has since universally been referred to as Royale Union Tubize-Braine (RUTB). Henceforth, the new merger club's first team, which takes over the place of AFC Tubize in ACFF Amateur Division 2, plays its football in Tubize's Stade Leburton. A B team, which is placed in Walloon Brabant's (instead of Hainaut's!) Provincial League 1 – one obligatory step down from the level at which R Stade Brainois concluded its existence – settles at Stade au Sans-Fond. The youth academy grounds in Tubize (Terrain du Chalet) and Braine-le-Comte (Stade Communal du Poseur) are retained as well.
2022 / R Union Tubize Braine's board files a request at Braine-le-Comte's town council to renovate the Stade au Sans-Fond, but permission for the planned works is not granted. Thereupon, the club takes the far-reaching decision to abandon the historic ground. Home matches of RUTB’s B team, which admirably held its own in Brabant's ACFF Provincial League 1 in the 2021-22 season, are moved to Tubize’s Terrain du Chalet. While the other ground in Braine, the Stade Communal du Poseur, remains in use for part of RUTB’s youth academy, the Stade au Sans-Fond is turned into a sports facility for padel and tennis.

Note – Important parts of the information given above were provided by Pascal Delmoitiez; many thanks to him, as well as to Michel Vancamp for bringing me in touch with Mr Delmoitiez.