BELGIUM: KVV Hamontlo (1988-1999) / KFC Hamont 99 (1999-)

Stadion 't Leeuwke, Hamont 't Lo (KFC Hamont 99, formerly KVV Hamontlo)

Belgium, province: Limburg (Be)

1 V 2012 / KFC Hamont 99 - KEWS Schoonbeek-Beverst 0-2 / Belgian Limburg, Provincial League 2 - relegation play-off (= BE level 6)

Timeline

• 1924 / Foundation of Voetbalvereeniging (VV) Loo-Hamont, a first football club in 't Lo, a hamlet situated on the southern fringes of Hamont. The club's first ground was situated at Salvatorstraat
• 1928 / VV Loo-Hamont joins Belgium's FA, obtaining matricule 1215 upon being accepted as members.
• 1931 / Having fielded a first team in just the 1929-30 season, in which it manages a respectable fourth place in P3A, VV Loo-Hamont withdraws from Belgium's FA - continuing life as a member of a local recreational league in the following years.
• 1939 / VV Loo-Hamont rejoins Belgium's FA under a slightly adapted new name, Voetbalvereniging (VV) Hamontlo. The club receives a new matricule, 2923.
• 1949 / Having played in Regional Division 2 for eight seasons, VV Hamontlo wins the title in its division, thus acceding to Provincial League 2 - at the time the top division of Limburg's football system (and thus feeder league of Promotion, the lowest of Belgium's three national divisions).
• 1952 / Upon the creation of a Provincial League 1 in Limburg, VV Hamontlo qualifies for this new top league of Limburg's football pyramid.
• 1960 / KVV Hamontlo has its best season in club history, finishing second in Provincial League 1 and narrowly missing out on promotion to the national divisions.
• 1985 / After a mind-blowing 33 (!) consecutive seasons in Provincial League 1, VV Hamontlo finishes 15th, thus suffering relegation to Provincial League 2.
• 1987 / VV Hamontlo obtains the royal epithet, thus becoming Koninklijke Voetbalvereniging (KVV) Hamontlo.
• 1988 / Abandoning its ground at Salvatorstraat, KVV Hamontlo settles at the newly built Stadion 't Leeuwke at Bevrijdingsstraat.
• 1997 / Following twelve seasons in Provincial League 2, KVV Hamontlo has to come to terms with a relegation to Provincial League 3 - a level at which the club never played previously.
• 1998 / After a humiliating second-last place in P3B, the club even sinks into P4, the bottom division of Limburg's Provincial League pyramid.
• 1999 / Finishing sixth in P4B in its last season as an independent club, KVV Hamontlo concludes a merger agreement with Sportkring (SK) Hamont. SK Hamont, founded in 1963 as a recreational club and joining Belgium's FA five years later, had two seasons in Provincial League 2 (1985-87), spending the remainder of its years (1968-85, 1987-99) in P3 and P4; initially playing at Heerstraat, the club later settled at the so-called Emiel Bekaertstadion in Hamont's communal park. Upon the merger in 1999, resulting in the foundation of Koninklijke Fusieclub (KFC) Hamont 99 (retaining SK's matricule 7202), all activities move to Hamontlo's Stadion 't Leeuwke. The new club starts its life in P3, the level at which SK Hamont narrowly managed to hold its own in the 1998-99 season.
• 2002 / Finishing second in P3D, KFC Hamont 99 wins the promotion play-offs to accede to Provincial League 2.
• 2004 / Winning the title in P2C, KFC Hamont 99 accedes to Provincial League 1, the level at which VV Hamontlo last featured in 1984-85.
• 2006 / KFC Hamont 99 manages a respectable sixth place in the final table of Limburg's P1.
• 2008 / Finishing dead-last with just one win in 30 matches, KFC Hamont 99 is relegated from Provincial League 1.
• 2009 / Following a second relegation in a row, the merger club suddenly finds itself in Provincial League 3.
• 2011 / After a second place in P3A, KFC Hamont qualifies for Provincial League 2 by winning the play-offs.
• 2012 / Losing a relegation play-off against KEWS Schoonbeek-Beverst (pictures below), KFC Hamont 99 returns to P3 after just one season.
• 2014 / Clinching the title in Provincial League 3A, KFC Hamont 99 manages a return to Provincial League 2.

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