Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: SC Tillet (1971-1996) / RUS Sainte-Ode (1997-)

Tuesday, 30 April 2013

BELGIUM: SC Tillet (1971-1996) / RUS Sainte-Ode (1997-)

Complexe Sportif de Tillet / Route de Tonny, Tillet (R Union Sportive Sainte-Ode, formerly Sporting Club Tillet)

Belgium, province: Luxembourg = Luxemburg

30 IV 2013 / RUS Sainte-Ode - Jeunesse Bourdon 2-0 / Belgian Luxembourg, Provincial League 3D (= BE level 7)

Timeline

1971 / Foundation of a football club in Tillet, a village in the sparsely populated heart of the Belgian Ardennes. The new club, Sporting Club (SC) de Tillet, joins Belgium’s Football Associatino (URBSFA / KBVB) that same year, acquiring registration number 7600. Starting its existence in Provincial League 3, the bottom division of Belgian Luxembourg’s provincial leagues, SC Tillet settles on a pitch laid out at Route de Tonny.
1978 / SC Tillet only just misses out on the title in Belgian Luxembourg’s Provincial League 3F and promotion to P2 – finishing on an equal number of points as US Bure, which clinches the title due to having won one more match than its rival (19 vs. 18). Also in 1978, one year after the merger of the municipality of Amberloup with Tillet and Lavacherie into the larger new entity of Sainte-Ode, SC Tillet’s local rival US Amberloup takes on the new name Union Sportive (US) Sainte-Ode.
1985 / Clinching the title in Belgian Luxembourg’s Provincial League 3D, 1 point ahead of closest rivals US Vecmont, SC Tillet wins promotion to Provincial League 2 for the first time.
1986 / Finishing in second-last place in Belgian Luxembourg’s Provincial League 2B, SC Tillet drops back into Provincial League 3 after just one season.
1989 / SC Tillet finishes as runner-up in Belgian Luxembourg’s Provincial League 3C, 11 points behind runaway champions RC Longlier.
1990 / Runner-up in Belgian Luxembourg’s Provincial League 3C, 2 points behind champions ES Chaumont, SC Tillet goes on to win promotion to Provincial League 2 via the play-offs.
1992 / Finishing bottom of the table in Belgian Luxembourg’s Provincial League 2B, SC Tillet drops back into Provincial League 3.
1993 / Clinching the title in Belgian Luxembourg’s Provincial League 3C, 7 points ahead of runners-up ES Petitvoir-Tournay and US Bercheux, SC Tillet manages an immediate return to Provincial League 2.
1995 / Finishing bottom of the table in Belgian Luxembourg’s Provincial League 2C with just 1 point obtained all season, SC Tillet drops back into Provincial League 3.
1996 / SC Tillet concludes a merger with local rivals RUS Sainte-Ode, also playing in Provincial League 3 at that time, but the merger is declared null and void by the Belgian FA due to a procedural error. Thereupon, SC Tillet withdraws from first team football for the 1996-97 season.
1997 / After one year of inactivity, SC Tillet folds, with its registration number 7600 being erased from the Belgian FA’s official lists. The club’s ground at Route de Tonny is taken over by RUS Sainte-Ode, which moved its first team football to this location – probably right from the start in 1997. The ground of RUS Sainte-Ode, the Stade Communal in Amberloup, is retained for lower team football and training sessions.
1999 / RUS Sainte-Ode finishes as runner-up in Belgian Luxembourg’s Provincial League 3D, 4 points behind champions ES Wellinoise.
2000 / Clinching the title in Belgian Luxembourg’s Provincial League 3D, 1 point ahead of closest rivals US Bure, RUS Sainte-Ode wins promotion to Provincial League 2.
2003 / Clinching the title in Belgian Luxembourg’s Provincial League 2B, 3 points ahead of closest followers RE Bertrigeoise, RUS Sainte-Ode wins promotion to Provincial League 1 after an absence of twenty years at that level.
2007 / RUS Sainte-Ode avoids relegation from Belgian Luxembourg’s Provincial League 1 by winning a tie-break match against RAFC Oppagne-Wéris.
2008 / Finishing in joint twelfth place in Belgian Luxembourg’s Provincial League 1 with FC Paliseulois, RUS Sainte-Ode goes on to suffer defeat against that club in a tie-break match (3-1 A.E.T.). As a result, the club descends into Provincial League 2 alongside ES Vaux-sur-Sûre, RRA Florenvillois, and bottom club RFC Bomal.
2011 / Finishing in second-last place in Belgian Luxembourg’s Provincial League 2B, RUS Sainte-Ode is retrograded into Provincial League 3, along with bottom club RAC Neuvillers.
2017 / As large works are carried out at the Stade Communal in Amberloup, RUS Sainte-Ode is allowed to take over a former youth home's pitch in the nearby hamlet of Beauplateau for lower team football and training sessions.
2018 / Although the works in Amberloup are completed by the late summer of 2018, RUS Sainte-Ode retains the pitch in Beauplateau as a training ground for its first team.
2019 / Runner-up in Belgian Luxembourg’s Provincial League 3D, 1 point behind champions RFC Saint-Hubert B, RUS Sainte-Ode fails to win promotion in the subsequent round of play-offs.
2020 / In the 2019-20 season, cut short due the first COVID lockdown in March 2020, RUS Sainte-Ode finds itself in first place in Belgian Luxembourg’s Provincial League 3D, 1 point ahead of REUS Tellinoise, RUC Bras, and RES Witry-Menufontaine, with one game in hand. On that basis, the club is placed in Provincial League 2 for the following season.

Note - Below, a compilation of photos of two different visits: pictures 1-3 = non-matchday visit, January 2012 / pictures 4-10 = match visit, April 2013.