Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: SV Audenaerde (B) (1931-1933) / SV Audenaerde (1933-1951) / KSV Oudenaarde (1951-)

Burgemeester Thienpontstadion, Oudenaarde = Audenarde (KSV Oudenaarde, formerly SV Audenaerde)

Belgium, province: East Flanders

16 VIII 2009 / KSV Oudenaarde - RFC Tournai 3-2 / Belgian Cup R4

21 VIII 2022 / KSV Oudenaarde - KFC Vigor Wuitens Hamme 3-0 / Belgian Cup R4

Timeline

1919 / Foundation of Sportvereeniging (SV) Audenaerde as a merger between two older clubs, FC Audenardais (1911) and SK Aldenardia (1912). The merger club settles at a ground at Doornikstraat, behind Kazerne Maegdendaele.
1924 / SV Audenaerde wins promotion to the national league system for the first time, playing one season in Promotion or Bevordering (the second tier of Belgian football at the time) before rejoining East Flanders' regional leagues.
1926 / As the Belgian Football Association introduces the matricule system, SV Audenaerde receives matricule 81.
1928 / After three years, the club appears in the national leagues again, playing in Bevordering/Promotion - Division 3 of Belgian football since a league reform in 1926 - for seven consecutive seasons before relapsing to East Flanders' provincial leagues in 1935.
1931 / In addition to the club's ground at Doornikstraat, a new pitch is constructed on a field hemmed in between Prins Leopoldstraat and the River Scheldt, next to a tower belonging to the local shooting club. Initially, the new pitch, referred to as 'Den Eindries', is used only for lower team football and training purposes.
1933 / SV Audenaerde is forced out of its ground at Kazerne Maegdendaele due to the premises being rebuilt as a velodrome. The club now moves all its activities to Den Eindries. This ground, adorned with a newly built covered stand able to accommodate some 750 spectators, is renamed Nieuw Stedelyk Stadium.
1946 / After 11 years in East Flanders' local leagues, SV Audenaerde is back in Promotion.
1948 / Following a design by architect Jean Hebbelynck and Oudenaarde's city engineer Louis Verboven, the town's Nieuw Stedelyk Stadium is almost completely rebuilt. The works comprise the extension of the covered stand, in effect doubling its length (and capacity); as well as the construction of five steps of terracing around the remainder of the pitch and the addition of a running track around the main pitch for the benefit of athletics club KASV. A practice pitch is put in place south of the main stand, while a striking entrance gate - the only part of the ground later to be classified as a monument - is added to the set-up as well.
1949 / Inauguration of the new stadium, renamed Burgemeester Thienpontstadion in honour of Oudenaarde's mayor Léon Thienpont - the catholic politician doubles as SV Audenaerde's honorary chairman at the time. The new stadium has a capacity of 8,500 (1,500 seated). Among many other events, the inaugural festivities, held on August 28th, 1949, comprise two matches; first, SV Audenaerde hosts RAA Louviéroise (1-0), upon which a gala match is played between top flight teams ARA La Gantoise and Beerschot VAC; in spite of Beerschot having the legendary Rik Coppens in their ranks, La Gantoise wins the match 3-2.
1951 / SV Audenaerde obtains the royal epithet, modernising the spelling of its name in the process to become Koninklijke Sportvereniging (KSV) Oudenaarde.
1952 / A league reform sees the addition of an extra, third tier between Eerste Afdeling - now renamed Tweede Klasse or National Division 2 - and Promotion. KSV Oudenaarde remains in Promotion, renamed Vierde Klasse or National Division 4, thus making one step down the league ladders without having suffered relegation.
1957 / For the first time since World War II, KSV Oudenaarde lapses back to East Flanders' Provincial League 1.
1959 / Passing away of Léon Thienpont at the age of 79. Thienpont was mayor of Oudenaarde from 1922 until his death.
1965 / Winning the title in Provincial League 1, KSV Oudenaarde manages a return in National Division 4.
1967 / Following a second title in two years, KSV Oudenaarde accedes to National Division 3, but the spell at this level lasts no longer than one season.
1968 / Construction of a roof over the part of the terracing opposite the main stand, resulting in the creation of a covered standing capacity of 1,000. That year, KSV Oudenaarde hosts KSV Cercle Brugge in a cup match (result 0-2) attended by 8,000 spectators - while regular home matches in those days draw an average crowd of some 3,500.
1970 / KSV Oudenaarde finishes first in National Division 4C, heralding the start of a decade of uninterrupted Division 3 football.
1973 / The terracing in the corner between the main stand and the entrance of the ground is removed to make way for a clubhouse. Sometime in the course of the stadium's history (exact year unknown), the two upper steps of terracing around the remainder of the pitch were covered with an earth wall, further reducing the capacity to some 5,000.
1980 / Topping National Division 3A, KSV Oudenaarde accedes to the second tier of the Belgian football pyramid for the first time in 55 years. The club manages to holds its own at this level for three seasons before lapsing back in 1983.
1982 / Floodlights are added to the ground. Henceforth, KSV Oudenaarde usually plays its home matches on Saturday evenings.
1989 / Following back-to-back relegations, the club finds itself in East Flanders' Provincial League 1.
1997 / The nadir in KSV Oudenaarde's history, as the club suffers the humiliation of being relegated to Provincial League 2. A return to P1 is achieved the following year.
1998 / A new, two-tiered clubhouse is constructed as a replacement of the 1973 building.
1999 / In a second promotion in two years, KSV Oudenaarde returns to National Division 4 after an absence of 10 years.
2006 / Winning the league title in National Division 4A, KSV Oudenaarde accedes to D3.
2012 / After winning the promotion play-offs in Division 3, the club reaches National Division 2 for the first time since 1980. The spell lasts no longer than one season, though.
2013 / KSV Oudenaarde hosts Club Brugge KV in a cup match (result 0-1). Although thousands of more tickets could have been sold, local authorities allow no more than 3,200 spectators due to health and safety regulations.
2019 / After six seasons in National Division 3 (renamed Amateur Division 1 in 2016) KSV Oudenaarde has to take a step back to Amateur Division 2.

Note 1: Thanks to KSV Oudenaarde's club historian Carol Vander Cruyssen for providing me with the bulk of information given above.

Note 2: Below, a compilation of photos of two different match visits: pictures 1, 6 & 9 = August 2009 / pictures 2-5, 7-8 & 10-29 = August 2022.