Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: RCS Rebecquois (1930-1998) / RUS Rebecquoise (1998-)

Stade André Cheron "Complexe du Gobard", Rebecq-Rognon = Roosbeek (B pitch of RUS Rebecquoise, formerly A pitch of RUS Rebecquoise)

Belgium, province: Walloon Brabant

24 III 2011 / RUS Rebecquoise - R Union Rixensartoise 0-2 / Brabant, Provincial League 2A (= BE level 6)

Timeline

1930 / Foundation of Cercle Sportif (CS) Rebecquois, football club in Rebecq-Rognon (Roosbeek). Upon joining Belgium's Football Association, the club obtains matricule 1614; as yet, it is unclear when the club moved into the current ground at Ruelle Gobard (Stade André Cheron), but it may very well have been the club's home from the outset; it is unknown as well when the small covered stand on the western end of the ground was added. Also in 1930, in nearby Quenast (Kenast), Union Sportive (US) Quenastoise is founded (matricule 1578).
1949 / After a rather anonymous 18-year existence in the lower reaches of Brabant's provincial leagues, US Quenastoise folds, ceasing all activities.
1955 / Upon its 25th anniversary, CS Rebecquois acquires the royal epithet, thus becoming Royal Cercle Sportif (RCS) Rebecquois.
1959 / Refoundation of US Quenastoise, which joins Belgium's FA under a new matricule (6246).
1966 / Finishing in first place in Brabant's Provincial League 2A, RCS Rebecquois wins promotion to Provincial League 1 for the first time in club history. The first taste of the highest provincial level lasts two years, with relegation following in 1968.
1970 / RCS Rebecquois' treasurer - and local socialist politician - André Cheron is elected mayor of Rebecq.
1971 / Unexpectedly, André Cheron passes away in October 1971; subsequently, the ground at Ruelle Gobard is named after him. A plaque honouring his memory is still in place at the entrance.
1972 / Obtaining the title in P2A, US Quenastoise accedes to Brabant's Provincial League 1 for the first time. The club holds out for four seasons, eventually dropping back into Provincial League in 1976 - never to regain its old glory in subsequent years.
1975 / For a second time, RCS Rebecquois manages to win the title in P2A, thus finding its way back to Provincial League 1 after an absence of seven seasons. This second spell of P1 football again lasts for two years only.
± 1989 / A second pitch is added to Stade André Cheron. This 'terrain 2' is situated on an elevation on the eastern side of the ground's main pitch.
± 1995 / A row of seats is added to the 'main stand', the small bit of cover on the western side of Stade André Cheron.
1998 / With both clubs suffering from an ever dwindling number of youth members and Rebecq's municipal authorities heavily in favour of just one club within their borders rather than two, a merger is concluded between RCS Rebecquois and US Quenastoise, resulting in the foundation of Royale Union Sportive (RUS) Rebecquoise - and retaining CS Rebecquois' matricule 1614. All club activities move to Rebecq's Stade André Cheron, while Quenast's ground at Chemin de la Chaussée is abandoned - and later demolished to make way for the Vélodrome Communal de Rebecq. By virtue of RCS Rebecquois' win in the promotion play-offs in Provincial League 4, RUS Rebecquoise starts its life as a Provincial League 3 side. In the following decade, however, success on the pitch is notably lacking.
2008 / Due to a lack of volunteers, RUS Rebecquoise's chairman Edgard Streydio hands the keys of Stade André Cheron to Rebecq's mayor, Dimitri Lagasse. Instead of liquidating the club, though, Lagasse finds the club a new president in the shape of ambitious businessman Thierry Demolie.
2010 / Having managed a second place in Provincial League 3C, RUS Rebecquoise finally makes the leap to Provincial League 2 by winning the promotion play-offs. Also around this time, a small covered terrace is added to the eastern side of Stade Cheron's main pitch.
2011 / With an ever increasing number of youth players joining the club - by 2011, Rebecq's youth academy comprises some 230 players -, the three pitches of Stade André Cheron are often impracticable due to the extensive use made of them, regularly forcing the club's board to hire pitches at the Belgian FA's Training Centre in nearby Tubize. In the summer of 2011, pitch 2 of Stade André Cheron is equipped with a 3G surface. Moreover, a third pitch is added to the east of pitch 2, thus solving the club's capacity problems once and for all.
2012 / RUS Rebecquoise celebrates its second promotion in two years, with the club winning the promotion play-offs in Provincial League 2 and thus acceding to Provincial League 1 for the first time since the merger in 1998. In the fall of 2012, the new club FC Bleid-Molenbeek (matricule 9026) - the Belgian Luxembourg national league side FC Bleid purchased by a group of investors around former Belgian international player Michel De Wolf in an attempt to revive the old RWDM - plays its home matches at Stade André Cheron for a short time before finally finding a home in Brussels proper at Stade Heysel II.
2014 / In a steep climb up the league ladder, RUS Rebecquoise again requires just two years to find its way to the next level; winning the title in Brabant's Provincial League 1, the club wins promotion to the national leagues for a first time. Also in 2014, the club manages to win Brabant's Provincial Cup, of which the final is played at Stade Edmond Machtens in Molenbeek.
2015 / In its first season in National Division 4B, RUS Rebecquoise easily holds its own, finishing fourth.
2016 / Again maintaining itself easily in D4B, RUS Rebecquoise, in a thorough reorganisation of the national divisions, is placed in ACFF Amateur Division 3, the fifth step of Belgium's new league pyramid. Subsequently, in the 2016-17 Belgian Cup, Rebecq reaches the fifth round, in which it takes on professional league side OH Leuven in a home match played at Tubize's Stade Leburton; with the D1B club scraping through on penalties after having been held to a 1-1 draw after extra time.
2017 / Finishing second in ACFF Amateur Division 3A, RUS Rebecquoise accedes to Amateur Division 2, the fourth tier of Belgium's national league system. Earlier that year, the club was plunged into mourning due to the passing of honorary chairman Edgard Streydio, who was 82 years old.
2019 / RUS Rebecquoise has an impressive cup run, eliminating top flight club Cercle Brugge KSV in Jan Breydelstadion (0-1) before bowing out in the round of last 16 away against R Standard de Liège in Sclessin (Stade Maurice Dufrasne, 3-0).
2024 / Bottom of the table in ACFF Amateur Division 2, RUS Rebecquoise descends into ACFF D3 along with RRC Hamoir.

Note: Below, a compilation of photos of three different visits: picture 1 = non-matchday visit, July 2022 / pictures 2-8 = non-matchday visit, October 2022 / pictures 9-18 = match visit, March 2011.