LUXEMBOURG: FC Marisca Mersch (1908-1940, 1944-1989) / FK Mersch (1940-1944) / FC Marisca Mersch (B) (1989-)

Rue des Prés, Mersch (B ground of FC Marisca Mersch, formerly A ground of FC Marisca Mersch)

Luxembourg, canton: Mersch

April 2011 / no match visited

Timeline

• 1908 / Foundation of football club FC Marisca Mersch. Most probably, the club started its life at the ground at Rue des Prés. 
• 1909 / FC Marisca takes part in Luxembourg’s regular league football for the first time, being placed at the second level, but following the 1909-10 season – incidentally also the first regular league season in the Grand-Duchy’s history – disdains taking part in the league with a first team.
• 1921 / Not having had a first team for 11 seasons, FC Marisca Mersch returns to Luxembourg’s league, being placed at the 4th level of the league pyramid.
• 1937 / FC Marisca Mersch wins its first title, in Division 3 Série 1, the 5th level of Luxembourg’s football pyramid, 2 points ahead of FC Una Strassen. In the years between World Wars I & II, Marisca alternates spells at the 4th and 5th level of Luxembourgian football.
• 1940 / After Germany’s invasion of Luxembourg, occupation authorities pursued an aggressive Germanisation campaign, involving – amongst other things – all football clubs having to take on a fully German name. As such, FC Marisca Mersch was renamed Fussballklub (FK) Mersch.
• 1944 / Following the liberation of Luxembourg by the Allies, the old club name FC Marisca Mersch is reinstated.
• 1947 / Finishing runners-up in Division 2 Série 1, 4 points behind champions FC Claravallis Clervaux, FC Marisca Mersch wins promotion to the 3rd level of the league pyramid for the first time, staying at that level for 10 consecutive seasons.
• 1963 / Finishing in joint-first place with FC Red Star Merl-Belair in Division 1, FC Marisca accedes to Promotion d’Honneur, the second level of Luxembourg’s football pyramid, for the first time (not taking into account the 1909-10 season, in which only 2 divisions existed). The successful 1962-63 season actually sealed Marisca’s 3rd promotion in a row. 
• 1964 / Picking up only 9 points from 22 matches, FC Marisca Mersch suffers relegation from Promotion d’Honneur after just one season, with FC Chiers Rodange being the other club descending to the 3rd level. In the following decades, Marisca alternates spells at the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and even 6th level of Luxembourg’s league pyramid. The club climbs out of the 6th tier in 1976, but only because that level is abolished that year.
• 1989 / A new main pitch is created for FC Marisca Mersch on an open field near the village centre, Terrain Schintgespesch – no more than a stone’s throw away from the old ground. Terrain Rue des Prés is retained for lower team football and training sessions
• ± 2009 / A synthetic pitch is put in place at the club’s B ground at Rue des Prés.

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