Extreme Football Tourism: LUXEMBOURG: FC Résidence Walferdange

Stade Prince Henri, Walferdange (FC Résidence Walferdange)

Luxembourg, canton: Luxembourg

23 VIII 2026 / FC Résidence Walferdange - FC Atert Bissen 1-2 / National Division (= LUX level 1)

Timeline

1908 / Foundation of a football club in Walferdange, a town 6 km to the north of Luxembourg, the capital of the eponymous Grand-Duchy. The new club is given the name FC Résidence Walferdange, with Nicolas Welter being the first chairman. Unfortunately, no information whatsoever is available regarding the location(s) where the club played its home matches between 1908 and 1965.
1909 / FC Résidence Walferdange is one of the clubs to take part in the first-ever Luxembourg league championship, being placed in Division B, the second-level of the nascent league pyramid, for the 1909-10 season.
1910 / After one season in Division B, FC Résidence Walferdange withdraws from competitive football for the following six years.
1916 / FC Résidence Walferdange joins the league pyramid again, being placed in Division 3 Canton Luxembourg.
1917 / After just one season, FC Résidence Walferdange withdraws from competitive football again.
1919 / FC Résidence Walferdange joins the league pyramid again, being placed in Division 3 Canton Luxembourg as three years previously.
1920 / Yet again, FC Résidence Walferdange withdraws from the league pyramid after just one season.
1921 / After a one-year break, FC Résidence Walferdange tries its hand at competitive football again, being placed in Division 3 Canton Luxembourg – which is by now the fourth tier of the league pyramid.
1923 / FC Résidence Walferdange withdraws from Division 3 Canton Luxembourg after two seasons.
1925 / After two years without competitive football, FC Résidence Walferdange is now placed in Division 3 Group 1 (level 4).
1929 / Runner-up in Division 3, 2 points behind champions FC Olympique Eischen, FC Résidence Walferdange wins promotion to Division 2 (level 3).
1932 / Finishing bottom of the table in Division 2 Group 1, FC Résidence Walferdange descends into Division 3 – which becomes level 5 in a reorganisation of the Grand-Duchy’s league pyramid, carried out in advance of the 1932-33 season.
1933 / FC Résidence Walferdange withdraws from competitive football.
1934 / After a one-year break, FC Résidence Walferdange rejoins the league pyramid in Division 3 Central Luxembourg (level 5).
1935 / Champions in Division 3 Central Luxembourg, 9 points ahead of closest followers FC Marisca Mersch, FC Résidence Walferdange wins promotion to Division 2 (level 4).
1937 / Finishing in third-last place in Division 2 Group 2, FC Résidence Walferdange drops back into Division 3 (level 5) after two years, alongside CS Grevenmacher and bottom club FC Minerva Lintgen.
1938 / Champions in Division 3 Group 3, 3 points ahead of closest rivals FC Racing Troisvièrges, FC Résidence Walferdange wins promotion to Division 2 (level 4).
1939 / Finishing in second-last place in Division 2 Group 1, FC Résidence Walferdange drops back into Division 3 (level 5) after just one season, along with FC UNA Strassen and bottom club FC Racing Troisvièrges.
1940 / As Luxembourg is conquered by, and absorbed into, the Third Reich, the national league divisions are abolished. FC Résidence Walferdange, which is renamed Fussballklub (FK) 08 Walferdingen in the virulent Germanification campaign introduced by occupation authorities, does not take part in competitive football for the duration of the war.
1944 / As the southern part of the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg is liberated from the German yoke, FK 08 Walferdingen reverts to its pre-war name, FC Résidence Walferdange.
1945 / FC Résidence Walferdange joins Luxembourg’s league pyramid again at the bottom tier, Division 3 (level 5).
1946 / Champions in Division 3 Group 3, 1 point ahead of closest rivals FC Jeunesse Junglinster, FC Résidence Walferdange wins promotion to Division 2 (level 4) alongside the aforementioned club as well as FC Victoria Rosport and FC Marisca Mersch.
1948 / Finishing in third place in Division 2 Group 2, FC Résidence Walferdange wins promotion to Promotion (level 3) along with champions FC Etzella Ettelbruck as well as runner-up FC Arminia Weidingen.
1949 / Finishing in second-last place in Promotion Group 1, FC Résidence Walferdange drops back into Division 2 (level 4) after just one season, along with FC Etzella Ettelbruck and bottom club FC Arminia Weidingen.
1951 / Runaway champions in Division 2 Group 2, 11 points ahead of closest followers FC Arantia Berdorf, FC Résidence Walferdange wins promotion to Promotion (level 3).
1952 / Finishing in third place in Promotion Group 2, FC Résidence Walferdange wins promotion to Division 1, the antechamber of Luxembourg’s football pyramid, for the first time, alongside champions FC Etzella Ettelbruck and runner-up Daring Club Echternach.
1961 / Having managed nine consecutive seasons at the second tier of the Grand-Duchy’s football pyramid, by now renamed Promotion d’Honneur, with two fourth places in 1953 and 1959 as highlights, FC Résidence Walferdange now finishes in joint second-last place with FC Young Boys Diekirch, going on to suffer defeat in a relegation play-off against that club (1-2). As a result, Résidence descends into Division 1 (level 3) along with bottom club FC Etzella Ettelbruck. Also in 1961, Walferdange’s municipal council takes the decision to construct a multi-sports complex on a plot of land hitherto owned by the Grand-Duchy’s armed forces at Route de Diekirch as a prospective new venue for FC Résidence Walferdange and other sports clubs. The field is situated opposite of the Château de Walferdange, a palace previously owned by King William I of the Netherlands – who also reigned as Grand-Duke of Luxembourg in a personal union at the time – who had it constructed as a royal stud farm in 1817. Following the Belgian Revolution of 1830, the stud farm was abandoned and the buildings remained largely unused for about a decade. In 1841, King William II proposed transforming the site into a royal residence. In 1850, his brother, Prince Henry of Orange, became Lieutenant-Representative of Luxembourg and moved into the château at the behest of his older brother, King William III. Henry lived there until his death in 1879, making Walferdange his principal residence for almost thirty years. Afterwards, the château was used only occasionally, notably by Grand Duke Adolphe as a secondary residence between 1891 and 1905. During the First World War, it provided refuge for evacuated families. From 1930 to 1944, it housed a teachers’ training school. After the Second World War, American troops briefly occupied the château, with the Luxembourg Army taking over the premises and using it as barracks from 1945.
1965 / Inauguration of the new multi-sports complex in Walferdange, with Luxembourg’s Minister of the Armed Forces, Marcel Fischbach, performing the opening ceremony, in the presence of Prime Minister Pierre Werner and Minister of Public Works Pierre Werner on July 24th, 1965. That day, the football pitch of the new Stade Prince Henri, named after the Prince of Orange who lived in the Château opposite of the ground in the nineteenth century, is the venue of an inaugural match between FC Résidence Walferdange and a team of the Luxembourg Army; with the encounter finishing in a 3-3 draw, the drawing of lots decides that the army team receives the so-called Coupe de l’Inauguration. The inauguration of the venue kicks off a so-called Weeks of Sports with various sporting events being held for local residents. Apart from football, the Stade Prince Henri offers the opportunity to practice tennis, basketball, athletics, and volleyball.
1967 / With the Luxembourg Army abandoning the Château de Walferdange and the Stade Prince Henri in 1967, the castle becomes a campus of the newly established University of Luxembourg. Later on, more specifically since 2015, parts of the complex have been used by Luxembourg’s Ministry of Education, Childhood and Youth as a pedagogical training and research institute.
1969 / Finishing bottom of the table in Division 1, FC Résidence Walferdange descends into Division 2 along with FC Swift Hesperange, AS Schifflange, and FC Jeunesse Biwer.
1971 / Champions in Division 2 Group 1, 5 points ahead of FC Blue Boys Muhlenbach, FC Résidence Walferdange manages a return to Division 1 after two years. Also in 1971, a second pitch is added to the set-up of the Stade Prince Henri.
1972 / Finishing in second-last place in Division 1, FC Résidence Walferdange drops back into Division 2 instantly, alongside AS Differdange, FCM Young Boys Diekirch, and bottom club FC Mamer 32.
1973 / Finishing in second-last place in Division 2 Group 1, FC Résidence Walferdange suffers back-to-back relegations, descending into Division 3 along with bottom club SC Redange.
1974 / Runner-up in Division 3 Group 1, 2 points behind champions FC Brouch, FC Résidence Walferdange wins promotion to Division 2.
1980 / Runner-up in Division 2 Group 2, 3 points behind champions AS Luxembourg, FC Résidence Walferdange qualifies for the promotion-relegation play-offs, in which the club finishes as runner-up, ahead of US Rambrouch, but behind Division 1 side FC Atert Bissen; as a result, FC Atert avoids the drop, with FC Résidence staying behind with empty hands. Also in 1980, a new indoor sports hall is inaugurated as part of the Stade Prince Henri.
1982 / Finishing in second-last place in Division 2 Group 2, FC Résidence Walferdange descends into Division 3, alongside bottom club FC Jeunesse Useldange.
1984 / Champions in Division 3 Group 2, with an equal number of points as runner-up – and derby rivals – FC Alisontia Steinsel, but with a better goal difference (+49 vs. +41), FC Résidence Walferdange wins promotion to Division 2.
1987 / Runner-up in Division 2 Group 2, with an equal number of points as champions FC Red Black Pfaffenthal, but with an inferior goal difference (+35 vs. +41), FC Résidence Walferdange wins promotion to Division 1 after an absence of fifteen years at that level.
1990 / Finishing in second-last place in Division 1 Group 1, FC Résidence Walferdange drops back into Division 2 after three years, alongside US Boevange-sur-Attert and bottom club AS Wincrange.
1998 / Finishing in second-last place in Division 2 Group 2, FC Résidence Walferdange is retrograded into Division 3, along with bottom club FC Jeunesse Useldange.
1999 / Finishing in third place in Division 3 Group 3, FC Résidence Walferdange wins promotion to Division 2 along with runner-up FC Red Boys Aspelt, due to champions US Rumelange Reserves being ineligible for promotion. Also in 1999, the Stade Prince Henri is thoroughly refurbished, with a small two-stepped terrace alongside the main pitch and striking roof construction at the entrance of the indoor hall being created.
2003 / Finishing bottom of the table in Division 2 Group 2, FC Résidence Walferdange descends into Division 3 alongside the club in second-last place, FC Syra Mensdorf.
2004 / Finishing in third place in Division 3 Group 1, FC Résidence Walferdange wins promotion to Division 2 alongside champions FC Olympia Christnach-Waldbillig and runner-up FC Racing Heiderscheid-Eschdorf.
2005 / Finishing bottom of the table in Division 2 Group 3, FC Résidence Walferdange drops back into Division 3 after just one season, along with FC Jeunesse Sportive Koerich.
2009 / Clinching its first title in 25 years, FC Résidence Walferdange finishes top of the table in Division 3 Group 2, 2 points ahead of closest rivals FC Red Black Egalité 07 Pfaffenthal-Weimerskirch and gaining promotion to Division 2.
2011 / Finishing in third place in Division 2 Group 1, only 1 point behind champions FC Lorentzweiler, FC Résidence Walferdange goes on to defeat FC Tricolore Gasperich in a play-off (5-4), resulting in the club earning promotion to Division 1 after an absence of 21 years at that level, alongside the aforementioned FC Lorentzweiler and US Feulen.
2012 / Finishing bottom of the table in Division 1 Group 1, FC Résidence Walferdange drops back into Division 2 after one season only, together with FC Jeunesse Schieren and FC Kehlen.
2013 / Runner-up in Division 2 Group 1, 2 points behind champions FC Kehlen, FC Résidence Walferdange manages an immediate return to Division 1, along with the aforementioned club as well as AS Wincrange.
2016 / Finishing in third-last place in Division 1 Group 1, FC Résidence Walferdange staves off relegation through a win over SC Steinfort (2-1) in a play-off.
2017 / Finishing bottom of the table in Division 1 Group 1, FC Résidence Walferdange drops back into Division 2, alongside FC Pratzerthal-Redange and FC Jeunesse Schieren. That summer, with the club nearly having to lay down the books due to a lack of board members, a new group of volunteers are found to save FC Résidence, taking over the club.
2018 / The second pitch of the Stade Prince Henri is laid out anew with a synthetic surface.
2019 / Champions in Division 2 Group 2, with an equal number of points as well as an equal goal difference as runner-up FC Avenir Beggen, but with more goals scored (72 vs. 50), FC Résidence Walferdange manages a return to Division 1 after two years.
2023 / Runaway champions in Division 1 Group 2, 11 points ahead of closest followers FC Koeppchen Wormeldange, FC Résidence Walferdange wins promotion to Promotion d’Honneur after an absence of 52 years at that level. Moreover, the club also reaches the final of the FLF Cup, a knockout competition for clubs playing in the three lowest tiers of Luxembourg’s football pyramid; in the final, played at Stade Kuerzwénkel in Consdorf, FC Résidence takes on FC Koeppchen Wormeldange, with the tie finishing 2-2 A.E.T. – and with Résidence winning the penalty series. However, the result was subsequently changed by the sports authorities to a 3-0 forfeit win for Koeppchen, because Walferdange had fielded an ineligible player.
2026 / Finishing in fourth place in Promotion d’Honneur, FC Résidence Walferdange goes on to defeat top flight team FC Jeunesse Canach in a promotion-relegation play-off, played at Stade de la rue Henri Dunant in Beggen (1-1 A.E.T. & penalty shoot-out), resulting in the club gaining an unprecedented promotion to the National Division, along with champions US Rumelange, runner-up FC Etzella Ettelbruck, and fellow play-off winner FC Wiltz 71.

Note – Below, a compilation of photos of two different visits: pictures 1-5 = non-matchday visit, March 2011 / pictures 6-21 = match visit, August 2026.