Extreme Football Tourism: LUXEMBOURG: SC Bettembourg (1939-1940, 1944-) / FK 1927 Bettemburg (1940-1944)

Stade Municipal - Route de Mondorf, Bettembourg (SC Bettembourg, formerly FK 1927 Bettemburg)

Luxembourg, canton: Esch-sur-Alzette

18 VIII 2024 / SC Bettembourg - FC Progrès Niederkorn 1-3 / National Division (= LUX level 1)

Timeline

1908 / Foundation of a first football club in Bettembourg, a town in the south of Luxembourg, near the border with France. This first club, FC Eclair Bettembourg, plays its football at Terrain Am Fusslach, situated on what is today the town’s main cemetery.
1912 / Foundation of two further football clubs in Bettembourg, FC Jeunesse Bettembourg and Jünglingsverein Bettemburg. Whereas Jeunesse is a club focusing on football solely, the Roman Catholic Jünglingsverein offers its members the opportunity to play different sports.
1917 / After an existence of five years, FC Jeunesse Bettembourg and Jünglingsverein Bettemburg merge and are absorbed into FC Eclair Bettembourg as that club’s second team (‘Eclair II’) – with that team being disbanded one year later.
1923 / Winning its third successive promotion, FC Eclair Bettembourg accedes to the top division of Luxembourg’s league pyramid, Division 1.
1924 / Finishing in eighth and last place in Division 1, FC Eclair Bettembourg drops back into Division 2 along with FC Red Black Pfaffenthal.
1927 / Foundation of a new football club in Bettembourg, Sporting Club (SC) Bettembourg, with Jos Schmit becoming the first chairman. The club has a prosperous start, defeating FC Aris Bonnevoie 0-13 in a friendly match. Most probably, SC Bettembourg shared Terrain Am Fusslach with FC Eclair Bettembourg, but no certainty is to be had on this matter.
1928 / SC Bettembourg joins Luxembourg’s Football Association (FSLSA, later renamed FLF).
1929 / In its first competitive season, SC Bettembourg is placed in Division 3, the fourth level of Luxembourg’s league pyramid. In its first season, the club manages a respectable second place in Division 3 Série 2, 5 points behind champions FC The Belval Belvaux.
1931 / Champions in Division 3 Série 1, 1 point ahead of FC Rapid Neudorf, SC Bettembourg qualifies for a set of play-offs against the champions in the two other D3 groups, FC Jeunesse Wasserbillig and FC Mansfeldia Clausen, going on to win these play-offs and thus winning promotion to Division 2, the third level of Luxembourg’s league system at that time.
1932 / Champions in Division 2 Série 1, 2 points ahead of CS Pétange, SC Bettembourg accedes to Promotion, the second level of Luxembourgian football at that time. Also in 1932, after an existence of 24 years, the oldest club in Bettembourg, FC Eclair, folds, ceasing all activities. From that moment on, SC Bettembourg has always been the town’s only football club.
1934 / Following two relegations in a row, SC Bettembourg finds itself in Division 2 again.
1937 / Champions in Division 2 Série 1, 9 points ahead of runners-up CS Hollerich, SC Bettembourg wins promotion to Promotion, the third level of Luxembourg’s league pyramid.
1939 / Finishing in third place in Promotion, SC Bettembourg accedes to Division 1, the second level of Luxembourg’s league pyramid at that time, along with champions FC Jeunesse Wasserbillig and runners-up FC Racing Rodange. Also in 1939, SC Bettembourg settles at Terrain Beim Moselter at Route de Mondorf – later renamed Stade Municipal, i.e. the ground where the club has been home until the present day.
1940 / Finishing bottom of the table in Division 1, SC Bettembourg drops back into Promotion along with FC Young Boys Diekirch and SC Tétange. After the German occupation and absorption of Luxembourg into the Reich, SC Bettembourg is given a new, germanised name Fussballklub (FK) 1927 Bettemburg, and placed in the Gauliga 1. Klasse. For most of the war, though, regular league football is discontinued, with many young Luxembourgers being called up to serve in the Wehrmacht on the Russian front. Fourteen club members of SC Bettembourg do not survive World War II.
1944 / As Luxembourg is liberated from the German yoke, the old club name SC Bettembourg is reinstated.
1945 / As Luxembourg’s regular league football is resumed, SC Bettembourg is placed in Promotion, the third level of the league pyramid.
1946 / Finishing in fourth place in Promotion, SC Bettembourg wins promotion to Division 1 along with champions CS Oberkorn as well as SC Tétange and AS Remich.
1947 / Runners-up in Division 1, 2 points behind champions FC Red Black Pfaffenthal, SC Bettembourg wins promotion to the Division of Honour, as the top flight of Luxembourgian football is called at that time, along with Pfaffenthal and the club finishing in third place, SC Tétange. With 23 years having passed since FC Eclair Bettembourg suffered relegation to the second level following the only season of top flight football in its history, this constitutes the first time that SC Bettembourg is represented at the top level of the league pyramid.
1948 / Finishing in second-last place in the Division of Honour, SC Bettembourg drops back into Division 1 after just one season, along with AS La Jeunesse d’Esch and bottom club FC Red Black Pfaffenthal.
1949 / SC Bettembourg qualifies for the quarter finals of the Coupe du Luxembourg, in which the club is eliminated by top flight club FC Racing Rodange (0-3). The club has never managed to progress further in Luxembourg’s main cup competition ever since.
1950 / Finishing in second-last place in Division 1, SC Bettembourg descends into Promotion along with FC Progrès 08 Grund, FC The Belval Belvaux, and bottom club FC Jeunesse 07 Kayl.
1951 / Finishing in fourth place in Promotion Série 1, SC Bettembourg manages a return to Division 1, along with champions AS Differdange as well as FC The Belval Belvaux, and AS Schifflange.
1953 / Finishing in eleventh place in Division 1 Série 2, SC Bettembourg drops back into Promotion along with bottom club US Esch.
1954 / Champions in Promotion Série 2, 9 points ahead of runners-up FC Mamer 32, SC Bettembourg manages a return to Division 1 after just one year.
1956 / Inauguration of a set of dressing rooms at Terrain Beim Moselter / Stade Municipal.
1957 / Finishing in second-last place in Division 1 Série 2, SC Bettembourg suffers relegation along with bottom club FC Koeppchen Wormeldange. Due to a reorganisation of the league pyramid, the club drops back not one, but two levels, thus finding itself in Division 2, the new fourth level of Luxembourg’s league pyramid.
1964 / Runners-up in Division 2 Série 2, 10 points behind champions AS Differdange, SC Bettembourg wins promotion to Division 1, i.e. the third level of Luxembourg’s league system.
1965 / Finishing in last place in Division 1, SC Bettembourg drops back into Division 2 along with FC Sporting Steinfort, FC Tricolore Gasperich, and FC Titus Lamadelaine.
1966 / Champions in Division 2 Série 2, 3 points ahead of runners-up FC Titus Lamadelaine, SC Bettembourg manages an immediate return to Division 1.
1970 / Champions in Division 1, 3 points ahead of closest rivals FC Arminia Weidingen, SC Bettembourg wins promotion to Promotion d’Honneur, the second level of the Luxembourgian league pyramid.
1971 / The Stade Municipal is equipped with a set of floodlights, while the ground is also adorned with the luxury of a covered stand on the western side of the pitch.
1972 / Champions in Promotion d’Honneur, 2 points ahead of closest followers CS Fola Esch, SC Bettembourg wins promotion to the National Division, 24 years after the club last featured in the top flight of Luxembourg’s football divisions.
1973 / Finishing rock bottom in the National Division, with just two wins and two draws in 22 matches, SC Bettembourg drops back to Promotion d’Honneur, along with the club finishing in second-last place, SC Tétange.
1974 / Finishing in last place in Promotion d’Honneur, SC Bettembourg suffers its second relegation in a row, descending into Division 1 along with FC Jeunesse Wasserbillig.
1975 / With the club experiencing its third relegation in a row, SC Bettembourg finishes in eleventh place in Division 1 – with as many points as no. 10 FC US Hostert, which stays up by virtue of a better goal difference – resulting in the club dropping back into Division 2 along with FC Rapid Neudorf, FC Victoria Rosport, and bottom club CS Hobscheid.
1977 / Champions in Division 2 Série 4, 1 point ahead of runners-up FC Mamer 32, SC Bettembourg manages a return to Division 1.
1978 / Bottom of the table in Division 1 Série 2, SC Bettembourg experiences its fourth relegation in the 1970s, dropping back into Division 2 along with FC Sporting Steinfort.
1981 / Champions in Division 2 Série 4, 1 point ahead of closest rivals FC Sporting Steinfort, SC Bettembourg wins promotion to Division 1.
1986 / Finishing in tenth place in Division 1 Série 2 – with as many points as no. 9 AS Differdange, which stays up by virtue of a better goal difference – SC Bettembourg drops back into Division 2 along with CS Sanem and bottom club FC Red Black Pfaffenthal.
1989 / Champions in Division 2 Série 3, 3 points ahead of closest followers FC Red Star Merl-Belair, SC Bettembourg wins promotion to Division 1.
1990 / Finishing in tenth place in Division 1 Série 2 – with as many points as no. 9 FC Egalité Weimerskirch, which stays up by virtue of a better goal difference – SC Bettembourg drops back into Division 2 along with FC Red Star Merl-Belair and bottom club FC Blue Boys Muhlenbach.
1993 / Runners-up in Division 2 Série 3, 9 points behind champions CS Oberkorn, SC Bettembourg manages a return to Division 1.
1997 / Runners-up in Division 1 Série 1, 7 points behind champions FC Swift Hesperange, SC Bettembourg accedes to Promotion d’Honneur, a level at which the club was last represented 23 years previously.
1998 / Finishing in second-last place in Promotion d’Honneur, SC Bettembourg drops back into Division 1 along with FC Tricolore Gasperich and bottom club FC Racing Troisvièrges.
2003 / Finishing bottom of the table in Division 1 Série 2, SC Bettembourg descends into Division 2 along with SC Tétange and FC Tricolor Gasperich. Also in 2003, as the club celebrates its 75th anniversary as a member of Luxembourg’s Football Association, a new grandstand is inaugurated at the Stade Municipal, giving the ground its current capacity of 1,300.
2004 / Champions in Division 2 Série 3, 5 points ahead of US Esch, SC Bettembourg manages an immediate return to Division 1.
2011 / Finishing in second-last place in Division 1 Série 2, SC Bettembourg drops back into Division 2 along with FC Tricolore Gasperich and bottom club FC Sporting Bertrange.
2014 / Finishing in third place in Division 2 Série 2, SC Bettembourg qualifies for a promotion-relegation play-off against D1 club CS Sanem, going on to win the match 0-6 and thus acceding to Division 1 along with champions FC Schifflange 95 and runners-up FC Sporting Bertrange.
2016 / Finishing in twelfth place in Division 1 Série 2, SC Bettembourg has to play a promotion-relegation play-off against D2 club FC Red Black Egalité 07 Pfaffenthal-Weimerskirch, suffering a 2-3 defeat and thus dropping back into D2 along with Daring Club Echternach and bottom club CS Oberkorn.
2018 / Finishing in third place in Division 2 Série 2, SC Bettembourg qualifies for a promotion-relegation play-off against D1 club AS Wincrange, going on to win the match 0-1 and thus acceding to Division 1 along with champions Union Remich-Bous and runners-up FC Syra Mensdorf.
2019 / Inauguration of SC Bettembourg’s new clubhouse at the Stade Municipal, a two-tiered construction to the north of the grandstand, in the presence of Luxembourg’s Minister of Sports, Dan Kersch, and Bettembourg’s mayor, Laurent Zeimet. That same year, the ground’s main pitch is equipped with a synthetic surface.
2020 / In the 2019-20 season, cut short by the first Covid lockdown in March 2020, SC Bettembourg finds itself in first place in Division 1 Série 2 after 15 of 26 matches played. As such, the club is placed in Promotion d’Honneur for the following season, along with closest rivals FC Schifflange 95 and FC Berdenia Berbourg.
2023 / Finishing in third place in Promotion d’Honneur, SC Bettembourg qualifies for a promotion-relegation play-off against National Division club UN Käerjéng 97, losing the encounter 3-2 and thus missing out on promotion to the top flight.
2024 / Champions in Promotion d’Honneur, 2 points ahead of closest followers FC Rodange 91, SC Bettembourg wins promotion to the National Division, finding itself in the top division of Luxembourg’s football pyramid for the first time in 51 years.

Note 1 – Thanks to SC Bettembourg’s chairman Patrick Hutmacher for putting at my disposal an overview of SC Bettembourg’s history.

Note 2 – Below, a compilation of photos of two different visits: pictures 1-4 = non-matchday visit, August 2010 / pictures 5-16 = match visit, August 2024.