Extreme Football Tourism: LUXEMBOURG: US Feulen (1972-2020)

Terrain Im Bertzent I, Niederfeulen (formerly US Feulen)

Luxembourg, canton: Diekirch

July 2010 / no match visited

Timeline

1946 / In the villages of Niederfeulen and Oberfeulen, in the heart of the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg, not far from Ettelbruck, the foundation of a football club had never occurred in the pre-war years. However, following the end of the German occupation, plans are quickly made to form a team. A first recreational match is organised between a side of villagers from Oberfeulen and Niederfeulen against a side from the village of Osper, held on a makeshift pitch, Terrain Op Dre’scher in Oberfeulen. With the match ending in an emphatic 6-0 win for the Feulen side, enthusiasm is further fuelled – and on December 22nd, 1946, a fledgling board under the leadership of Léon Schweitzler submits the first articles of association to Feulen’s municipal authorities.
1947 / On January 1st, 1947, the formal foundation of football club FC Union Sportive (US) Feulen takes place, with Léon Schweitzler becoming the new club’s first chairman – due to stay on in that capacity for the following thirty years. A pitch is laid out on a plot of farmland ceded to the club by a local smallholder, Aloyse Biever, Terrain Am Brill, located in the so-called Wiese Steichen in Niederfeulen. FC US Feulen, invariably referred to in all sources as US Feulen subsequently, starts its life as a competitive club in Group 2 of Division 3, i.e. the fifth and lowest level of the Grand-Duchy’s league pyramid.
1957 / Champions in Division 3 Group 1, 3 points ahead of closest rivals FC Les Ardoisiers Perlé, US Feulen qualifies for a set of championship play-offs against the winners of Groups 2 & 3, FC Mondercange and FC Olympia Christnach-Waldbillig, meeting these two clubs at neutral venues, Stade Josy Barthel in Luxembourg and Terrain Aalt Waasser in Diekirch respectively. However, with both encounters ending in defeat, the club misses out on promotion to Division 2.
1960 / Being evicted from Terrain Am Brill due to its new owner, Arnaud Steichen, no longer being willing to rent the field to the club – favouring its use as arable land instead – US Feulen has to play the first half of the 1960-61 season as groundsharers at FC Sporting Mertzig, with the club returning to a temporary pitch in Niederfeulen (location unknown) in the second half of the season.
1961 / On August 27th, 1961, the inauguration of US Feulen’s new pitch takes place, Terrain Am Brill – given the name it must have been located pretty close to the field where the club played its football between 1947 and 1960 – with the ceremony being performed by Feulen’s mayor, Eugène Reiser, and the new facilities being blessed by village priest, Fr François Keiser, and his vicar, Henri Fellens. Subsequently, the pitch is taken into use with a friendly between US Feulen and AS Hosingen (3-2).
1964 / Finishing in seventh place in Division 3 Group 1, US Feulen has to play a relegation play-off against three other clubs, JS Koerich, FC Minière Lasauvage, and FC Kehlen. However, finishing in last place, the club is retrograded to the newly created Division 4 (i.e. the sixth level of Luxembourg’s league pyramid) alongside the last-mentioned club.
1965 / US Feulen appoints Nico Feidert as the club’s first-ever trainer.
1968 / With the pitch at Terrain Am Brill often being unplayable, US Feulen files a request at Feulen’s municipal council to be allowed to a new location. Plans are made for a new sports park in the adjoining hamlets Über den Bruck and Im Bertzent (sometimes spelled as Im Bertzent) in Niederfeulen.
1970 / Champions in Division 4 Group 1, 2 points ahead of AS Pratzerthal, US Feulen manages a return to Division 3 after six seasons. The successful coach is Joseph Elcheroth.
1972 / Finally, after four years of preparation, the Centre Sportif in Niederfeulen is inaugurated, including the newly laid-out Terrain Im Bertzent. On August 6th, the ground is inaugurated with the final of the Coupe du 25me Anniversaire, a tournament held on the occasion of US Feulen’s 25th anniversary, with FC 72 Erpeldange, FC Sporting Mertzig, and CS Bourscheid joining the hosts. The final, an encounter between US Feulen and FC Sporting Mertzig, ends in a 2-5 away in. Following the final, a gala match is held between FC Etzella Ettelbruck and CS Grevenmacher.
1976 / Although only managing a mid-table position in Division 3 Group 1 with coach Fernand Fellens, US Feulen accedes to Division 2 for the new season due to extra promotion places being available following the elimination of reserves’ teams from regular league football.
1977 / Champions in Division 2 Group 1, 9 points ahead of FC 72 Erpeldange, US Feulen wins promotion to Division 1, the third tier of Luxembourg’s football pyramid, for the first time. The successful coach is Fernand Fellens.
1979 / Coached by Nic. Michaux, US Feulen finishes bottom of the table in Division 1 Group 1, thus dropping back into Division 2 along with the club in second-last place, FC Brouch.
1982 / Coached by Norbert Schennetten, US Feulen finishes bottom of the table in Division 2 Group 1, thus descending into Division 3 along with the club in second-last place, AS Hosingen.
1985 / Runners-up in Division 3 Group 1, 1 point behind champions FC Atert Bissen, US Feulen manages a return to Division 2 after three seasons. The successful coach is Fernand Fellens.
1987 / Coached by Paul Koetz, US Feulen finishes bottom of the table in Division 2 Group 1, thus suffering relegation to Division 3 along with the club in second-last place, FC Jeunesse Gilsdorf.
1998 / Runners-up in Division 3 Group 1, 1 point behind champions FC Etzella Ettelbruck II, US Feulen manages a return to Division 2 after an absence of eleven years.
1999 / Finishing bottom of the table in Division 2 Group 1, US Feulen drops back into Division 3 after just one season, along with the club in second-last place, FC Les Montagnards Weiswampach.
2000 / Finishing in third place in Division 3 Group 1, US Feulen manages an immediate return to Division 2, along with champions FC Sporting Steinfort and runners-up FC Atert Bissen.
2004 / Finishing in second-last place in Division 2 Group 1, US Feulen drops back into Division 3 along with bottom club FC Jeunesse Gilsdorf.
2005 / Runners-up in Division 3 Group 1, 14 points behind runaway champions FC Jeunesse Gilsdorf, US Feulen wins promotion to Division 2 along with the aforementioned club as well as FC Sporting Beckerich, US Rambrouch, and US Folschette.
2011 / Runners-up in Division 2 Group 1, 1 point behind champions FC Lorentzweiler, US Feulen wins promotion to Division 1 along with the aforementioned club as well as play-off winners FC Résidence Walferdange. This heralds the return of US Feulen to the third tier of Luxembourg’s league pyramid after an absence of 32 years.
2014 / Finishing bottom of the table in Division 1 Group 1, US Feulen drops back into Division 2 after three years, along with the club in second-last place, FCM Young Boys Diekirch.
2015 / Finishing in third place in Division 2 Group 1, US Feulen manages an immediate return to Division 1, gaining promotion to that level along with champions FC Alisontia Steinsel and runners-up FC Sporting Mertzig.
2016 / Finishing bottom of the table in Division 1 Group 1, US Feulen drops back into Division 2 after just one season, along with the club in second-last place, AS Wincrange.
2018 / Finishing in twelfth place in Division 2 Group 1, US Feulen has to play a promotion-relegation play-off against D3 side FC ES Clémency, staged at a neutral venue, FC Useldange’s Terrain Rue de la Gare. Going on to win the encounter emphatically (6-0), US Feulen avoids the drop.
2019 / Champions in Division 2 Group 1, 5 points ahead of closest followers AS Hosingen, US Feulen wins promotion to Division 1 along with the aforementioned club and play-off winners FCM Young Boys Diekirch. Also in 2019, works get underway on a complete reconstruction of Terrain Im Bertzent, involving the sole pitch of the park being given a quarter’s turn as well as a 3G being put in place and the construction of a new clubhouse with a covered stand. The old clubhouse is knocked down. For the entire 2019-20 season, US Feulen concludes a groundsharing agreement with FC Blö-Weiss Medernach, thus playing its home games at that club’s Stade Bloen Eck in Stegen.
2020 / Following the completion of the reconstruction works at Terrain Im Bertzent, the ground has now been laid out from west to east instead of north-south. The new clubhouse and covered stand are inaugurated for the start of the 2020-21 season (cut short after only a couple of weeks due to the second COVID lockdown). Given that the pitch is not located in the exact same position as before, a separate post has been dedicated to Terrain Im Bertzent II.

Note 1 – Thanks to US Feulen’s board for allowing me to use the contents of a book released on the occasion of the club’s fiftieth anniversary in 1997, ‘50. Anniversaire du Football-Club Union Sportive Feulen’.

Note 2 – Below, a compilation of photos of two different non-matchday visits: picture 1 ('entrance' behind sports hall unchanged since 2010) = July 2025 / pictures 2-7 = July 2010.