Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: Hoesseltsche VV (1926-1934) / K Hoeselt VV (1934-2001) / KSV Hoeselt (2001-2016) / KVV Hoeselt (B) (2016-2018) / KVV Hoeselt (2018-2025)

Caetsbeekstadion, Hoeselt (formerly Hoesseltsche VV / K Hoeselt VV / KSV Hoeselt / B & A ground of KVV Hoeselt)

Belgium, province: Limburg

30 VIII 2012 / SV Hoeselt - Riemst Vooruit 0-0 / Limburg, Provincial League 4D (= BE level 8)

Timeline

1926 / Foundation of a first football club in Hoeselt, a town in the south of the Belgian Province of Limburg. The new club, which takes on the name Hoesseltsche Voetbalvereeniging (VV), with a pitch being laid out between Bergstraat and Hemeldreef – a ground known subsequently as Terrein aan de Caetsbeek, named after a stream (beek) in the vicinity of the pitch. Joining the Belgian Football Association (URBSFA / KBVB), it receives number 848 in December of the same year, when the system of registration numbers is introduced. The club starts its life in Limburg’s Regional Division 4.
1927 / Finishing in third place in Limburg’s Regional Division 4, Hoesseltsche VV wins promotion to Regional Division 3.
1928 / Champions in Limburg’s Regional Division 3, Hoesseltsche VV wins promotion to Regional Division 2 – renamed Provincial League 2 subsequently, i.e. the highest provincial level in the Province of Limburg until the introduction of a Provincial League 1 in 1952.
1931 / Champions in Limburg’s Provincial League 2B, Hoesseltsche VV fails to win promotion to Promotion, the third and lowest national level, in a set of play-offs.
1932 / Following a protest against a corruption scandal – further details not available – Hoesseltsche VV withdraws from the Belgian FA, joining the Flemish-nationalist football association VVB (Vlaamsche Voetbalbond) instead.
1934 / Retracing its steps, Hoesseltsche VV abandons the VVB, re-joining the official Belgian FA with a slightly adapted name, Hoesselt Voetbalvereniging (VV), receiving a new registration number (2146) and being allowed to start in Regional League 2 (2e Gewestelijke), i.e. the second-highest provincial level, directly below Provincial League 2.
1935 / Champions in Limburg’s Regional League 2, Hoeselt VV wins promotion to Provincial League 2.
1942 / A rival club sees the daylight in Hoeselt, Roode Ster Nieuw Hoeselt, which receives registration number 3568 upon joining the Belgian FA. It is unclear where this club’s ground was situated.
1946 / Champions in Limburg’s Provincial League 2, Hoeselt VV accedes to the third tier of the national level, Promotion, for the first time in its history.
1947 / After several years of inactivity, registration number 3568 of Roode Ster Nieuw Hoeselt is erased from the Belgian FA’s membership list.
1948 / Finishing bottom of the table in Promotion D, Hoeselt VV drops back into Provincial League 2 – to be renamed Provincial League 1 in 1952 – alongside KVV Vigor Beringen and Baelensche SK.
1958 / Champions in Limburg’s Provincial League 1, Hoeselt VV manages a return to the national level after ten years, gaining promotion to National Division 4.
1959 / Finishing in second-last place in National Division 4D, Hoeselt VV drops back into Provincial League 1 after just one season, along with CS Libramontois and bottom club LC Bastogne.
1963 / With the demise of the short-lived club Standard FC Schalkhoven, which had only been founded in 1960, Hoeselt VV takes over that club’s ground at Plasstraat, using it for lower team football and training sessions.
1968 / Champions in Limburg’s Provincial League 1, Hoeselt VV begins its third spell at the national level, taking its place in National Division 4.
1973 / Champions in National Division 4C, 3 points ahead of closest rivals Hoogstraten VV, Hoeselt VV wins promotion to National Division 3 for the first time.
1975 / Willy Geurts, a talented 21-year-old striker who worked his way through the youth academy of Hoeselt VV into the first team, is signed by KSC Hasselt. Geurts goes on to have an impressive professional league career, which takes him to R Antwerp FC, RSC Anderlechtois, R Standard de Liège, KFC Winterslag, RFC Liège, FC Assent, KFC Diest, and R Prayon FC, ultimately hanging up his boots in 1991; moreover, Geurts also won two national league title (in 1981 with Anderlecht and in 1983 with Standard) as well as 6 caps for the Belgian national team (1978-82).
1979 / Champions in National Division 3B, 4 points ahead of closest followers Bilzerse VV, Hoeselt VV gains a historic promotion to National Division 2. To satisfy the needs for this level of the league pyramid, a covered stand as well as two adjacent terraces are erected alongside the western touchline of the ground, by now known as the Caetsbeekstadion.
1980 / Finishing bottom of the table in National Division 2, Hoeselt VV drops back into Division 3 after just one season, along with the club in second-last place, R Union Saint-Gilloise.
1984 / Hoeselt VV only just misses out on a return to the antechamber of Belgian football, finishing 1 point behind champions Patro Eisden in National Division 3B. Moreover, the club plays a cup tie against RSC Anderlechtois, suffering a 4-1 away defeat. That same year, Hoeselt VV celebrates its fiftieth anniversary, acquiring the royal epithet and thus becoming Koninklijke Hoeselt VV, or K Hoeselt VV.
1989 / In August 1989, K Hoeselt VV manages a sensational 1-0 away win against R Antwerp FC in the Belgian Cup, with Eric Kerremans being the sole goalscorer. In the following round, Hoeselt bows out against another top flight team, RFC Liège (7-1 aggr.).
1991 / Finishing in second-last place in National Division 3A, K Hoeselt VV descends into National Division 4, along with the club in second-last place, KVK Ninove.
1992 / Finishing bottom of the table in National Division 4C, K Hoeselt VV suffers back-to-back relegations, descending into Provincial League 1 along with Rapid Spouwen and KFC Witgoor Sport Dessel. This heralds the end of an uninterrupted spell of 24 years in national league football for Hoeselt.
1993 / Finishing bottom of the table in Limburg’s Provincial League 1, K Hoeselt VV suffers its third relegation in a row, descending into Provincial League 2.
1994 / Champions in Limburg’s Provincial League 2B, K Hoeselt VV manages a return to Provincial League 1.
1996 / Finishing in thirteenth place in Limburg’s Provincial League 1, K Hoeselt VV drops back into Provincial League 2 after two years.
1997 / Finishing in second-last place in Limburg’s Provincial League 2C, K Hoeselt VV suffers its second relegation in a row, descending into Provincial League 3.
2001 / In its last season as an independent club, K Hoeselt VV finishes in sixth place in Limburg’s Provincial League 3C. Following the 2000-01 season, the club concludes a merger with Hoeselt SK, a club which had been founded in 1967 (registration number 7045) as SK Hoeselt Onze-Lieve-Vrouwparochie, joining the Belgian FA that same year as Hoeselt SK; playing its football at Terrein aan de Bilzerstraat, the highlight in the history of Hoeselt SK had been an isolated year in Provincial League 2 in 1988-89. The result of the merger between K Hoeselt VV and SK Hoeselt is given the name Koninklijke Sportvereniging (KSV) Hoeselt, which continues its existence with registration number 7045 of Hoeselt SK – testimony to the fact that K Hoeselt VV’s much lower number 2146 had been contaminated, most probably due to debts. All activities move to the Caetsbeekstadion, with the merger club starting its existence in Provincial League 3.
2002 / Clinching the title in Limburg’s Provincial League 3C, KSV Hoeselt wins promotion to Provincial League 2.
2003 / Finishing bottom of the table in Limburg’s Provincial League 2A, KSV Hoeselt drops back into Provincial League 3 after just one season.
2005 / Finishing in third-last place in Limburg’s Provincial League 3D, KSV Hoeselt descends into Provincial League 4, along with FC Vliermaal and bottom club FC Nerem.
2006 / Champions in Limburg’s Provincial League 4D, 9 points ahead of closest followers KV Heur VV, KSV Hoeselt wins promotion to Provincial League 3.
2007 / Finishing in second-last place in Limburg’s Provincial League 3B, KSV Hoeselt drops back into Provincial League 4 alongside Sporting Genk Zuid, K Bolderberg FC, Flandria Termolen Zonhoven, and bottom club Heis Sport.
2013 / Champions in Limburg’s Provincial League 4D, 3 points ahead of closest rivals Union Rutten and SK Munsterbilzen, KSV Hoeselt wins promotion to Provincial League 3.
2016 / In its last season as an independent club, KSV Hoeselt finishes in eighth place in Limburg’s Provincial League 3C. Following the 2015-16 season, the club concludes a merger with K Alt-Hoeseltse VV, resulting in the foundation of Koninklijke Voetbalvereniging (KVV) Hoeselt, which retains registration number 1479 of K Alt-Hoeseltse VV. For the time being, first team football moves to Terrein aan de Smisstraat in Alt-Hoeselt, with the Caetsbeekstadion in Hoeselt as well as Terrein aan de Plasstraat in Schalkhoven remaining in use for lower team football. The merger club is given the word of Hoeselt’s local authorities that a new stadium is to be built for the club in Hoeselt, though no exact date is given to its inauguration.
2018 / Two seasons after the merger, Terrein aan de Smisstraat in Alt-Hoeselt is abandoned to make way for housing. First team football moves to the Caetsbeekstadion in Hoeselt proper. Terrein aan de Plasstraat in Schalkhoven remains in use for lower team football.
2022 / Finishing in third place in Limburg’s Provincial League 2B, KVV Hoeselt qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is knocked out in R1 by KRC Peer (4-2 aggr.).
2023 / Runner-up in Limburg’s Provincial League 2A, 9 points behind champions K HIH Hoepertingen, KVV Hoeselt qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is eliminated in R1 by FC Turkse Rangers Waterschei (1-6).
2024 / Finishing in fifth place in Limburg’s Provincial League 2A, KVV Hoeselt qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club bows out in R1 against Kadijk SK (1-2).
2025 / Runner-up in Limburg’s Provincial League 2A, 3 points behind champions K Kortessemse VV, KVV Hoeselt qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club has the better of KFC Paal-Tervant in R1 (0-2), only to suffer defeat in the final against K Standaard Elen (1-2). In September 2025, KVV Hoeselt moves all its activities to the newly built Sportpark Hoeselt at Industrielaan, with the Caetsbeekstadion being abandoned after 99 years, as well as the training ground at Plasstraat in Schalkhoven.