Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: K Diegem Sport

Gemeentelijk Sportstadion - Alfons Decockplein, Diegem (K Diegem Sport)

Belgium, province: Flemish Brabant = Vlaams Brabant

21 II 2010 / K Diegem Sport - KV Woluwe-Zaventem 2-1 / National Division 3B (= BE level 3)

Timeline

1927 / Foundation of a football club in Diegem (or Dieghem in archaic orthography), which takes on the name Dieghem Sportief and joins Belgium’s Football Association under registration number 1001.
1932 / Following two promotions in four years, Dieghem Sportief accedes to Brabant’s Provincial League 2.
1938 / Suffering relegation from Provincial League 2 after six seasons, Dieghem Sportief withdraws its first team from Provincial League 3 in the course of the 1938-39 season.
1939 / Dieghem Sportief folds, ceasing all activities.
1941 / Two new football clubs see the daylight in Diegem, Diegem Star Voetbalvereniging (VV) and Racing Dieghem Loo, both of which join Belgium’s FA – acquiring registration number 3097 and 3274 respectively. Diegem Star VV’s ground is situated on a location matching modern-day Kosterstraat, while RC Dieghem Loo’s ground could be found at Lostraat.
1943 / After two seasons, spent in Brabant’s Provincial League 3, the two clubs from Diegem conclude a merger, leading to the foundation of Diegem Sport. Following Belgian FA rules of those days, rather than choosing the registration number of one of the merger clubs, Diegem Sport is accorded a new number, 3887. The newly founded club settles at Racing Dieghem Loo’s ground, Terrein Lostraat.
1944 / In its first season, 1943-44, Diegem Sport clinches the title in Brabant’s Provincial League 3H, thus winning promotion to Provincial League 2.
1953 / Winning the title in Brabant’s Provincial League 2A, Diegem Sport accedes to Provincial League 1.
1955 / Following a good first season in P1 (9th place), Diegem Sport is unable to hold its own in the second – finishing second-last and dropping back into P2.
1956 / Abandoning Terrein Lostraat, Diegem Sport moves into the newly built Gemeentelijk Sportstadion at the crossroads of Woluwelaan and Alfons Decockplein.
1960 / Winning the title in Brabant’s Provincial League 2A, Diegem Sport accedes to Provincial League 1 for the second time.
1964 / After four seasons in Provincial League 1 – with a fourth place in 1962 being the best result in those years – Diegem Sport drops back into P2 due to finishing second-last in the 1963-64 season.
1969 / Winning the P2A title for a third time, Diegem Sport finds its way back to Provincial League 1. The stay at that level does not last long, though, with relegation following after just one season in 1970.
1971 / Finishing second-last in Provincial League 2B, Diegem Sport, under the guidance of new coach Etienne Borré, suffers a second relegation in a row, with the club dropping down into Provincial League 3. Also in 1971, 18-year-old Ariël Jacobs is purchased by Diegem Sport from R Racing White. Jacobs goes on to spend the majority of his career as a player in Diegem (1971-75, 1976-80, 1981-87).
1972 / Coached by Etienne Borré, Diegem Sport stops the rot of the two last seasons, clinching the title in P3E and finding its way back to Provincial League 2 at the first instance.
1974 / Etienne Borré helps Diegem Sport winning a new title, this time in P2A. As such, the club is back in Provincial League 1 after an absence of four years.
1977 / Going from strength to strength, Diegem Sport, still coached by Etienne Borré, obtains the title in Brabant’s Provincial League 1, thus winning promotion to National Division 4 for the first time in club history. In its first season at the national level, the club goes on to obtain a more than respectable third place in National Division 4D, only three points behind champions RCS La Forestoise.
± 1979 / A covered main stand is added to the set-up at Diegem’s Gemeentelijk Sportstadion.
1982 / Having narrowly staved off relegation in the previous season, Diegem Sport now wins the title in National Division 4B, 2 points ahead of runners-up RUW Ciney, thus winning promotion to National Division 3 for the first time in club history.
1987 / After five seasons in National Division 3, with a fourth place in 1985 in D3A as the highlights in those years, Diegem Sport now finishes second-last in D3A – and loses the subsequent relegation tie-break match against the club which had finished in the same place in D3B, Hoogstraten VV, as a result of which Diegem drops back into National Division 4. Also in 1987, Ariël Jacobs, who had been Diegem Sport’s player-trainer for the past three years, leaves the club, going on to have an impressive career as a trainer and manager at RWDM, RAA Louviéroise, KSC Lokeren, R Excelsior Mouscron, RSC Anderlecht, FC Copenhagen (FC København), and Valenciennes FC.
1992 / After five seasons in National Division 4, in which the club had to content itself with ever worsening performances, Diegem Sport finally descends from the national leagues following a 14th-place finish in National Division 4B, only 1 point short of R SCUP Jette, which just escaped the drop.
1993 / Upon the club’s 50th anniversary, Diegem Sport acquires the royal epithet, thus becoming K (Koninklijke) Diegem Sport.
1995 / Clinching the title in Brabant’s Provincial League 1, K Diegem Sport is back in National Division 4 after an absence of three seasons. Also in 1995, 19-year-old Alan Haydock, youth player of the club who had just claimed his place in the first team, earns himself a transfer to RWDM – and he goes on to have a long professional career at RAA Louviéroise, FC Brussels (FC Molenbeek Brussels Strombeek), AFC Tubize, and KSK Halle.
1997 / Finishing in 13th place in National Division 4B, K Diegem Sport has to play a set of relegation play-offs. Losing against RSC Athusien (2-4) and K Maaseik FC (3-3 and penalty shoot-out), the club drops back into Provincial League 1 after two seasons. Also in 1997, Wilfried Wielandts takes over the position as trainer at K Diegem Sport, going on to stay at the helm of the club’s first team for the following fifteen years.
1998 / Finishing in 3rd place in Brabant’s Provincial League 1, K Diegem Sport goes on to win the subsequent provincial promotion play-offs, resulting in the club accompanying champions KFC Rhodienne-Verrewinkel to National Division 4.
2000 / Finishing in third place in National Division 4D, K Diegem Sport qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which it defeats SK Gullegem in R1 (2-4), but is eliminated by K Standaard Wetteren in R2 (2-1). Also in 2000, the club’s youth academy ground at Kosterstraat is inaugurated – only a stone’s throw away from the former ground of Diegem Star VV in the years 1941-43 – with two full-size pitches and an additional training pitch.
2001 / Finishing in fourth place in National Division 4B, K Diegem Sport qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which it is eliminated by SK Gullegem in R1 (0-2).
2003 / One point ahead of KSV Bornem, K Diegem Sport clinches the title in National Division 4B, thus reclaiming its spot in National Division 3 after an absence of sixteen years.
2005 / 11-year-old youth prodigy Yannick Carrasco leaves the club, making the leap to the youth academy of professional league side KRC Genk. Carrasco goes on to have a career as a professional league player at AS Monaco, Club Atlético de Madrid, Dalian Yifang, and Al-Shabab FC – as well as earning 51 caps for Belgium.
2006 / Moroccan winger Nabil Dirar, 20 years old at the time, who had just managed the step from K Diegem Sport’s youth academy to the first team, earns himself a transfer to KVC Westerlo. Dirar goes on to play for the likes of Club Brugge KV, AS Monaco, Fenerbahçe SK and Kasımpaşa SK – as well as earning 46 caps for Morocco.
2007 / A contender for the title in National Division 3A, K Diegem Sport eventually has to settle for third place (the best result in club history), only 2 points behind champions RFC Tournai. In the subsequent promotion play-offs for a spot in National Division 2, the club is eliminated in R1 by UR Namur (0-2).
2012 / After fifteen years as K Diegem Sport’s trainer, in which he guided the club from Brabant’s Provincial League 1 to becoming a stable factor in National Division 3, Wilfried Wielandts leaves the club, signing a contract with KSC Grimbergen.
2016 / Finishing 19th and last in National Division 3B, 2 points behind derby rivals KV Woluwe-Zaventem which thus just saved its skin, K Diegem Sport, coached by Danny Van Laethem, descends into the newly formed VFV Amateur Division 3, the new fifth and lowest tier of the Belgian national league pyramid.
2017 / Finishing 4th in VFV Amateur Division 3B, K Diegem Sport qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which it is eliminated following successive defeats against KVV Vosselaar (2-0) and FC Pepingen (2-1).
2018 / Finishing in 4th place in VFV Amateur Division 3B, only 5 points behind champions FC Heur-Tongeren, K Diegem Sport qualifies for the promotion play-offs. Successively defeating KVC Wingene (1-2) and Eendracht Termien (3-0), the team of coach Nico Van Nerom wins promotion to VFV Amateur Division 2.
2022 / A thorough renovation of K Diegem Sport’s youth academy at Kosterstraat is carried out, following which the ground disposes of a new clubhouse as well as three synthetic pitches. The renovated ground, which is renamed Sportcomplex Calenberg, is inaugurated in December 2022 in the presence of Machelen-Diegem’s mayor Jean-Pierre De Groef.
2023 / In the summer and fall of 2023, works are carried out at Diegem’s Gemeentelijk Sportstadion, involving the renovation of the clubhouse as well as the dressing rooms. During these months, the club’s first team plays its home matches at Sportcomplex Calenberg.
2024 / In January 2024, K Diegem Sport's first team returns to the Gemeentelijk Sportstadion at Alfons Decockplein.