BELGIUM: KFC Poederlee (1938-1998) / VC Poederlee (1998-2021)

Heggestadion I, Poederlee (formerly KFC Poederlee & VC Poederlee)

Belgium, province: Antwerp

30 VII 2011 / VC Poederlee - KVC Oostmalle Sport 2-2 / Antwerp, Provincial Cup R1

Timeline

• 1938 / Foundation of FC Poederlee, which is admitted as a new Belgian FA member under matricule 2643. Most probably, the club plays its football at Heggestadion - named after a grove situated at the western end of the ground - from the very beginning onwards.
• 1972 / After long years in Antwerp's Provincial League 3, FC Poederlee finishes 9th in Provincial League 3G - thus just failing to finish in the first half of the table and thus being retrograded to the new Provincial League 4 level.
• 1981 / Finishing top of the league in P4D - incidentally the first title in club history -, FC Poederlee returns to Provincial League 3 after a nine-year absence.
• 1983 / FC Poederlee wins the title in Provincial League 3D, thus acceding to Provincial League 2 for the first time.
• 1984 / Going from strength to strength, FC Poederlee wins promotion to Antwerp's Provincial League 1 by winning the P2C title.
• 1987 / In its third season in P1, FC Poederlee wins the title, thus acceding to the national leagues for the first time in club history. 
• 1988 / In its first season in National Division 4B, FC Poederlee finishes in a respectable and safe ninth position. That year, the club celebrates its fiftieth anniversary, obtaining the royal epithet in the process - and thus taking on the new name Koninklijke Football Club (KFC) Poederlee.
• 1989 / In its second season of national league football, KFC Poederlee clinches the title in D4C with a three-point advantage over nearest contender Rapid Spouwen - thus managing an unprecedented promotion to National Division 3.
• 1991 / KFC Poederlee has its best season ever, finishing in fourth place in National Division 3B, preceded only by champions RFC Sérésien as well as KVK Tienen and RFC Tilleur Saint-Nicolas.
• 1997 / Although finishing in a somewhat modest eighth place in National Division 3B, KFC Poederlee qualifies for the promotion play-offs for a place in National Division 2. In those play-offs, however, the club stumbles at the first hurdle, being defeated by K Hoogstraten VV (3-0).
• 1998 / Finishing 16th and last in D3B with just 1 point from 30 matches (and a horrendous goal difference of -99) and a 17-point gap with no. 15 KSV Mol, KFC Poederlee is retrograded to D4 after a nine-year spell at the third level of Belgium's football pyramid. Marred by grave financial difficulties, brought about by the investments made to keep up a squad able to contend in the national leagues, KFC Poederlee folds immediately after the 1997-98 season, ceasing all activities. Immediately, a successor club sees the daylight, Voetbalclub (VC) Poederlee, which is accepted as an FA member under matricule 9328 and starts life in Antwerp's Provincial League 4. 
• 2009 / After 11 anonymous seasons in P4, VC Poederlee wins the title in Provincial League 4C to accede to P3.
• 2011 / VC Poederlee manages a second place in P3C, the best result in the young club's history. In the promotion play-offs, the club is defeated by FC Oppuurs (aggregate score - 3-1).
• 2014 / Finishing dead-last in P3C, VC Poederlee makes a forcible return to the bottom league of Antwerp's provincial pyramid.
• 2016 / After finishing third in P4D, VC Poederlee manages to win promotion to P3 by successively defeating K Putte SK and KVV Rauw Sport in the play-offs.
• 2018 / Finishing 14th in P3C, VC Poederlee is retrograded to Provincial League 4 once again, but manages a return the following year (2019) by winning the P4E title.
• 2021 / After the 2020-21 season, cut short in the fall of 2020 due to the Covid 19 pandemic, VC Poederlee concludes a merger with KFC Lille (matricule 2618) to form KVC Lille United, retaining Lille's matricule. Initially, FC Gierle was also involved in the merger talks, but this club withdrew from the project at an early stage, preferring to continue independently for the time being. In the meantime, all of KVC Lille United's activities are moved to Lille's Heidebloemstadion, as a completely new stadium is built on top of VC Poederlee's Heggestadion, which is demolished in June 2021.
• 2022 / With a one-year delay, FC Gierle (matricule 9373) is absorbed into KVC Lille United. Due to Lille's Heidebloemstadion being knocked down after the 2021-22 season to make way for a new multi-sports park (including a swimming pool) - and the new Heggestadion not being ready yet -, most of KVC Lille United's activities, including first team football, temporarily move to Gierle's Sportcomplex Poeyelheide. 
• 2023 /  The new Heggestadion (II) in Poederlee, of which the main pitch is situated some 15 metres to the south of its predecessor, is inaugurated in February 2023.

All photos: (c) W.B. Tukker / www.extremefootballtourism.blogspot.com. Publication of any of these images only after permission of author