Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: R Jeunesse Rochefortoise FC (1939-2008, 2016-2020) / R Jeunesse Rochefortoise Jemelle Association (2008-2016) / Union Rochefortoise (2020-)

Parc des Roches, Rochefort (Union Rochefortoise, formerly R Jeunesse Rochefortoise FC / R Jeunesse Rochefortoise Jemelle Association)

Belgium, province: Namur = Namen

21 VIII 2011 / R Jeunesse Rochefortoise Jemelle Ass. - RES Couvin-Mariembourg 2-6 / Namur, Provincial League 1 (= BE level 5)

Timeline

1939 / A football club from Rochefort, Jeunesse Rochefortoise FC, joins Belgium’s Football Association under registration number 2799. Most probably, the club was founded two years previously, but did not bother to join until two years later. Due to the outbreak of World War II, Jeunesse Rochefortoise FC does not actually take up competing in Namur’s provincial divisions until after the liberation from the German yoke in 1944. It is unclear if Jeunesse Rochefortoise played its football at Parc des Roches from the outset.
1963 / Winning the title in Namur’s Provincial League 1, Jeunesse Rochefortoise FC accedes to National Division 4 for the first time – having a particularly good first season at that level, managing a 5th place in D4D in the 1963-64 season.
1965 / Having played two seasons at the national level, Jeunesse Rochefortoise FC now finishes in 14th place in National Division 4A, two points behind Union Momalloise and RCS Visétois who both save their skin; as such, the Rochefort club descends back into provincial league football along with nos. 15 & 16, RFC Bressoux and FC Hollogne.
1968 / Winning the title in Namur’s Provincial League 1 for the second time in five years, Jeunesse Rochefortoise FC manages a return to National Division 4.
1969 / Picking up just 12 points in National Division 4D, Jeunesse Rochefortoise FC finishes second-last in its league, dropping out of national league football after just one season, taking with it Liège clubs Union Momalloise and RFC Union La Calamine.
1970 / Winning the title in Namur’s Provincial League 1 for the third time in seven years, Jeunesse Rochefortoise FC begins a third spell of national league football.
1971 / As on the previous occasion, Jeunesse Rochefortoise’s spell in National Division 4 does not last longer than just one season, finishing second-last in D4B and descending into the provincial divisions along with KACV Brasschaat and bottom club RES Jamboise.
1987 / Jeunesse Rochefortoise FC acquires the royal epithet, thus becoming Royale Jeunesse (RJ) Rochefortoise FC.
1990 / RJ Rochefortoise FC wins the title in Namur’s Provincial League 1 for the fourth time in its history, thus acceding to National Division 4 after an absence of nineteen years. In its first season at the national level, the club manages a respectable and safe 8th place in National Division 4C.
1997 / In its seventh consecutive season at D4 level, RJ Rochefortoise FC manages a fourth place in National Division 4D. Qualifying for the promotion play-offs, the club is knocked out in R1 by K Beringen FC (0-1).
1998 / Counting in its ranks former RFC Liège and KFC Germinal Ekeren player Bernard Wegria, RJ Rochefortoise FC finishes in 4th place in D4D for the second year running, but misses out on the promotion play-offs.
2003 / In spite of having started the 2002-03 season particularly well, being second in the ranking in November 2002, RJ Rochefortoise FC eventually finishes 13th in National Division 4D, resulting in the club having to play a set of relegation play-offs. Suffering successive defeats at the hands of Flemish clubs KSK De Jeugd Lovendegem (2-0) and Spouwen-Mopertingen (3-4), the club descends back into Namur’s Provincial League 1 after thirteen years.
2008 / R Jeunesse Rochefortoise FC, playing in Namur’s Provincial League 1 at that time, concludes a merger with the smaller provincial league club FC Jemelle (registration number 7214), resulting in the foundation of R Jeunesse Rochefortoise Jemelle Association (RJRJA). Henceforth, first team football is played at Rochefort’s Parc des Roches, with Jemelle’s two pitches at Rue de la Lhomme being retained for some training sessions. The bulk of lower team activity, however, takes place at RJ Rochefortoise FC's youth academy, Terrain de Lavaux, also situated in Jemelle.
2009 / Finishing 4th in Namur’s Provincial League 1, R Jeunesse Rochefortoise Jemelle Association qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which it defeats RFC Spy in the semi-final (1-1, penalty shoot-out: 4-5), only to be lose the final away at RFC Meux (2-0), thus stumbling over the last hurdle for a return to the national divisions.
± 2015 / The two pitches at Rue de la Lhomme in Jemelle are abandoned.
2016 / The name Royale Jeunesse Rochefortoise Jemelle Association not proving very evocative, the merger club now takes on the old name Royale Jeunesse Rochefortoise FC, thereby erasing any reference to Jemelle.
2017 / Having had relatively anonymous years in Provincial League 1 in the preceding decade, R Jeunesse Rochefortoise FC now finishes in 4th place behind RFC Spy, CS Wépionnais, and OC Nismes, but misses out on the promotion play-offs.
2019 / Having narrowly staved off relegation from Namur’s Provincial League 1 the previous season, RJ Rochefortoise FC now finishes 3rd in that same division behind RFC Spy and RUS Loyers. Qualifying for the promotion play-offs, the club first succeeds in winning the Namur qualification round, successively seeing off RUS Loyers (1-3) and RFC Grand-Leez (1-4). Subsequently, in the Interprovincial play-offs, Rochefort suffers a 3-5 home defeat at the hands of FC Kosova Schaerbeek, but clinches its ticket for the national leagues in a lucky-loser round, away at JS Fizoise (2-4). As such, RJ Rochefortoise FC is placed in ACFF Amateur Division 3 – a return to national league football after an absence of sixteen years.
2020 / R Jeunesse Rochefortoise FC concludes a second merger, this time with FC Eprave (registration number 7049), resulting in the foundation of Union Rochefortoise, yet again with Jeunesse Rochefortoise’s number 2799 being retained. The new merger club now disposes of three different grounds; with the pitches at Rue des Jardins in Jemelle being retained for training purposes only, first team football is henceforth being played at Parc des Roches in Rochefort proper, with the club’s B team settling at Rue de la Gare in Eprave. Also in 2020, Union Rochefortoise signs 36-year-old defender Jeffrey Rentmeister, former player of KAS Eupen, KSK Beveren, F91 Dudelange, RCS Visé, KVC Westerlo, Blackpool FC, R White Star Bruxelles, RFC Seraing, K Sporting Hasselt, KVV Thes Sport Tessenderlo, RFCB Sprimont, and K Patro Eisden Maasmechelen.
2022 / In its first full season in ACFF Amateur Division 3B – the two previous editions being cut short due to the COVID lockdown – Union Rochefortoise, coached by Yannick Pauletti, manages an impressive second place in the final table, 6 points behind champions Stade Disonais. In the promotion play-offs, the club is eliminated in R1 by CS Entité Manageoise (3-0).
2023 / With an impressive 13-point advantage over closest follower RFC Raeren-Eynatten, Union Rochefortoise clinches the title in ACFF Amateur Division 3B, thus winning its first-ever promotion at the national level and acceding to ACFF Amateur Division 2, the 4th tier of the Belgian football pyramid.
2024 / Runners up in ACFF Amateur Division 2, with an equal number of points as RU Tubize Braine-le-Comte, 19 points behind champions RAEC Mons, Union Rochefortoise wins promotion to the newly created ACFF Amateur Division 1 - amounting to a historic promotion to the third tier of Belgian football for the first time in club history.