Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: US Brainoise (1938-1969) / R Stade Brainois (1969-2021) / R Union Tubize Braine (B) (2021-2022)

Stade au Sans-Fond, Braine-le-Comte = 's-Gravenbrakel (formerly US Brainoise / R Stade Brainois / B ground of R Union Tubize Braine)

Belgium, province: Hainaut = Henegouwen

22 I 2012 / R Stade Brainois - OC Warcoing 0-2 / Hainaut, Provincial League 1 (= BE level 5)

Timeline

1938 / After Amicale Athlétique (AA) Brainoise in 1924, a second football club sees the daylight in Braine-le-Comte; this new club, Union Sportive (US) Brainoise (matricule 2607) settles at a pitch along a stream referred to locally as the 'Sans-Fond' - hence the ground became known as the Stade au Sans-Fond. Remarkably, the distance between the pitches of AA Brainoise (situated at Rue de la Bienfaisance) and US Brainoise was no more than some 100 metres.
1945 / More ambitious than AA Brainoise, US Brainoise manages to become a constant factor in Hainaut's Provincial League 1 after gaining promotion to that level in 1945. Although the source material is sketchy, it seems that between 1945 and 1969, US Brainoise only spent the 1958-59 season at P2 level.
1969 / A merger is concluded between RAA Brainoise and US Brainoise, resulting in the foundation of Stade Brainois. Although the merger club retains Amicale's matricule 343, the royal epithet is lost - and not recovered for the following three decades. The new club plays in all-white shirts, thus avoiding any reference to the colours of the two old clubs (Amicale's blue and black; and Union's red and white). Stade Brainois starts its life in Hainaut's Provincial League 1, the level at which US Brainoise played in its last season as an independent club. From the merger onwards, first team football is played at Stade au Sans-Fond, while the Stade du Poseur, taken in use in c. 1965 by RAA Brainoise following the abandonment of the ground at Rue de la Bienfaisance, remains in use for lower team football and training sessions.
1971 / Clinching the title in Hainaut's Provincial League 1 with an advantage of 4 points over nearest contender R Enghien Sports, Stade Brainois accedes to National Division 4 for the first time in the history of football in Braine-le-Comte.
1979 / Having been a modest contender in National Division 4 for eight consecutive seasons, Stade Brainois tumbles back into Hainaut's Provincial League 1.
1986 / After a tight title race with RA Marchiennoise des Sports, Stade Brainois succeeds in clinching the Provincial League 1 title, thus beginning a second spell of national league football.
1988 / Having spent two years in National Division 4, Stade Brainois suffers relegation back into Hainaut's P1.
1992 / In a thorough renovation of the clubhouse at Sans-Fond, an extra tier is added, allowing sponsors and other guests to watch the matches comfortably behind glass.
1993 / Finishing with an equal number of points as RFC Athois, Stade Brainois wins the title in Hainaut's P1 - probably after playing a one-off final match for the title (no confirmation to be had on this matter). Thus, the club returns to National Division 4 after a five-year absence.
1995 / The women's football branch of Stade Brainois forms a breakaway club, founding Standard Fémina de Braine (matricule 9286).
1996 / Stade Brainois' third spell of national league football ends after three seasons, finishing dead-last in National Division 4A.
1999 / After a nail-biting title race between Stade Brainois and RRC Estaimpuis, both clubs finish with an equal number of 61 points at the top of Hainaut's Provincial League 1; probably after a tie-break match (no confirmation to be had on this matter), Stade Brainois are declared champions, thus managing a return to national league football. That same year, the club retrieves its royal epithet, thus becoming Royal Stade Brainois.
2000 / R Stade Brainois has the best season in club history, finishing fifth in National Division 4D - but just missing out on the promotion play-offs.
2002 / Having been placed in a strong National Division 4A, mainly consisting of teams from West Flanders and East Flanders, R Stade Brainois finished second-last, thus having to come to terms with a relegation to Hainaut's provincial league system.
2012 / In spite of having played promotion play-offs the previous season, R Stade Brainois have an abysmal follow-up season, finishing 14th in P1 and having to save its skin in the relegation play-offs. After defeating RUE Estinnoise in the first match, the club loses to RUFC Ransartoise (1-2), thus officially sealing its own fate - but due to an extra place in Provincial League 1 becoming available, the club stays up in the most precarious of ways.
2014 / Finishing last in P1, R Stade Brainois finds itself in Hainaut's Provincial League 1 for the first time since the merger between US Brainoise and RAA Brainoise in 1969.
2015 / In its bid to return to P1 as quickly as possible, R Stade Brainois finishes in a disappointing third place in P2B behind RUE Estinnoise and US Neufvilloise. In the ensuing promotion play-offs, the club is defeated 1-0 by AEDEC Hyon.
2016 / R Stade Brainois secures the coveted return to Provincial League 1 by clinching the P2B title with a commanding 11-point advantage over nearest rivals RFC Houdinois.
2017 / In spite of finishing 'only' in seventh place in its return season in P1, R Stade Brainois qualifies for the promotion play-offs. Defeating Péruwelz FC (3-1) in the first round, the club also manages to fend off R Soignies Sports after a penalty shoot-out, thus unexpectedly acceding to the national leagues following a fifteen-year absence. Given that the national league pyramid has meanwhile undergone a thorough restructuring the previous year, the club is placed in ACFF Division 3, the fifth and lowest tier of the national divisions.
2021 / Having held its own in ACFF Division 3 for four years, R Stade Brainois concludes a merger with former professional league side AFC Tubize from nearby Tubize in Walloon Brabant. The new club, which retains Tubize's matricule 5632, is officially given the name Royale Union Tubize Braine-le-Comte, although it has since universally been referred to as Royale Union Tubize-Braine (RUTB). Henceforth, the new merger club's first team, which continues at ACFF D2 level, in which AFC Tubize played in its last season as an independent club, plays its football in Tubize's Stade Leburton. A B team, which is placed in Walloon Brabant's (instead of Hainaut's!) Provincial League 1 - one obligatory step down from the level at which R Stade Brainois ended its existence -, settles at Stade au Sans-Fond. The youth academy grounds in Tubize (Terrain du Chalet) and Braine-le-Comte (Stade du Poseur) are retained as well.
2022 / Royale Union Tubize Braine's board files a request at Braine-le-Comte's town council to renovate the Stade au Sans-Fond, but permission for the planned works is not granted. Thereupon, the club takes the far-reaching decision to abandon the historic ground. Home matches of RUTB's B team, which admirably held its own in Brabant's ACFF Provincial League 1 in the 2021-22 season, are moved to Tubize's Terrain du Chalet. While the other ground in Braine, Stade du Poseur, will remain in use for part of RUTB's youth academy, the Stade au Sans-Fond is due to be turned into a sports facility for padel and tennis.

Note: Important parts of the information given above were provided by Pascal Delmoitiez; many thanks to him, as well as to Michel Vancamp for bringing me in touch with Mr Delmoitiez.