BELGIUM: FC Eendracht Houthalen (1936-1965) / K Sporting Houthalen (1965-2011) / Houthalen VV (2011-)

Mijnstadion, Houthalen (Houthalen VV, formerly FC Eendracht Houthalen / K Sporting Houthalen)

Belgium, province: Belgian Limburg

24 IV 2011 / K Sporting Houthalen - SK Lozen 0-8 / Belgian Limburg, Provincial League 4B (= BE level 8)

Note: FC Vooruit Houthalen, founded in 1934 as a recreational club, sought membership of the Belgian Football Association in 1936 under the name of FC Eendracht Houthalen. The club gained access to National League 4 for the first time in 1952. After a three-year-spell in National League 3 (1962-65), FC Eendracht concluded a merger with modest provincial league club VV Hoger-Op Houthalen (1959-65, matricule 6231), resulting in the foundation of Sporting Houthalen, retaining Eendracht's matricule. As Sporting Houthalen, the club held out in the national league system for four more seasons before tumbling back into Limburg's Provincial League 1. After a brief second period of National League 4 football (1971-73), the club fell back again - never to find their way back up from the provincial divisions. In 1995, the royal epithet was acquired. In 2011, a new merger was agreed upon, this time between Sporting Houthalen and Red Star Laak (1975-2011, matricule 8338). As Laak's matricule was cancelled, the merger club, named Houthalen VV, continued life under Eendracht Houthalen's original matricule number, 2402. First team football has since taken place at Houthalen VV's Mijnstadion, while Red Star Laak's ground at Lakerheiweg remained in use for lower team football and training purposes.