Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: RAEC Mons matr. 44 (1910-2015) / R Albert Quévy-Mons (2015-2020) / RFCR Symphorinois (2019-2024) / Renaissance Mons 44 (2020-2021) / RAEC Mons matr. 4194 (2021-)

Stade Charles Tondreau, Mons = Bergen (Renaissance AEC Mons, formerly R Albert Elisabeth Club Mons / R Albert Quévy-Mons / Renaissance Mons 44 / RFC Rapid Symphorinois)

Belgium, province: Hainaut = Henegouwen

19 XI 2010 / RAEC Mons - R Boussu Dour Borinage 1-0 / National Division 2 (= BE level 2)

Timeline

1910 / Foundation of Albert Elisabeth Club (AEC) Mons, named after the reigning monarch of Belgium, King Albert I, and his queen. The club was home at Avenue du Tir right from the start, with the stadium - later renamed Stade Charles Tondreau after one of the founding fathers of the club - being inaugurated in September 1910. AEC Mons is not the oldest club in town, with precursors such as Club Amateur Sportif de Mons (founded in 1905, with one season of National Division 2 football in 1908-09), Stade Montois, and Nimy Sportif. These three clubs merged to become Olympique de Mons in 1910 - and Olympique merged with Racing Club Mons in 1913, but no traces of this merger club can be found after World War I, while AEC Mons emerged from the years of German occupation unscathed.
1919 / Gaining access to 'Promotion', at the time the second and lowest national level, for the first time in 1914, AEC Mons had to wait until the end of World War I for regular championships to recommence and take its place in this division. Finishing last two seasons in a row (but with no relegation in place in the 1919-20 season), the club falls back to Hainaut's regional leagues in 1921.
1923 / AEC Mons is back in Promotion, but the stay does not last longer than one season.
1925 / Again winning access to the national league system, AEC Mons begins a spell of 90 uninterrupted years of national league football. With 'Promotion' becoming the third national tier after a league reform in 1926, AEC Mons remains a regular at that level for over 20 years.
1926 / Upon the introduction of the matricule register at the Belgian Football Association, AEC Mons obtains matricule 44.
1935 / AEC Mons obtains the royal epithet, thus becoming Royal Albert Elisabeth Club (RAEC) Mons.
1949 / After 23 years in Promotion, the third and lowest national level (although not all seasons saw football due to World War II), RAEC Mons wins the title in Promotion A, thus gaining access to the second tier of the Belgian football pyramid, where the club holds its own for three seasons.
1961 / Having had to play one season in National Division 4, RAEC Mons wins the title in Division 4B, thus making its way back to National Division 3.
1974 / RAEC Mons begins a spell of two seasons of National Division 2 football before again dropping back to D3. In the remainder of the century, the club steadily plays in National Division 3, with the exception of the 1985-86 season, which saw a short - and unsuccessful - excursion in D2.
1998 / RAEC Mons absorbs R Union Jemappes-Flénu (matricule 136) without a name change taking place. This club, formed in 1990 as a merger of R Union Jemappienne and Flénu Sport, played one season of national league football (1995-96) before dropping back to Hainaut's Provincial League 1, where it played the last two seasons of its independent existence.
2000 / Winning the title in D3B, RAEC Mons is back in Division 2 for the first time in 14 years.
2002 / Winning the promotion play-offs in D2, RAEC Mons accedes to National Division 1 for the first time in the club's history. This spell lasts for three seasons.
2003 / Following the club's promotion to National Division 1, a thorough renovation of the ground is undertaken, involving the construction of two new, two-tiered covered all-seater stands, raising the capacity of the stadium to 9,504.
2006 / After one season in D2, RAEC Mons bounces staight back to Division 1 by winning the title in its league - heralding a period of three more years of top flight football.
2011 / A third and last spell in D1 begins as RAEC Mons wins the promotion play-offs in National Division 2.
2013 / Due to ongoing dilapidation, Tribune 3 of the stadium, the old terrace behind the goal, is deemed unsafe and closed - and after the earlier closure of Tribune 4, the stadium's main stand until the 2003 renovation, maximum capacity is now reduced to 6,600.
2014 / Suffering grave financial difficulties, RAEC Mons is relegated to National Division 2.
2015 / In its last season before folding, RAEC Mons finishes 7th in National Division 2. In total, in its history, RAEC Mons played 9 seasons in D1, 16 in D2, 64 in D3 (a record in Belgian football), and 1 in D4. Upon the club's bankruptcy, its place at Stade Charles Tondreau is taken by R Albert Quévy-Mons (RAQM) - no more than Provincial League 1 club RUS Genly-Quévy (matricule 4194) taking on a new name. Genly-Quévy's A ground, Stade de la Motte in Genly, remains in use for lower team football and training purposes.
2016 / In its first seasons, R Albert Quévy-Mons wins the title in P1, thus acceding to the newly created ACFF Amateur Division 3, the fifth and lowest national division.
2019 / RFC Rapid (RFCR) Symphorinois (matricule 6464) from Saint-Symphorien, a village in the immediate vicinity of Mons, moves its first team football to Stade Charles Tondreau. After Symphorinois' unprecedented promotion to the national leagues in 2018, the club was given one year by Belgium's FA to bring the dimensions of its main pitch at Rue Eleuthère Mercier up to the measurements required for national league football, but, finding itself unable to do so, the club saw no other option but to look for a different ground for its flagship team - ultimately being allowed by Mons' town council to groundshare with 'Albert' at Stade Tondreau.
2020 / Still in ACFF Amateur Division 3, the fifth and lowest national level in Belgium's football pyramid, R Albert Quévy-Mons changes its name to become Renaissance Mons 44 - hereby staking its claim to the heritage of RAEC Mons and its matricule more clearly.
2021 / In an even more emphatic reference to the old Royal Albert Elisabeth Club, Renaissance Mons 44 changes its name yet again, this time becoming Renaissance Albert Elisabeth Club (RAEC!) Mons. The ties with Genly-Quévy are cut, with a new club being founded at Stade de la Motte: FC Quévy-Genly (matricule 9764).
2022 / With the 'fanion' still playing in Amateur Division 3, RAEC Mons' B squad wins promotion to Hainaut's Provincial League 1 for the first time. This B team, however, does not play in the stadium itself, but on the first side pitch, the so-called 'Dragon's Academy' - and the team's stay in the highest provincial division does not last longer than one single season.
2023 / Winning the title in ACFF National Division 3A, 10 points ahead of RCS Onhaye and 14 points ahead of groundsharers RFCR Symphorinois, RAEC Mons accedes to National Division 2.
2024 / Champions in ACFF National Division 2, with an impressive 19-point gap separating the club from the two runners-up, Union Rochefortoise and RU Tubize Braine-le-Comte, RAEC Mons clinches its second promotion in a row, acceding to the newly created ACFF National Division 1. Simultaneously, groundsharers RFCR Symphorinois, after five seasons in the national divisions, now finish in second-last place in ACFF National Division 3A, descends into the provincial leagues along with RJS Taminoise and bottom club RES Couvin-Mariembourg; no longer having to comply with national league pitch dimension rules, Symphorinois moves its first team football back to Rue Eleuthère Mercier. Also in 2024, renovation works get underway on Stade Tondreau, involving the demolition of the two remaining old - and meanwhile unused - stands, due to be replaced by new constructions.

Note - Below, a compilation of photos of two different visits: pictures 1-19 = non-matchday visit, August 2024 / pictures 20-33 = match visit, November 2010.