Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: TSV Lyra (1912-1934) / Lyra KM (1934-1939) / K Lyra (1939-1971) / KVV Lyra (1971-1972) / K Lyra TSV (1972-2014)

Lyrastadion / Mechelsesteenweg, Lier = Lierre (formerly TSV Lyra, Lyra KM, K Lyra, KVV Lyra & K Lyra TSV)

Belgium, province: Antwerp = Antwerpen

2 III 2008 / K Lyra TSV - KSV Temse 0-0 / National Division 4B (= BE level 4)
10 VII 2010 / K Lyra TSV - K Lierse SK 0-6 / Pre-season friendly
23 III 2014 / K Lyra TSV - KSK Bree 0-2 / National Division 4C (= BE level 4)

Timeline

1891 / Foundation of a leisure club in Lier (Lierre), a town in the Province of Antwerp in Belgium. The club is given the name Zang- en Toneelmaatschappij ‘Nut en Vermaak’, with singing and performance arts being the activities focused on by the membership.
1899 / A gymnastics branch is added to the set-up at Nut & Vermaak.
1907 / A group of members of Nut & Vermaak start playing recreational football under the name Liersche Voetbalclub (VC).
1908 / A board is formed to lead Liersche VC. However, following a proposal to local rivals Liersche SK to be allowed to groundshare at that club’s pitch, Terrein Kloosterheide, Liersche VC ceases its activities.
1909 / Footballers of the former Liersche VC decide to form a new club, which is given the name Turn- en Sportvereeniging (TSV) Lyra, with the foundation meeting being held at Café De Valk. Like its predecessor, Nut & Vermaak, the club focuses on various activities; football, gymnastics, and performing arts. Later, tennis, basketball, and athletics would be added to the myriad of activities. Unlike the secular Liersche SK, TSV Lyra is a predominantly Roman Catholic club. TSV Lyra settles on a pitch laid out on a pasture at Zuid-Australiëlaan.
1911 / TSV Lyra starts its life as a competitive club in Antwerp’s Regional League 3 (3e Gewestelijke), the fourth and lowest level of the football pyramid at that time.
1912 / Champions in Antwerp’s Regional 3B, TSV Lyra goes on to win the promotion play-offs, thus acceding to Regional League 2. That same year, the club moves away from its pitch at Zuid-Australiëlaan, settling on a new location at Mechelsesteenweg, for which it concludes a 99-year-long renting agreement with Baron du Roy de Wichem. At this new ground, known locally simply as the Lyrastadion, a first stand is erected alongside the western touchline, with the forty-metre-long construction’s terraces offering a place to some 5,000 spectators.
1913 / Runners-up in Antwerp’s Regional League 2A, TSV Lyra wins promotion to the second and lowest level of the fledgling Belgian national league pyramid, Promotion.
1914 / Finishing in second-last place in Promotion along with Excelsior FC Hasselt, TSV Lyra goes on to defeat that club in a tie-break match (1-0), thus staving off relegation. Excelsior FC Hasselt drops back into the regional divions alongside bottom club Excelsior SC de Bruxelles.
1921 / The original terraced stand at the Lyrastadion is knocked down and replaced by a new all-seater stand in concrete, topped by a wooden roof, offering space to some 1,000 spectators. Also in 1921, TSV Lyra midfielder Jacques Van de Velde, who had played with the club from its integration in the league pyramid in 1911 onwards, is called up for the Belgian national team for the first time. Between 1921 and 1923, Van de Velde would go on to gather five caps, scoring one goal (in a 4-0 rout against the Netherlands at Antwerp’s Bosuilstadion). Hanging up his boots in 1926 after fifteen years with Lyra, Van de Velde lived to the age of 88, passing away in 1983.
1926 / Finishing in seventh place in Promotion B, TSV Lyra manages to avoid relegation after defeating CS Tongrois in a tie-break match. In a reorganisation of the football pyramid, TSV Lyra is placed in the newly created Division 1, the new second level of the football pyramid, whereas CS Tongrois is part of the clubs having to ‘stay’ in Promotion, which, from this point on, becomes the third and lowest level of the national league system. In December 1926, as the Belgian Football Association introduces its system of registration numbers, TSV Lyra is accorded number 52.
1927 / TSV Lyra appoints a professional coach for the first time, signing former Manchester United FC and England goalie Jack Mew to take on the role. Mew would only stay in Lier for one season.
1932 / Clinching the title in Division 1A, 3 points ahead of runners-up SC Anderlechtois, TSV Lyra wins promotion to the Division of Honour, the highest level of the Belgian football pyramid, for the first time. To allow more supporters to attend home matches, an impressive open terrace is added at the southern end of the ground, at the side of the entrance at Mechelsesteenweg. Moreover, the covered stand is extended to both sides to run the full side of the pitch, raising total capacity to some 6,000 (1,628 seated).
1933 / TSV Lyra finishes in sixth place in the Division of Honour, the best result in club history – discounting the fourth place in the unofficial 1940-41 competition.
1934 / Obtaining the royal epithet on the club’s 25th anniversary, TSV Lyra changes its name to become Koninklijke Maatschappij (KM) Lyra. That same year, the club’s defender Frans Van Dessel is called up for the Belgian national team, winning his only cap. He would lead Lyra’s defence for ten years (1928-38), making a comeback as the club’s head coach in 1955-56. Frans Van Dessel passed away in 1986 at the age of 75.
1935 / KM Lyra reaches the final of the Belgian Cup for the first and only time in its existence, having a relatively easy road to the final with successive wins over Stade Waremmien (9-2), SR Namur Sports (1-4), RC Borgerhout (2-6), and R Tilleur FC (0-5). In the final, played at Brussels’ Joseph Marienstadion (att. 5,000), the club suffers a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Daring Club de Bruxelles SR, in spite of two goals by Lyra striker Jozef Lemmens.
1938 / Finishing in second-last place in the Division of Honour, KM Lyra descends into Division 1 along with bottom club RC Tirlemont. The relegation had been caused in part due to a conflict between the board and part of the players, constraining the club to use youth players to complete first team line-ups for most of the season.
1939 / KM Lyra finishes as runners-up in Division 1A, 2 points behind champions SC Eendracht Aalst. That same year, the club changes its name to become Koninklijke (K) Lyra.
1941 / As league football is resumed following the German occupation of Belgium, a makeshift competition is organised in 1940-41, in which the Division of Honour is subdivided into two different groups to reduce the length of journeys having to be made. To fill up the divisions, extra teams from lower levels are added, including K Lyra. Doing remarkably well, the club finishes in fourth place in Division of Honour B, thus qualifying for the title competition, in which the club is knocked out in the quarterfinals by R Beerschot AC (0-1). In 1941, as regular league football is resumed, K Lyra returns to Division 1, i.e. the second step of the Belgian pyramid.
1943 / Champions in Division 1A, 8 points ahead of runners-up FC Verbroedering Geel, K Lyra wins promotion to the Division of Honour. Striker Gustaaf Van den Bergh crowns himself top scorer of the league with 30 goals in 21 matches.
1944 / Finishing in second-last place in the Division of Honour, K Lyra drops back into Division 1 along with bottom side R Tilleur FC. On Christmas Eve 1944, mere months after the liberation of Belgium from the German yoke, Belgium plays its first international match, away against France at the Parc des Princes; Lyra player Marcel Vercammen is part of the Belgian squad, winning the first of seven caps for his country (1944-47). The midfielder defended the Lyra colours for fourteen years (1936-50), closing off his career at SV Waregem in 1952. Marcel Vercammen passed away in 1981 at the age of 63.
1946 / Champions in Division 1B, 2 points ahead of closest rivals RC Mechelen KM, K Lyra manages a return to the Division of Honour.
1950 / Finishing in second-last place in the Division of Honour, K Lyra drops back into Division 1 (renamed National Division 2 in 1952) alongside bottom club R Stade Louvaniste.
1951 / In spite of playing for a club at the second level of the pyramid, Lyra winger Raymond ‘Mon’ Van Gestel is called up for the Belgian national team for the first time, winning the first of five caps. Having joined Lyra from SV Mol in 1948, he would stay with the club for ten seasons, ultimately signing for FC Verbroedering Geel in 1958. Mon Van Gestel passed away in 2020 at the age of 90.
1953 / Champions in National Division 2, 4 points ahead of derby rivals – and fellow promotion winners – K Lierse SK, K Lyra wins promotion to National Division 1 after an absence of three years at the top flight of Belgian football. Also in 1953, the club’s striker Jef Piedfort, who had joined from FC Turnhout in 1951, wins his first and only cap for the Belgian national team. Defending the Lyra colours for ten years in total, Piedfort would pass away in 2008 at the age of 77.
1954 / Finishing bottom of the table in National Division 1, K Lyra drops back into National Division 2 alongside the club in second-last place, R Daring Club de Bruxelles. Lyra would never return to the top division of Belgian football in subsequent years.
1961 / Finishing bottom of the table in National Division 2, K Lyra descends into National Division 3 alongside the club in second-last place, RRC de Bruxelles. That same year, Lyra is joined by former K Lierse SK and Belgian national goalkeeper, thirty-year-old Alfons Dresen, from K Waterschei SV THOR. Dresen would stay with Lyra for five years, ultimately hanging up his boots in 1966.
1964 / K Lyra finishes as runners-up in National Division 3B, 6 points behind champions K Sint-Niklase SK.
1968 / K Lyra reaches the quarterfinals of the Belgian Cup, in which the club bows out against RFC Brugeois (3-1).
1971 / K Lyra changes its name to become Koninklijke Voetbalvereniging (KVV) Lyra, as the club breaks away from the original multi-sport club in order to start merger talks with K Lierse SK.
1972 / In its last season as an independent club, KVV Lyra narrowly avoids relegation, finishing in thirteenth place in National Division 3B. Following the 1971-72 season, the club concludes a merger with K Lierse SK, resulting in the foundation of Koninklijke (K) Lierse Sportvereniging (SV), which retains Lierse SK’s registration number 30; Lyra’s number 52 is erased from the Belgian FA’s official lists. The new merger club had hoped to make use of the Lyrastadion at Mechelsesteenweg – in addition to the Herman Vanderpoortenstadion ‘Het Lisp’ – for lower team football, but the original multi-sport club K Lyra TSV, from which KVV Lyra had broken away in 1971, does not budge, instead preferring to form a new football branch within the club, which joins the Belgian FA with a new registration number, 7776. As such, the ‘new’ football club Koninklijke Lyra Turn- en Sportvereniging (TSV) starts its life in Antwerp’s Provincial League 4, the bottom level of the football pyramid.
1973 / Runners-up in Antwerp’s Provincial League 4B, K Lyra TSV wins promotion to Provincial League 3.
1974 / Runners-up in Antwerp’s Provincial League 3B, K Lyra TSV wins back-to-back promotions, acceding to Provincial League 2.
1977 / The Lyrastadion at Mechelsesteenweg undergoes renovation works – the first major works at the ground since the early 1930s.
1978 / Champions in Antwerp’s Provincial League 2B, K Lyra TSV accedes to Provincial League 1.
1982 / Finishing in third-last place in Antwerp’s Provincial League 1, K Lyra TSV drops back into Provincial League 2 after four seasons. That same year, K Lierse SV reverts to its pre-merger name K Lierse SK.
1987 / Champions in Antwerp’s Provincial League 2B, K Lyra TSV manages a return to Provincial League 1 after five years.
1988 / Champions in Antwerp’s Provincial League 1, K Lyra TSV wins promotion to National Division 4 for the first time since the refoundation of the club in 1972, along with runners-up KVV Oude God Sport.
1989 / K Lyra TSV has an excellent first season at the national level, finishing as runners-up in National Division 4B, 8 points behind champions KVO Aarschot.
1990 / Champions in National Division 4B, 1 point ahead of runners-up KVV Oude God Sport, K Lyra TSV wins promotion to National Division 3.
1992 / Finishing bottom of the table in National Division 3B, K Lyra TSV drops back into National Division 4 along with the club in second-last place, KVV Looi Sport. Also in 1992, a new renovation is carried out at the Lyrastadion.
1997 / Finishing in sixth place in National Division 4B, K Lyra TSV qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club has the better of R Francs Borains in R1 (0-2), only to be knocked out in R2 by K Beringen FC (0-0 & penalty shoot-out).
1999 / In spite of finishing in a modest tenth position in National Division 4B, K Lyra TSV qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club knocks out R Entente Sambrevilloise in R1 (2-0), eventually bowing out against RRC Tournaisien in R2 (0-1).
2000 / Champions in National Division 4B, 3 points ahead of closest followers KVV OG Vorselaar & KFC Olympia Wilrijk, K Lyra TSV wins promotion to National Division 3.
2001 / In the best season since the refoundation of the club in the early 1970s, K Lyra TSV finishes in third place in National Division 3A. Qualifying for the promotion play-offs, the club is knocked out in R1 by KV Kortrijk (5-3 aggr.).
2005 / Finishing in second-last place in National Division 3A, K Lyra TSV drops back into National Division 4 along with KSK Wevelgem-City and bottom club KFC Evergem-Center.
2006 / Finishing in third place in National Division 4C, K Lyra TSV qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is eliminated in R1 by KSK Sint-Paulus Opwijk (1-0).
2007 / Runners-up in National Division 4C, 7 points behind champions KFC Racing Mol-Wezel, K Lyra TSV qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club bows out in R1 against KVC Sint-Eloois-Winkel Sport (4-2).
2011 / Finishing in fifth place in National Division 4B, K Lyra TSV qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is knocked out in R1 by KFC Sparta Petegem (1-0 A.E.T.).
2014 / As the Lyrastadion in condemned to make way for housing, K Lyra TSV has to move away from its stadium at Mechelsesteenweg. A new ground for the club has been projected at Hoge Velden, to the south of the town centre, but, for the time being, Lyra has to conclude a groundsharing agreement with SK Berlaar, henceforth playing its home matches at that club’s Luc De Rijckstadion (Doelvelden) – ground of former national league club KFC Rita Berlaar. In October 2025, after an existence of 102 years, the Lyrastadion is bulldozed.
2025 / After eleven years of groundsharing at the Luc De Rijckstadion (Doelvelden) in Berlaar, the club which has meanwhile been renamed K Lyra-Lierse Berlaar – following part of the support of K Lierse SK changing its allegiance to Lyra, when the former suffered bankruptcy in 2018 – finally gets the go ahead sign to move back to Lier, as the ground officially known as Sportpark Lier at Hoge Velden (more specifically at Marieke Vervoortlaan) is finally inaugurated, a park with a main pitch and no fewer than six side-pitches. Upon its move back to Lier, K Lyra-Lierse Berlaar can finally drop the obligatory reference to the town where it had spent its exile, thus becoming K Lyra-Lierse.