Extreme Football Tourism: NETHERLANDS: RKSC Helmondia '55 (±1970-1985) / SC Helmondia '55 (1985-2001) / SC Helmondia (2001-2020) / SV De Braak (2020-2022)

Gemeentelijk Sportpark De Braak Oost, Helmond (formerly RKSC Helmondia '55 / SC Helmondia '55 / SC Helmondia / SV De Braak)

Netherlands, province: North Brabant = Noord-Brabant

15 VI 2014 / SC Helmondia - vv Boekel Sport 1-1 / District South II, Sunday League 3 - promotion play-off (= NL level 7)

Timeline

1916 / Foundation of a football club in Helmond, which takes on the name ADO, with the meaning of the acronym being unclear – possibly Alles Door Oefening or Aanhouden Doet Overwinnen. ADO plays its football at Terrein De Braak.
1924 / ADO changes its name to become Sportclub (SC) Helmondia.
1935 / SC Helmondia’s Terrein De Braak – or Stadion De Braak – is moved several dozens of yards, with the entrance remaining at Bakelsedijk.
1955 / SC Helmondia concludes a merger with RKSV Kolping SDW, resulting in the foundation of RKSC (Rooms-Katholieke Sportclub) Helmondia ’55. This club joins the Netherlands’ fledgling professional league pyramid.
1967 / In its last season as a professional league club, RKSC Helmondia ’55 finishes in fourteenth place in the Tweede Divisie. Following the 1966-67 season, the club itself, marred by financial problems, withdraws into non-league, being placed in District South I’s Sunday League 4, while its professional league licence is taken over by a new breakaway club, Helmond Sport. For the time being, Helmond Sport and RKSC Helmondia ’55 are groundsharers at Stadion De Braak.
± 1970 / After a couple of years of groundsharing with Helmond Sport at Stadion De Braak, RKSC Helmondia ’55, now a modest non-league club, is given the luxury of its own clubhouse and main pitch at the southeastern end of Sportpark De Braak.
1971 / Finishing bottom of the table in District South I’s Sunday League 4C, RKSC Helmondia ’55 descends into the ranks of the Brabantse Voetbalbond (BVB) – alternatively referred to as Afdeling Brabant – the league association organising football in the province of North Brabant below the level of Sunday & Saturday Leagues 4.
1985 / After fourteen consecutive seasons in the ranks of the BVB, RKSC Helmondia ’55 manages a return to Sunday League 4. That same year, the club changes its name to become SC Helmondia ’55, thereby shedding the references to its Roman Catholic origins.
1986 / Coached by former Helmond Sport player Louis Coolen, SC Helmondia ’55 finishes in joint first place in District South II’s Sunday League 4C with RKSV Liessel, going on to suffer defeat in the tie-break match for the title against that club and thereby missing out on a second promotion in a row.
1987 / Still under the aegis of coach Louis Coolen, SC Helmondia ’55 comes agonisingly close to promotion to Sunday League 3 for the second year running, finishing as runners-up in District South II’s Sunday League 4C, 2 points behind champions ESV.
1988 / Finishing in second-last place in District South II’s Sunday League 4C, SC Helmondia ’55 drops back into the ranks of the BVB along with bottom club ZSV.
1989 / Winning promotion from BVB Hoofdklasse after just one year, SC Helmondia manages an immediate return to Sunday League 4.
1991 / SC Helmondia ’55 finishes in joint first place in District South II’s Sunday League 4C with derby rivals HVV Helmond, going on to suffer defeat in the tie-break match for the title against that club and thereby missing out on promotion.
1996 / Finishing in joint first place in District South II’s Sunday League 4C with vv Bavos, SC Helmondia ’55 goes on to win the tie-break match against that club, thereby acceding to Sunday League 3 for the first time since giving up its professional league status in 1967.
1998 / Finishing in second-last place in District South I’s Sunday League 3D, SC Helmondia ’55 drops back into League 4 after two seasons, along with bottom club RKSV Taxandria.
2001 / Finishing in second-last place in District South I’s Sunday League 4I, SC Helmondia ’55 descends into Sunday League 5 along with bottom club SV Budel. Also in 2001, SC Helmondia drops the year of the merger between Helmondia and Kolping SDW from its club name, thereby reverting to the exact name the club had had prior to 1955, SC Helmondia.
2002 / Finishing in third place in District South II’s Sunday League 5E, SC Helmondia goes on to win promotion to Sunday League 4 in the subsequent play-off rounds.
2006 / SC Helmondia finishes as runners-up in District South II’s Sunday League 4F, only 1 point behind champions RKSV Sparta ’25, going on to miss out on promotion in the play-offs.
2007 / Runaway champions in District South II’s Sunday League 4E, 12 points ahead of runners-up SV Budel, SC Helmondia manages a return to Sunday League 3 after an absence of nine years.
2008 / Finishing bottom of the table in District South II’s Sunday League 3D, SC Helmondia drops back into League 4 along with the club finishing in second-last place, BSV Olympia ’18.
2011 / Runners-up in District South II’s Sunday League 4E, 3 points behind champions vv Mifano, SC Helmondia qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club eases past RKSV Venlo in R1 (7-0 aggr.), only to stumble over RKMSV in the semifinal (1-0 aggr.).
2012 / Runaway champions in District South II’s Sunday League 4E, 14 points ahead of runners-up FC ODA, SC Helmondia wins promotion to Sunday League 3.
2014 / Finishing in third place in District South II’s Sunday League 3C, SC Helmondia qualifies for the play-offs. Successively defeating RKSV Margriet (6-2 aggr.) and vv Boekel Sport (3-2 aggr. A.E.T.), the club accedes to Sunday League 2 for the first time since withdrawing into non-league in 1967.
2015 / In the most successful season since withdrawing into non-league, SC Helmondia finishes in seventh place in Sunday League 2H.
2017 / Finishing bottom of the table in Sunday League 2H, SC Helmondia drops back into Sunday League 3 after three seasons, along with RKSV Mierlo-Hout, SC Oranje Zwart Helmond, and IVO.
2018 / As a first step on the way to a fully-fledged merger, SC Helmondia merges its youth teams with the youth academy of neighbour club RKSV MULO, resulting in the foundation of SJO (Samenwerking Jeugdopleidingen) Helmondia-MULO.
2019 / Finishing in third place in District South II’s Sunday League 3C, SC Helmondia qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is eliminated in R1 by EVVC (1-1 & penalty shoot-out).
2020 / In the 2019-20 season, cut short in March 2020 due to the first COVID lockdown, SC Helmondia finds itself in fourth place in District South II’s Sunday League 3D after 17 of 26 matches played. Following the 2019-20 season, the club concludes a merger with its longtime neighbours at Sportpark De Braak, RKSV MULO, resulting in the foundation of Sportvereniging (SV) De Braak. For the moment, all activities move to SC Helmondia’s corner of Gemeentelijk Sportpark De Braak, i.e. its southeasternmost corner. RKSV MULO’s Sportpark De Braak Noord is removed, with part of it having to make way for a new school campus. SV De Braak starts its life with two first teams, the first taking SC Helmondia’s place in Sunday League 3 and the second being placed in District South I’s Saturday League 4.
2022 / SV De Braak’s Sunday team finishes in eleventh place in District South II’s Sunday League 3D, with relegation having to be avoided in a set of play-offs; defeating RKVV Haelen in R1 (2-2 & penalty shoot-out), the team is eliminated in R2 by FC Kerkrade-West (3-1 A.E.T.), the result being that SV De Braak (zo) drops back into Sunday League 4. Meanwhile, the Saturday team fares more successfully, clinching the title in District South I’s Saturday League 4F, no fewer than 13 points ahead of closest rivals SV OSS ’20 (za); as such, SV De Braak (za) wins promotion to Saturday League 3. Following the 2021-22 season, in the summer of 2022, the main pitch of SV De Braak’s (formerly SC Helmondia’s) park, Sportpark De Braak (Oost) is removed, with the covered stand being knocked down. A new pitch is laid out on the spot, which is given a quarter’s turn compared to the old situation. However, SV De Braak temporarily moves its first team football to Helmond Sport’s Stadion De Braak.
2023 / After one season as groundsharers at Stadion De Braak, SV De Braak moves its first team football to the synthetic pitch laid out one year previously at the far northeastern corner of Gemeentelijk Sportpark De Braak, covering part of the area previously occupied by RKSV MULO's old main pitch.