Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: RA Marchiennoise des Sports (1966-2000) / R Olympic-Club Charleroi-Marchienne (B) (2000-2016) / FC Mont-Saint-Michel-Collège (2012-2013) / FC Mont-Saint-Michel-Collège (B) (2013-2014) / R Olympic-Club Charleroi (B) (2016-2019, 2020-2023) / OC Charleroi-Farciennes (B) (2019-2020)

Stade Communal de Marchienne - Rue Gué Gobeau, Charleroi Marchienne-au-Pont (formerly RA Marchiennoise des Sports / A & B ground of FC Mont-Saint-Michel-Collège / B ground of ROC Charleroi-Marchienne / ROC Charleroi & OC Charleroi-Farciennes)

Belgium, province: Hainaut = Henegouwen

20 VII 2014 / R Olympic Club Charleroi-Marchienne - R Géants Athois 1-1 / Pre-season friendly

Timeline

1922 / Foundation of a football club in Marchienne-au-Pont, a western suburb of Charleroi, which takes its membership partly from the neighbouring community of Monceau-sur-Sambre. The new club is given the name Cercle des Sports (CS) Marchienne-Monceau – often abbreviated at the time to simply CS Marchienne. The club may have settled on the pitch at the far end of Rue Georges Tourneur (currently pitch 2 of ROC Charleroi’s youth academy) from the outset, but no certainty is to be had on this matter.
1923 / CS Marchienne-Monceau joins the Belgian Football Association, starting its existence as a competitive club in Hainaut’s regional divisions.
1926 / As the Belgian FA introduces its system of registration numbers, CS Marchienne-Monceau acquires number 278. The club has a first spell of national league football in Promotion, the third and lowest level of the national divisions, in the 1930s and 1940s.
1940 / CS Marchienne-Monceau changes its name to become Association Marchiennoise des Sports following the arrival of members of the former Étoile Sportive (ES) Moncelloise, which had folded in 1939 following an existence of nine years (registration number 1670).
1951 / Association Marchiennoise des Sports acquires the royal epithet, thus becoming Royale Association (RA) Marchiennoise des Sports, often abbreviated locally simply as RAMS.
1966 / RA Marchiennoise des Sports moves into the newly built Stade Communal de Marchienne, of which the main entrance is in a side-street of Rue Georges Tourneur, Rue Gué Gobeau. The former main pitch at the far southern end of Rue Georges Tourneur is held onto by the club for lower team football and training purposes. At the time of the inauguration of the new ground, the club plays in National Division 4.
1967 / Champions in National Division 4D, 7 points ahead of closest followers LC Bastogne, RA Marchiennoise des Sports wins promotion to National Division 3.
1970 / Finishing in joint second-last place in National Division 3A with K Kortrijk Sport, RA Marchiennoise des Sports meets the club from Courtray in a relegation tie-breaker, going on to lose that encounter (2-1), resulting in the club dropping back into National Division 4 after three seasons, along with bottom club VC Zwevegem Sport.
1973 / Finishing in second-last place in National Division 4D, RA Marchiennoise des Sports descends into the provincial divisions after a spell of fourteen years of national league football, along with K Humbeek FC and bottom club R Cappellen FC.
1974 / Champions in Hainaut’s Provincial League 1, 1 point ahead of closest rivals RUS Tournaisienne and FC Farciennes, RA Marchiennoise des Sports manages an immediate return to National Division 4.
1977 / Champions in National Division 4D, 3 points ahead of closest followers R Stade Waremmien FC, RA Marchiennoise des Sports wins promotion to National Division 3. The successful player-trainer is André Colasse, who had joined the club from RAEC Mons in the summer of 1976. The midfielder had had a respectable professional league career at R Charleroi SC and RSC Anderlechtois.
1978 / In the best season in post-war club history, RA Marchiennoise des Sports finishes as runners-up in National Division 3B, 6 points behind KRC Harelbeke – with only the champions winning promotion to National Division 2. Following the 1977-78 season, coach André Colasse leaves the club.
1980 / Finishing bottom of the table in National Division 3A, RA Marchiennoise des Sports drops back into National Division 4 after three years, along with the club in second-last place, KFC Verbroedering Geel.
1982 / Finishing in third-last place in National Division 4A, RA Marchiennoise des Sports descends into the provincial divisions after a spell of eight years of national league football, along with FC Élougeois and bottom club Stade Gedinnois.
1986 / RA Marchiennoise des Sports narrowly misses out on a return to national league football, finishing as runners-up in Hainaut’s Provincial League 1, 2 points behind champions Stade Brainois. Also in 1986, twenty-year-old RAMS striker Dante Brogno, a youth academy product, signs a contract with R Charleroi SC, due to stay the remainder of his professional league career at Stade Mambourg (1986-2001 / 426 matches, 121 goals).
1987 / Champions in Hainaut’s Provincial League 1, 7 points ahead of closest followers RUS Tournasienne, RA Marchiennoise des Sports manages a return to National Division 4 after an absence of five years.
1992 / Finishing bottom of the table in National Division 4D, RA Marchiennoise des Sports descends into Provincial League 1 along with R Excelsior Virton and Arquet FC.
1994 / Runners-up in Hainaut’s Provincial League 1, 1 point behind champions RFC Athois, RA Marchiennoise des Sports qualifies for the Interprovincial promotion play-offs, in which the club has successive wins over FC Heist Sportief (1-0), RLC Bastogne (1-0), and KSK Heusden (2-1). As a result, RAMS wins promotion to National Division 4. Also in 1994, 21-year-old RAMS striker Toni Brogno, the younger brother of Dante Brogno, signs a contract deal with R Charleroi SC, going on to have spells with ROC Charleroi, KVC Westerlo, CS Sedan-Ardennes, RSC du Pays de Charleroi, OH Leuven, and ROC Charleroi-Marchienne, ultimately hanging up his boots in 2009. Toni Brogno also earned 7 caps for the Belgian national team between 1998 and 2001.
1997 / Runners-up in National Division 4D, 19 points behind runaway champions UR Namur, RA Marchiennoise des Sports qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club reaches the final following successive wins over Herk Sport Hasselt (0-1) and K Stade Leuven (3-1). In the final, however, the club suffers a 3-2 defeat at the hands of KVO Aarschot. Even though RAMS goes on to win the lucky loser final against K Beringen FC (3-2), no ticket to National Division 3 is on the cards due to no extra promotion places becoming available.
1998 / Finishing in third place in National Division 4D, RA Marchiennoise des Sports qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is knocked out in R1 by AFC Tubize (3-0).
2000 / In its last season as an independent club, RA Marchiennoise des Sports finishes in third-last place in National Division 4D, thus suffering relegation into the provincial divisions along with RFC Farciennes, ES Mariembourgeoise, and bottom club RLC Walcourt. However, following the 1999-2000 season, the club concludes a merger with national league side ROC Charleroi, resulting in the foundation of Royal Olympic Club (ROC) Charleroi-Marchienne, which retains Olympic’s registration number 246; RAMS’ number 278 is erased from the Belgian FA’s official lists. With first team football moving to ROC Charleroi’s Stade Neuville in Montignies-sur-Sambre, the merger club retains the two grounds in Marchienne-au-Pont; the Stade Communal becomes the training ground of the first team, whereas the youth academy ground at the southern end of Rue Georges Tourneur is put together with ROC Charleroi’s youth academy, situated on the two pitches right beside since Olympic had moved its youth academy there from the Stade de la Chenevière in Marcinelle approximately two years before, to become ROCCM’s youth academy ground.
2012 / As the Terrain de la Rue Saint-Jacques of FC Mont-sur-Marchienne Collège is undergoing a renovation, that club moves the bulk of its activities, including first team football, to the Stade Communal in Marchienne-au-Pont.
2013 / First team football of FC Mont-sur-Marchienne Collège moves back to the Terrain de la Rue Saint-Jacques, but the club retains the Stade Communal for lower team football and training sessions for one more season.
2014 / FC Mont-sur-Marchienne Collège moves all its activities back to the Terrain de la Rue Saint-Jacques, thus abandoning the Stade Communal.
2016 / ROC Charleroi-Marchienne changes its name to become ROC Charleroi – thus dropping the reference to the erstwhile RA Marchiennoise des Sports.
2019 / ROC Charleroi absorbs R Châtelet-Farciennes SC, with the club name being adapted to become Olympic Club (OC) Charleroi-Farciennes.
2020 / OC Charleroi-Farciennes changes its name back to becoming ROC Charleroi.
2023 / As it seems, ROC Charleroi abandoned the Stade Communal in Marchienne-au-Pont in the summer of 2023, with all activities being centred at Stade Neuville and the four pitches (including pitch 1 and pitch 2) at the southern end of Rue Georges Tourneur.

Note - Below, a compilation of photos of two different visits: pictures 1-3 = non-matchday visit, July 2010 / pictures 4-24 = match visit, July 2014.