Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: FC Seraing (1906-1924) / RFC Sérésien matr. 17 (1924-1994) / RFC Seraing matr. 17 (1994-1996) / Seraing RUL (1996-2006) / RFC Liège (2000-2004, 2008-2015) / RFC Sérésien matr. 23 (2006-2014) / Seraing United (2014-2015) / RFC Seraing matr. 167 (2015-)

Stade du Pairay (formerly known as Stade de la Boverie), Seraing (RFC Seraing matr. 167, formerly FC Seraing matr. 17, RFC Sérésien matr. 17, RFC Seraing matr. 17, Seraing RUL, RFC Liège, RFC Sérésien matr. 23, Seraing United matr. 167)

Belgium, province: Liège = Luik

6 XII 2009 / RFC Liège - KV Turnhout 1-1 / National Division 2 (= BE level 2)
23 XI 2014 / Seraing United - KFC Dessel Sport 3-0 / National Division 2 (= BE level 2)

Timeline

1900 / Foundation of a first football club in Seraing, named FC Sérésien.
1901 / FC Sérésien folds, ceasing all activities.
1904 / Refoundation of FC Sérésien under the name FC Seraing. The club's ground is situated in the southern part of Seraing, more specifically in the Quartier des Biens-Communaux.
1905 / FC Seraing joins the Belgian Football Association.
1906 / The club moves to a plot of land owned by the Société John Cockerill at Rue de la Boverie. The 'Terrain de la Boverie' at which the club settles in 1906 is on the exact spot of the later Stade de la Boverie / Stade du Pairay.
1924 / For the first time in its history, FC Seraing manages to win promotion to the national level, being placed in Promotion - at that time, the second and lowest tier of the national league pyramid. That same year, the club changes its name to become FC Sérésien.
1926 / With the creation of a new second tier between the Division d'Honneur and Promotion, FC Sérésien becomes a D3 club - staying in Promotion, which, for the following 26 years, is the third step of Belgium's league pyramid. That same year, at the introduction of the matricule register, FC Sérésien is attributed matricule 17.
1927 / Becoming a Société Royale, FC Sérésien adapts its name to become Royal Football Club (RFC) Sérésien.
1930 / RFC Sérésien absorbs a smaller local club, FC Beauséjour.
1931 / Having played in Promotion for the past seven seasons, RFC Sérésien finishes second, thus acceding to Division 1, as the second tier of Belgium's league system is called at the time. In large part due to the able management of the club by Maître François Plateus, Sérésien becomes a stable factor at this level.
1952 / Due to a reorganisation of Belgium's football pyramid, involving the creation of a third level between D1 and Promotion, RFC Sérésien - finishing 14th in Division 1 Série B - is placed in the new Division 3 after a spell of 21 years (and 18 seasons, with three seasons having fallen out due to WW2) at the second step of Belgium's national league system.
1958 / After six seasons in Division 3, RFC Sérésien - or 'Les Métallos', as the club's nickname is - wins the title to accede to Division 2.
1960 / Finishing dead-last in D2, RFC Sérésien drops back into Division 3.
1965 / Having missed promotion to Division 2 by a whisker the previous season, RFC Sérésien confidently clinches the title to reclaim its place in the second tier of Belgian football.
1969 / A first in Belgian football, part of RFC Sérésien's squad begins a strike due to not being paid in time. Almost inevitably, the club suffers relegation to D3.
1973 / Adding insult to injury, RFC Sérésien finishes 15th in National Division 3A, falling back to National Division 4.
1975 / Winning the title in D4C, RFC Sérésien manages a return to Division 3 after an absence of two seasons.
1978 / RFC Sérésien drops back into D4 after finishing second-last in D3B. Former RFC Liège legend Yves Baré takes over the managership.
1979 / Clinching the title in D4C for the second time in four years, Sérésien reclaims its place in D3. That year, Seraing's mayor, Guy Mathot, joins the club's board.
1980 / Yves Baré's squad wins a second title in a row - winning promotion from D3B to D2, and managing a streak of 53 league matches without a defeat.
1981 / Falling five points short of league winners KSK Tongeren, RFC Sérésien finished second in D2 - failing to win promotion in the subsequent play-offs as well.
1982 / Uncontestedly the most successful manager in club history, Yves Baré leads the club to its third title in four years - meaning the club accedes to the top flight of Belgian football for the first time in its history. Following the historic promotion, extensive renovations are carried out at the club's Stade de la Boverie, involving the construction of a new main stand as well as a covered terrace - both stands covering the length of the pitch. The aforementioned terrace replaces a much smaller Elascon stand, which is rebuilt behind the southern end of the ground - henceforth housing the away support. The building works result in the capacity of the ground being raised to 17,500.
1983 / In its first season in D1, RFC Sérésien holds its own relatively easily, finishing 13th - seven points clear of the drop zone.
1984 / Finishing fifth in D1, RFC Sérésien just misses out on UEFA Cup qualification. That same year, however, bankruptcy is declared - with the club saving its skin in the end, making a restart without losing its matricule or place in the top flight.
1987 / Having narrowly escaped relegation the two previous years, RFC Sérésien finishes 17th in D1, heralding the end of the club's five-year spell at that level.
1989 / RFC Sérésien just misses out on a return to D1, finishing second in Division 2 and subsequently losing the promotion play-offs.
1990 / An unexpected relegation to D3 nearly leads to the end of the club, which is saved at the last juncture by Gérald Blaton, an investor from Brussels.
1991 / Clinching the title in D3B, Sérésien returns to Division 2 after a one-year absence.
1992 / Managing to reach the promotion play-offs in D2, RFC Sérésien misses out on the much longed-for return to top flight football. Underlining its ambition, the club signs Lars Olsen from Turkish side Trabzonspor; Olsen was the skipper of Denmark's squad which won that year's European Football Championships in Sweden.
1993 / RFC Sérésien wins the D2 title, returning to National Division 1 after an absence of six years. The club signs a host of new players, including Roger Lukaku and the so-called 'Armada des Brésiliens', a group of Brazilian players, including the young winger Wamberto.
1994 / In the best season in its history, RFC Sérésien finishes third in D1. Changing its name to RFC Seraing, the club qualifies for a European tournament for the first time. Being drawn against Russia's FK Dynamo Moscow in the UEFA Cup's first round, Seraing loses its home match at La Boverie (3-4), subsequently winning the away leg in Moscow (0-1) - thus losing on away goals. In the 1994-95 season, RFC Seraing, with Belgian international player Alain De Nil in its squad, finishes ninth in D1.
1996 / Finishing 16th in D1, RFC Seraing suffers relegation to D2 - but the club is absorbed by its large neighbour club R Standard de Liège. Matricule 17 is erased from the Belgian FA's official lists. RFC Seraing's place at La Boverie - meanwhile officially renamed Stade du Pairay - is taken by Provincial League 1 side Royal Union Liégeoise (RUL), a club created in 1992 as a merger between RFC Bressoux and R Jupille FC under Bressoux's matricule 23. Moving its first team football from Rue de Visé in Jupille to Stade du Pairay at the instigation of its president Michel Faway, the club takes on the new name of Seraing RUL.
1998 / Seraing RUL manages to win promotion from Liège's Provincial League 1 - thus heralding the return of national league football to Stade du Pairay after a two-year absence.
2000 / Royal Tilleur FC de Liège (matricule 4) is ejected from its ground, Stade Buraufosse, by Saint-Nicolas' municipal authorities - the ground moreover being declared unfit for Division 2, the level at which the club is playing at that time. Simultaneously changing its name to become Royal Football Club (RFC) de Liège, the club commences a groundshare with Seraing RUL at Stade du Pairay.
2003 / Having finished second in D4, Seraing RUL wins promotion to D3 after winning the promotion play-offs. Simultaneously, RFC Liège, its license application for D2 being refused by Belgium's FA, is retrograded to D3, even though the club finished in a respectable 7th position in National Division 2.
2004 / Close to bankruptcy, RFC Liège suffers relegation to National Division 4 - the lowest level the club ever played at in its 111-year history. Unable to pay the rents to play at Stade du Pairay, the club moves to a much smaller venue, Ans' Stade Communal at Rue Gilles Magnée.
2005 / Having played two seasons in D3B, Seraing RUL drops back into National Division 4.
2006 / Winning the title in National Division 4D, Seraing RUL manages an immediate return to the third tier of Belgian football. That summer, the club changes its name to become RFC Sérésien (as well as its club colours, exchanging the yellow and black of the old RFC Bressoux for Seraing's red and black) - thereby even more emphatically stating its claim to the heritage of matricule 17.
2008 / Following a promotion to D3 in 2006, RFC Liège clinches the D3B title, thereby managing a return to National Division 2 after an absence of five seasons. Ans' Stade Communal being unable to host football at that level, matricule 4 has to look for a new venue - and, after a short stop at Stade Communal de Bielmont in Verviers, the club settles for a new groundshare with RFC Sérésien at Stade du Pairay.
2009 / After a weak season in D3, RFC Sérésien suffers relegation to National Division 4.
2010 / Finishing fourth in D4, RFC Sérésien wins a ticket for the promotion play-offs, in which it is eliminated by KESK Leopoldsburg. That summer, the Elascon stand at the southern end of Stade du Pairay is deemed unsafe - with spectators no longer being allowed onto it. Meanwhile, in Bressoux, which lacked a local football club for 18 years, a new club is founded, taking on the familiar name FC Bressoux (matricule 9538).
2012 / Three years after its relegation to D4, RFC Sérésien suffers a further setback resulting in the club dropping out of the national league system altogether, finding itself in Liège's Provincial League 1.
2013 / RFC Sérésien is taken over by Groupe Metz and its president Bernard Serin - making Seraing a partner club of FC Metz in France. Dominique D'Onofrio is appointed as Seraing's new technical manager.
2014 / In one of the most complicated events in Belgian football history, RFC Sérésien and Groupe Metz purchase matricule 167 from Hainaut's National Division 2 club R Boussu Dour Borinage, allowing Seraing to make the leap from Provincial League 1 all the way up to D2. Boussu, in its turn, buys matricule 5192 from R Charleroi-Fleurus, allowing the club to continue its existence at D3 level (taking on another name, R Francs Borains) - while R Charleroi-Fleurus, in its turn, absorbs FC Charleroi (matricule 94) to become Racing Charleroi-Couillet-Fleurus (matricule 94) in Hainaut's Provincial League 1. The new creation in Seraing takes on the rather bizarre name of Seraing United.
2015 / Seraing United finishes in fourth place in its first season in National Division 2 - subsequently being allowed to change its name to become RFC Seraing. Meanwhile, RFC Liège leaves Stade du Pairay to settle down at its newly built ground at Rue de la Tonne in Rocourt.
2016 / In view of a new competition structure to be introduced in mid-2016, with a Division 1B being created to replace National Division 2 - and with stricter license rules being applied, involving, amongst other elements, a minimum number of seats being available at each professional league ground, Stade du Pairay is given a thorough refurbishment. Seats are installed on the covered terrace opposite the main stand; moreover, the Elascon stand, not in use since 2010, is knocked down, making way for a small uncovered terrace - while the terracing as well as sponsor home at the northern end of the stadium are removed to make way for a new clubhouse. Upon inauguration of the 'new look' stadium in February 2016, maximum capacity has been reduced to 8,207. On the pitch, however, RFC Seraing fails to deliver - finishing 11th in D2, insufficient to qualify for one of the eight spots in Division 1B. Instead, the club is placed in Amateur Division 1, the newly created third level of Belgium's football pyramid.
2020 / Finishing third in Amateur Division 1, RFC Seraing wins promotion to Division 1B - helped by the fact that KSC Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen went bankrupt, resulting in an extra available place in the second tier of professional league football.
2021 / Benefiting from a host of promising young players from FC Metz's youth academy, RFC Seraing finishes second in D1B - thus qualifying for a promotion play-off against KV Red Star Waasland-SK Beveren, the club which finished second-last in D1A, winning the tie 6-3 on aggregate - resulting in a return of top flight football to Seraing after a 25-year absence. That summer, Stade du Pairay's Terrain F - the only other pitch with a (small) stand at La Boverie - is equipped with a 3G surface.
2022 / RFC Seraing finishes second-last in National Division 1, with just K Beerschot VA behind them; constrained to secure their stay in the top flight in a play-off against the runners-up in National Division 1B, RWDM, Seraing edges it with a 1-0 aggregate win. With part of the professional league clubs' U21 sides being integrated into the national divisions, RFC Seraing's U21s are placed in ACFF Amateur Division 2, the fourth step of the league pyramid - with matches being played on Stade du Pairay's Terrain F - meanwhile renamed Terrain 2.
2023 / Having narrowly stayed up the previous year, RFC Seraing now finishes dead-last in National Division 1A, thus dropping into D1B along with SV Zulte Waregem and KV Oostende.
2024 / Finishing second-last in D1B, RFC Seraing only escapes a second relegation in a row as a result of the bankruptcy of KV Oostende, which finished two places above Seraing.