Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: FC Telstar (1968-1977) / SK Leest (1977-1992) / SK Rapid Leest (1992-2022) / VC Leest (B) (2022-2023)

Complex Grote Bleukens "Site Zenne", Leest (B ground of VC Leest, formerly FC Telstar / SK Leest / SK Rapid Leest)

Belgium, province: Antwerp

5 V 2016 / SK Rapid Leest - K Retie SK 1-1 / Antwerp, Provincial League 2 - promotion play-off final, first leg (= BE level 6)

Timeline

1967 / Foundation of recreational football team in Leest near Mechelen, which is given the name FC Telstar. Founding fathers are Fons Hellemans and Jean Van Dam. A pasture along the river Zenne, at Pastoor De Heuckstraat, is levelled to serve as the new club’s pitch.
1968 / Joining recreational league KKSFB (Koninklijke Katholieke Sportfederatie België), FC Telstar takes part in the federation's league for the first time, starting at the bottom of its league system in Division 4.
1969 / After additional works, including the construction of changing rooms, Complex Grote Bleukens – as the ground at Pastoor De Heuckstraat is officially named – is inaugurated officially.
1977 / At the request of KKSFB, FC Telstar changes its name to become Sportkring (SK) Leest.
1983 / SK Leest takes the leap from KKSFB to the official Belgian Football Association (URBSFA / KBVB), obtaining registration number 8890 after successfully applying for membership.
1986 / After three seasons in Antwerp's Provincial League 4, SK Leest wins the title in Provincial League 4B, thus acceding to Provincial League 3 for the first time. That same year, rival club VV Leest accedes to National Division 4, due to stay at that level for five consecutive seasons (1986-91) before dropping back into Antwerp's provincial divisions.
1987 / SK Leest wins the title in Provincial League 3B, thus acceding to P2 for the first time.
1988 / Following its third consecutive title win, clinching the title in P2B, SK Leest wins promotion to Antwerp’s Provincial League 1 merely five years after having joined the Belgian FA.
1991 / In the best season in club history, SK Leest manages a third place in Antwerp’s Provincial League 1. That same year, an attempted merger with FC Rapid Mechelen falls through at the last moment. As FC Rapid Mechelen, playing in Provincial League 4 at that time, had been expecting to merge its first team with SK Leest, the club from Mechlin withdraws from first team football in the 1991-92 season.
1992 / One year after the first, botched attempt, SK Leest now succeeds in concluding a merger with FC Rapid Mechelen, resulting in the foundation of SK Rapid Leest, retaining Rapid’s registration number 3737. In its existence as an independent club, FC Rapid Mechelen, founded in 1936, alternated spells in Antwerp's Provincial Leagues 3 and 4, never attaining the higher reaches of the provincial league system. Following the merger, all club activities move to Leest’s Complex Grote Bleukens, while Rapid’s sole pitch at Stuivenbergbaan (at the back current house number 156) was abandoned. SK Rapid Leest starts its life in Provincial League 1, taking the place of SK Leest.
1996 / Finishing in fourteenth place in Antwerp’s Provincial League 1, SK Rapid Leest drops back into Provincial League 2 after eight seasons.
1998 / Champions in Provincial League 2B, SK Rapid Leest manages a return to Provincial League 1.
2000 / Finishing in second-last place in Provincial League 1, SK Rapid Leest is retrograded to Provincial League 2.
2002 / Finishing bottom of the table in Provincial League 2B, SK Rapid Leest descends into Provincial League 3.
2003 / Champions in Provincial League 3B, SK Rapid Leest wins promotion to Provincial League 2.
2005 / Champions in Provincial League 2B, 3 points ahead of closest rivals KFC Ranst, SK Rapid Leest manages a return to Provincial League 1 after an absence of five seasons at that level.
2006 / Unable to hold its own in the highest provincial division, SK Rapid Leest finishes bottom of the table in Antwerp’s Provincial League 1, thus dropping back into Provincial League 2 along with KFC Katelijne, KVV Ternesse, KFC Nieuwmoer, and KFC Verbroedering Arendonk.
2009 / Finishing in fourth place in Provincial League 2A, SK Rapid Leest goes on to win the play-offs, thus winning promotion to Antwerp’s Provincial League 1. Also in 2009, after the demise of Rapid’s village rivals VV Leest, the pitch at Dorpstraat was taken over by village rivals SK Rapid Leest, which used it for training purposes in the following years.
2010 / In the best season in club history since the 1992 merger, SK Rapid Leest finishes in eighth place in Antwerp’s Provincial League 1 – a feat repeated in 2017.
2012 / Finishing in twelfth place in Antwerp’s Provincial League 1, SK Rapid Leest drops back into Provincial League 2 along with KFC Verbroedering Arendonk, KFC Nieuwmoer, KV Bonheiden, K Vlimmeren Sport, and bottom club KFC Poppel.
2013 / Runners-up in Provincial League 2A, 17 points behind champions KSV Schriek, SK Rapid Leest qualifies for the promotion play-offs, eliminating KFC Nijlen in R1 (4-3 aggr.), only to be knocked out in the final by KGR Katelijne (4-3 aggr.).
2014 / Champions in Provincial League 2A, 5 points ahead of closest rivals KFC Nijlen, SK Rapid Leest wins promotion to Antwerp’s Provincial League 1.
2015 / Finishing in fourteenth place in Antwerp’s Provincial League 1, SK Rapid Leest drops back into Provincial League 2 along with K Wuustwezel FC, FC Berlaar-Heikant, and bottom club KFC Sint-Job.
2016 / Runners-up in Provincial League 2A, with an equal number of points as champions KFC Brasschaat, but with an inferior goal difference (+30 vs. +27), SK Rapid Leest qualifies for the play-offs, in which the club successively edges past K Merksplas SK (5-3 aggr.) and K Retie SK (2-2 aggr. & penalty shoot-out) to win promotion to Provincial League 1.
2018 / Finishing in thirteenth place in Antwerp’s Provincial League 1, SK Rapid Leest drops back into Provincial League 2 along with K Merksplas SK, KVV OG Vorselaar, KFC Antonia, and bottom club KGR Katelijne.
2019 / Finishing in third place in Provincial League 2A, SK Rapid Leest qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is knocked out in R1 by SK ‘s Gravenwezel-Schilde (2-0 aggr.).
2020 / In March 2020, when the 2019-20 season is cut short due to the first COVID lockdown, SK Rapid Leest finds itself in first place in Provincial League 2A, 4 points ahead of its closest rivals VC Mortsel OG. On that basis, the club is placed in Provincial League 1 for the new season.
2022 / Finishing in twelfth place in Antwerp’s Provincial League 1, SK Rapid Leest descends into Provincial League 2 along with K Kalmthout SK, K Bevel FC, FC Oppuurs, and bottom club KSV Bornem. Following the 2021-22 season, however, SK Rapid Leest sells its registration number 3737 to ambitious Provincial League 4 side Nielse SV, which thus leap two divisions at once and taking Rapid’s place in Provincial League 2. For SK Rapid Leest, this was a profitable solution to what in effect was a merger with P4 side Leest United. With Leest United’s registration number 9456 being retained, Leest United changes its name to become Voetbalclub (VC) Leest. The new club started its life at Leest United’s level, P4, with first team football being played at Leest United’s Site Vaart at Gentsesteenweg in Heffen. Rapid’s Complex Grote Bleukens at Pastoor De Heuckstraat remains in use for lower team football and training purposes. All of this is a temporary arrangement, however, as Mechlin’s municipal authorities put a budget at the club’s disposal for the renovation of VV Leest’s former ground at Dorpstraat, Rapid’s training ground.
2023 / A synthetic pitch is laid out at Terrein Dorpstraat on the exact location of the main pitch of VV Leest’s former ground. Although the new clubhouse still has to be built, VC Leest moves all its activities to Terrein Dorpstraat in the summer of 2023. SK Rapid’s former ground, Complex Grote Bleukens at Pastoor De Heuckstraat, is abandoned to be turned into a natural reserve, while the fate of Site Vaart is as yet unclear.