Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: R Union Limaloise (1936?-1988) / R Wavre Limal (1988-2020)

Sunday, 23 October 2016

BELGIUM: R Union Limaloise (1936?-1988) / R Wavre Limal (1988-2020)

Stade du Martineau, Limal (formerly R Union Limaloise / R Wavre Limal / B ground of R Wavre Limal)

Belgium, province: Walloon Brabant = Waals Brabant

23 X 2016 / R Wavre Limal - RCS Brainois B 0-3 / Brabant, ACFF Provincial League 2 (= BE level 7)

Timeline

1936 / In Limal, a village situated to the southwest of the town of Wavre (Waver) in the French-speaking southern half of the Province of Brabant, a football club sees the daylight, Union Limaloise, which joins the Belgian Football Association (URBSFA / KBVB) with registration number 2395. It is unclear if, yet not improbable that, the club played its matches at the Terrain du Martineau from the outset.
1937 / Union Limaloise starts its existence as a competitive club in Brabant’s Regional League 3, staying put at that level (renamed Provincial League 3 in 1952) in the following decades.
1963 / Finishing in thirteenth place in Brabant’s Provincial League 3B, Union Limaloise descends into the newly created Provincial League 4.
1968 / Clinching the title in Brabant’s Provincial League 4A, Union Limaloise manages a return to Provincial League 3 after five years.
1972 / Champions in Brabant’s Provincial League 3B, Union Limaloise wins promotion to Provincial League 2 for the first time.
1974 / Finishing bottom of the table in Brabant’s Provincial League 2A, Union Limaloise drops back into Provincial League 3 after two years.
1977 / Finishing bottom of the table in Brabant’s Provincial League 3B, Union Limaloise descends into Provincial League 4.
1979 / Runner-up in Brabant’s Provincial League 4C, Union Limaloise wins promotion to Provincial League 3.
1987 / Obtaining the royal epithet in November 1986, Union Limaloise officially changes its name to become Royale Union Limaloise for the start of the 1987-88 season.
1988 / In its last season as an independent club, R Union Limaloise manages a second place in Brabant’s Provincial League 3B. Following the 1987-88 season, a merger is concluded between R Union Limaloise and its more successful neighbour club R Wavre Sports, resulting in the foundation of Royal Wavre Limal – with registration number 79 of the latter being retained, while Limal’s number 2395 is struck from the Belgian FA’s membership list. All activities are moved to the Stade du Martineau in Limal. This move coincides with Wavre Sports’ Stade Justin Peeters being taken over by National Division 2 side Racing Jet de Bruxelles (duly renamed Racing Jet Wavre in the process) at the invitation of Wavre’s municipal authorities. As a result of the merger, the Stade du Martineau sees Provincial League 1 football for the first time in its history, the level at which Wavre Sports played at the time.
1989 / Finishing bottom of the table in Brabant’s Provincial League 1 in the first season after the merger between R Wavre Sports and R Union Limaloise, R Wavre Limal descends into Provincial League 2.
1993 / Winning the title in Brabant’s Provincial League 2A, R Wavre Limal manages a return to Provincial League 1.
1994 / Finishing bottom of the table in Brabant’s Provincial League 1, R Wavre Limal drops back into the anonymity of Provincial League 2 after one year only – due to remain a regular feature in P2 in the following decades.
2001 / On June 23rd, 2001, after several years of building works, a new municipal sports complex, the Centre Sportif de Limal, is officially inaugurated at Rue Charles Jaumotte, a stone’s throw away from the Stade du Martineau. The facilities include an athletics tracks, an indoor sports hall, and two football pitches. The two pitches are allowed to be used by local provincial league club R Wavre Limal, which only has one pitch at its disposal, the Stade du Martineau. From this time on, the Centre Sportif de Limal becomes the club’s ground for training sessions and lower team football.
2010 / Finishing in joint second place in Brabant’s Provincial League 2A with KFC Eppegem, 5 points behind champions RFC Grez-Doiceau, R Wavre Limal qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is drawn into a group with Sporting OHL and KFC Strombeek, suffering defeat against the former (3-2) and crushing the latter (5-0); but with Sporting OHL winning the group stage, R Wavre Limal is eliminated from the competition.
2012 / Runner-up in Brabant’s Provincial League 2A, 31 (!) points behind runaway champions KFC Eppegem, R Wavre Limal qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is drawn into a group with KVV Houtem and Blue Star Bruxelles, drawing (1-1) against the former and suffering defeat (3-2) against the latter, resulting in elimination from the competition.
2013 / Runner-up in Brabant’s Provincial League 2A, 15 points behind runaway champions RRC Waterloo, R Wavre Limal qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is drawn into a group with FC Merchtem 2000 and KRC Boortmeerbeek, defeating the former (0-2), but suffering defeat against the latter (0-1), thereby yet again missing out on a Provincial League 1 ticket.
2020 / With the Stade du Martineau due to be replaced by housing, R Wavre Limal is invited by Wavre’s town council to move its activities to the Stade Justin Peeters in Wavre and its two side-pitches, terrain 4 and terrain 5. This coincides with municipal authorities evicting Wavre Sports FC – as Racing Jet Wavre had meanwhile been renamed – from the stadium due to its exasperation at the mismanagement of that club by its presidency. As R Wavre Limal abandons the Stade du Martineau to settle in Wavre, it retains its training ground, the Centre Sportif du Limal.
2024 / With the stands of the Stade du Martineau having been knocked down shortly after the departure of R Wavre Limal four years previously, the clubhouse of the old ground is now demolished as well.