BELGIUM: SC Etichove (1910-1914, 1919-1925) / K Verenigde Vrienden Etikhove (1929-1994) / KVV Vlaamse Ardennen (1994-2022)

Complex Hollebeek, Etikhove = Etichove (formerly SC Etichove / K Verenigde Vrienden Etikhove / K Verenigde Vrienden Vlaamse Ardennen)

Belgium, province: East Flanders

3 XII 2016 / KVVV Ardennen - Eendracht Elene-Grotenberge 1-3 / East Flanders, Provincial League 1 (= BE level 6)

Timeline

• 1910 / Foundation of Sporting Club (SC) Etichove. The club plays its football at Complex Hollebeek, situated at Nederhollebeekstraat, from the very beginning. Oddly, SC Etichove refrains from joining any local league, instead sticking to playing friendlies against teams from other villages in the region.
• 1919 / After several years of inactivity due to the hardships of German occupation of Belgium in World War I, SC Etichove makes a restart.
• 1925 / SC Etichove folds, ceasing all activities.
• 1929 / Foundation of a new club, Verenigde Vrienden (VV) Etikhove, which joins a Roman-Catholic association, Diocesaan Sportverbond Gent, in 1931.
• 1935 / VV Etikhove joins a secular football association, Vlaamse Voetbalbond.
• 1943 / Eventually, the club applies for membership of the official Belgian Football Association, obtaining matricule 3857.
• 1989 / VV Etikhove acquires the royal epithet, thus becoming Koninklijke Verenigde Vrienden (KVV) Etikhove.
• 1994 / KVV Etikhove concludes a merger with SV Vlaamse Ardennen from nearby Schorisse - this club in itself being a merger between FC Schorisse (matr. 4121, 1934-73) and SK Louise-Marie (matr. 4191, 1945-73) -, the result being Koninklijke Verenigde Vrienden Vlaamse Ardennen; often referred to as KVV Vlaamse Ardennen or even KVVV Ardennen. The merger club retains KVV Etikhove's matricule 3857. Henceforth, first team football is played at Complex Hollebeek, while Complex Ten Houte in Schorisse, SV Vlaamse Ardennen's ground, remains in use for lower team football and training purposes.
• 2022 / After the demise of KSK Ronse (matricule 38), KVV Vlaamse Ardennen changes its name to become KSK (Koninklijke Sportkring) Vlaamse Ardennen, moving its first team football to Ronse's Orphale Cruckestadion. Although the club retains KVV Vlaamse Ardennen's matricule, KSK Ronse's matricule 38 is retained to allow part of that club's youth academy to continue as KVV Vlaamse Ardennen Center. The new club holds on to the youth academy grounds in Schorisse for lower team football and training purposes. Complex Hollebeek, on the other hand, is abandoned after more than 100 years of football history.

Note:  Below, a compilation of photos of two different visits: pictures 1-14 = match visit, December 2016 / pictures 15-20 = non-matchday (ruin) visit, August 2022.

All photos: (c) W.B. Tukker / www.extremefootballtourism.blogspot.com. Publication of any of these images only after permission of author