Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: EFC Rothem (?) (1926-1931) / KEFC Rotem (1933?-2018) / K Stokkem VV (B) (2018-2019) / K Standard Elen (B) (2018-± 2021)

Burgemeester Henrylaan, Rotem (formerly KEFC Rotem & B ground of K Stokkem VV / K Standaard Elen)

Belgium, province: Limburg

30 VIII 2017 / KEFC Rotem - Uikhoven VC 3-4 / Limburg, Provincial League 4C (= BE level 9)

Timeline

1926 / Foundation of Eendracht Football Club (EFC) Rothem, which joins Belgium's FA and receives matricule 834 at the introduction of the matricule register in December 1926. It is unclear where the club's ground was situated.
1931 / Having played five seasons in the lower reaches of Limburg's regional divisions, EFC Rothem discontinues its activities. With the club disappearing, matricule 834 is erased from the Belgian FA's official lists.
1933 / Refoundation of Eendracht Football Club (EFC) Rotem under matricule 2081. Note that the archaic H was dropped from the club name. It is unclear if the club played its football at Burgemeester Henrylaan from the outset.
1934 / The new EFC Rotem enters a team in Limburg's Regional League 2 (2e Gewestelijke) for the first time. In the following decades, the club is no more than an anonymous force in Limburg's regional and provincial divisions.
1941 / Foundation of a second club in Rotem, which is given the name Excelsior Rotem. The new club joins Belgium's FA under matricule 3325, starting its life in Regional League 2J, finishing the 1941-42 season with just 6 points from 20 matches (2 wins and 2 draws). It is unclear where Excelsior Rotem's ground was situated.
1944 / Not having entered a first team for two seasons, Excelsior Rotem folds. Matricule 3325 is erased from the Belgian FA's lists.
1959 / The first highlight in club history, EFC Rotem wins the title in Provincial League 2C, thus acceding to Provincial League 1 for the first time. The adventure does not last longer than one season, thought, with relegation duly following in 1960.
1974 / Having had 14 consecutive seasons in Provincial League 2, EFC Rotem finishes in 14th place in P2C, resulting in relegation to P3 - but a rapid return is managed with a first place in Provincial League 3A in the 1974-75 season.
1976 / Clinching a second title in a row, EFC Rotem returns to Limburg's Provincial League 1 after a 16-year absence. At this level, the club holds its own admirably with a 6th place in its first season.
1980 / Having been a force in the upper reaches of Limburg's Provincial League 1 for the past 4 years, EFC Rotem wins the league title, thus managing an unprecedented promotion to National Division 4.
1981 / In its first season in the national leagues, EFC Rotem finishes in 4th place in National Division 4D, with only champions KFC Lommel SK, FC Assent, and Sporting Alken picking up more points.
1982 / Having a difficult second season at the national level, EFC Rotem narrowly saves its skin on goal difference (25 points in D4C; goal difference -2 versus -15 for rivals Sporting Alken).
1983 / Celebrating its 50th anniversary, the club adorns itself with the royal epithet, thus becoming Koninklijke Eendracht Football Club (KEFC) Rotem - although the club is often referred to locally under the acronym KEC Rotem as well.
1984 / In the best season in club history, KEFC Rotem picks up 40 points in National Division 4C, narrowly missing out on promotion - finishing just 1 point behind league winners AS Eupen an runner-up Sporting Alken.
1985 / Having spent five seasons at the lowest level of national league football, KEFC Rotem finishes in 14th place in D4C, 6 points behind AS Herstalienne and a safe 13th place. The club drops back into Provincial League 1 along with Kabouters Opglabbeek and RCS Stavelotain.
1986 / Clinching the P1 title, KEFC Rotem manages an immediate return to National Division 4.
1987 / Rotem's second spell is shorter and less successful than the first one; finishing second-last in D4C - albeit only 2 points behind the safe 13th place occupied by R Union Hutoise FC -, the club drops back into the provincial leagues along with Wit Ster Beverst and FC Verbroedering Meerhout.
1990 / Having spent the previous two seasons in the upper half of the P1 table - with a second place in 1989 -, KEFC Rotem now finishes in second-last place, thus dropping back into P2, 14 years after last having played at that level. This relegation marks the end of the golden era of club history.
1992 / Finishing in last place in Provincial League 2B, KEFC Rotem suffers relegation to Provincial League 3. In the following 17 seasons, the club alternates spells in P2 and P3.
2009 / With just 15 points from 30 matches, KEFC Rotem finishes dead-last in P3B, thus finding itself in Provincial League 4, the bottom of Limburg's provincial divisions, for the first time in club history.
2018 / Never having managed a promotion play-off place - let alone a promotion - in its nine last seasons in Provincial League 4, KEFC Rotem folds, ceasing all activities due to a lack of commitment from the local community - after the end had narrowly been avoided the previous summer. The club's last home game is a 2-2 draw against KVV HO Molenbeersel on April 22nd, 2018 - with a 2-3 away win at Heidebloem Wijshagen the following week marking the end of club history. In an auction, the complete inventory of the clubhouse is sold - including a huge amount of toilet rolls, which were once purchased in a botched attempt to sell them door to door to give a positive boost to club finance (!). Matricule 2081 is erased, but the ground at Burgemeester Henrylaan remain in use, as Dilsen-Stokkem's municipal authorities allow K Stokkem VV and K Standaard Elen to use the two pitches for training sessions.
2019 / As K Stokkem VV concludes a merger with Heidebloem Dilsen VV, resulting in the foundation of KVV Dilsen-Stokkem, the club no longer requires extra training facilities, as a result of which K Standaard Elen remains as the sole user of the ground at Burgemeester Henrylaan.
± 2021 / Although confirmation is as yet lacking, K Standaard Elen probably abandoned the ground in Rotem after pitch II of its own ground was equipped with a synthetic surface in the fall of 2021.

Note - Below, a compilation of pictures of two different visits: pictures 1-18 = match visit, August 2017 / pictures 19-26 = non-matchday (ruin) visit, April 2023.