BELGIUM: VV Patro Eisden (1938-1957) / K Patro Eisden (1957-1998) / K Maasland Maasmechelen (1998-2001) / K Patro Maasmechelen (2001-2002) / K Patro Maasmechelen (B) (2002-2005) / K Patro Eisden Maasmechelen (B) (2005-2020)

Terrein Kastanjelaan, Maasmechelen Eisden (formerly VV Patro Eisden / K Patro Eisden / K Maasland Maasmechelen / K Patro Maasmechelen / youth academy ground of K Patro Maasmechelen & K Patro Eisden Maasmechelen)

Belgium, province: Limburg

14 X 2017 / K Patro Eisden Maasmechelen U19 - FCV Dender EH U19 1-0 / U19 National Amateur Division (= U19 level 3)

Timeline

• 1938 / Foundation of a Roman-Catholic football club in Eisden, VV Patro Eisden, with the local chaplain, Maurice Vanschoenbeek, being the driving force behind the new club. Instead of joining the official Belgian Football Association (KBVB), VV Patro Eisden joins the Vlaamsche Voetbalbond (VVB). The club settles at Terrein Kastanjelaan in Eisden-Tuinwijk.
• 1942 / After four years in the VVB, VV Patro Eisden makes the leap to the official Belgian FA, acquiring registration number 3434. The club is placed in Limburg’s Regional League 2 for the 1942-43 season. 
• 1947 / Coached by Jean Philips, VV Patro Eisden wins the title in Limburg’s Regional League 2B, thus acceding to Provincial League 2 – the highest provincial level in Limburg at that time.
• 1950 / Clinching the title in Limburg’s Provincial League 2, VV Patro Eisden accedes to Promotion C, the third and lowest level of Belgium’s national league pyramid.
• 1952 / Finishing in third place in Promotion D, VV Patro Eisden is placed in the newly created National Division 3A.
• 1956 / Coached by Pierre Souvereyns, VV Patro Eisden wins the title in National Division 3B, 1 point ahead of KFC Turnhout, thus acceding to National Division 2 for the first time.
• 1957 / Although no complete certainty is to be had, VV Patro Eisden probably changed its name to become Patro Eisden in 1957.
• 1960 / Coached by L. Boven, Patro Eisden finishes in joint-second place in National Division 2, along with RCS Brugeois, 4 points behind champions KSC Eendracht Aalst. In a test match, played at KFC Malinois’ Stadion Achter de Kazerne, Patro defeats ‘Cercle’ 2-1 to accede to the top flight of the Belgian national league pyramid for the first time.
• 1961 / Finishing the season with a third trainer, August Hellemans, Patro Eisden finds itself in last place in its first – and so far only – year in National Division 1, thus dropping back into D2 after just one year, along with the club finishing second-last, RCS Verviétois. Patro’s home game at Kastanjelaan against R Standard de Liège draws a record crowd of 9,000. 
• 1970 / Coached by German trainer Ernst Künnecke, Patro Eisden finishes second-last in National Division 2, thus dropping back into D3 along with bottom club RRC Tournai.
• 1972 / Finishing in joint-first place in National Division 3B along with derby rivals KFC Winterslag, Patro meets the Genk club in a test match for the title. The first match, played in Winterslag, finishes 3-3, the second, played at Beringen’s Mijnstadion, is lost, 1-2. As such, Patro misses out on a return to D2. Also in 1972, former Belgian international player and RFC Liège icon Yves Baré joins Patro from K Beerschot VAC, going on to spend the last four years of his career in Eisden.
• 1975 / Clinching the title in National Division 3B, 2 points ahead of VV Overpelt-Fabriek, Patro Eisden, coached by Dutchman Bob Beckholz, returns to D2 after an absence of five years. Also in 1975, 18-year-old defender Leo ‘Lei’ Clijsters joins Patro from Club Brugge KV. 
• 1977 / Runners-up in National Division 2, 4 points behind champions K Boom FC, Patro Eisden qualifies for the promotion play-offs along with three other clubs (RAA Louviéroise, K Waterschei SV THOR, and R Union Saint-Gilloise). In those play-offs, the team coached by Dutchman Leo Canjels misses out on a return to the top flight, having to leave the honours to RAA Louviéroise. Also in 1977, Lei Clijsters leaves the club, signing a contract with KSK Tongeren. Clijsters goes on to play for K Waterschei SV THOR, KV Mechelen, and RFC Liège, as well as winning 40 caps with the Belgian national side, with which he plays three international tournaments (Euro 1984 + 1986 & 1990 World Cups), before hanging up his boots in 1991.
• 1978 / Coached by West German Herbert Böhnen, Patro Eisden finishes second-last in National Division 2, thus dropping back into D3 along with bottom club KVG Oostende. Also in 1978, 16-year-old forward Nico Claesen breaks into Patro’s first team.
• 1981 / Coached by Janusz Kowalik, Patro Eisden finishes in joint-first place in National Division 3B, with a slightly better goal difference than KFC Witgoor Sport Dessel (+27 vs. +25). After a complaint filed by Witgoor and KFC Turnhout, in which Patro Eisden is accused of bribery of opponents, Patro is retrograded to National Division 4 – with the title automatically going to Witgoor. Also in 1981, Nico Claesen leaves the club, signing a contract with RFC Sérésien; Claesen goes on to have a successful career with VfB Stuttgart, R Standard de Liège, Tottenham Hotspur FC, R Antwerp FC, KFC Germinal Ekeren, KV Oostende, K Sint-Niklase SK, and K Beringen FC, as well as winning 36 caps for the Belgian national team, with which he plays three international tournaments (Euro 1984 + 1986 & 1990 World Cups), before hanging up his boots in 2000.
• 1982 / Coached by former Dutch international Gerard ‘Pummy’ Bergholtz, Patro Eisden wins the title in National Division 4C, 2 points ahead of KFC Zwarte Leeuw. As such, the club manages an immediate return to D3. Also in 1982, 19-year-old youth player Vital Borkelmans, who had joined Patro’s academy from Ven VV Maaseik, breaks into Patro Eisden’s first team.
• 1986 / Utility player Vital Borkelmans leaves the club, signing a contract with KSV Waregem. Borkelmans goes on to play for Club Brugge KV, KAA Gent, Cercle Brugge KSV, and KFC Evergem-Center, as well as winning 22 caps for the Belgian national team, with which he plays in two World Cups (1994 & 1998), before hanging up his boots in 2005.
• 1988 / Defeating R Charleroi SC (6-4 aggr.), Patro Eisden reaches the quarter final of the Belgian Cup, in which it is eliminated by R Standard de Liège (4-2 aggr.). Finishing in third place in National Division 2, the club also qualifies for the promotion play-offs along with three other clubs (KSC Eendracht Aalst, KRC Harelbeke, K Lierse SK); finishing third in the group, though, Patro has to leave the honours to Lierse.
• 1984 / Still coached by Pummy Bergholtz, Patro Eisden wins the title in National Division 3B, 1 point ahead of K Hoeselt VV, thus returning to National Division 2 after an absence of six seasons.
• 1992 / Coached by Guy Mangelschots, Patro Eisden finishes second-last in National Division 2, thus dropping back into D3 along with bottom club Racing Jet Wavre. Also in 1992, upon the fiftieth anniversary of the club’s KBVB membership, Patro acquires the royal epithet, thus officially becoming Koninklijke Patro Eisden.
• 1994 / Champions in National Division 3B, 2 points ahead of R Cappellen FC, K Patro Eisden – coached by former player and Belgian international Lei Clijsters – manages a return to D2.
• 1998 / In an attempt to widen its appeal to the wider region – and compete with the new merger club KRC Genk – K Patro Eisden changes its name to become K Maasland Maasmechelen.
• 2001 / K Maasland Maasmechelen changes its name to become K Patro Maasmechelen.
• 2002 / Coached by caretaker manager Lei Clijsters, K Patro Maasmechelen finishes in last place in National Division 2. However, due to one fellow D2 club, KRC Zuid-West Vlaanderen, and two top flight teams, RWDM and KSC Eendracht Aalst, not meeting the licensing requirements of professional league football and being retrograded to D3, Patro stays up in Division 2. Also in 2002, abandoning Stadion Kastanjelaan after the 2001-02 season, K Patro Maasmechelen moves into the newly built Gemeentelijk Sportparkstadion (alternatively referred to as Gemeentelijk Sportstadion or Patrostadion) at Kolenmijn Limburg-Maaslaan, with a grandstand and a covered terrace (total capacity 9,600); Stadion Kastanjelaan and the surrounding pitches remain in use as the club’s youth academy ground. The main stand of the old ground is removed, but all terracing remains in place.
• 2009 / Club hero Leo ‘Lei’ Clijsters passes away at the age of 52.
• 2020 / As new side pitches are inaugurated at the Gemeentelijk Sportparkstadion, Patro finally abandons its historic ground at Kastanjelaan – which had remained in use as youth academy ground for the past eighteen seasons.

Note - Below, a compilation of photos of two different visits: pictures 1-2 & 8-.. = match visit, October 2017 / pictures 3-7 = non-matchday visit, January 2011.

All photos: (c) W.B. Tukker (co-edited by J.C. te Boekhorst) / www.extremefootballtourism.blogspot.com. Publication of any of these images only after permission of author