Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: RCS Marcinelle (1978-2001) / RFC Sporting Marcinelle (2001-2013) / Football Couillet-Marcinelle (B) (2013-2016) / Racing Couillet-Marcinelle (2016-2017) / Marcinelle Sport (2017-2018) / RC Marcinelle (2018-)

Stade de la Chenevière, Charleroi Marcinelle (Racing Club Marcinelle, formerly RCS Marcinelle / RFCS Marcinelle / Football Couillet-Marcinelle - B ground / Racing Couillet-Marcinelle / Marcinelle Sport)

Belgium, province: Hainaut = Henegouwen

15 I 2019 / RC Marcinelle - JS Jamioulx 3-3 / Friendly

Timeline

1905 / Foundation of a first football club in Marcinelle, a mining town on the southern outskirts of Greater Charleroi. The new club is given the name Marcinelle Sporting Association (SA). Starting its life on a pitch referred to locally as the Terrain de la Vilette, Marcinelle SA moved twice in the following five years, first to the Prairie Thomas (not far from the Vieille Place) and to the Ferme du Bois du Mont, owned by M. Davignon, subsequently. This last-mentioned ground was situated not far from the Bois Madame.
1907 / A Comité Régional Hainaut-Namur is formed, which organises first tentative league championships, but Marcinelle SA does not join this new association.
1910 / After an existence of five years, Marcinelle SA folds, ceasing all activities. That same year, a new club sees the daylight in Marcinelle, Cercle Catholique de Marcinelle, founded at the behest of the local parish priest.
1911 / Foundation of another club in Marcinelle, which is given the name Cercle Sportif (CS) Marcinelle. This club, which joins the so-called Fédération Wallonne des Sports Athlétiques, settles on a pitch at Route de Philippeville, on the border between the municipalities of Marcinelle and Couillet, referred to locally as the Terrain des Hauchies. For the 1912-13 season, CS Marcinelle is placed in Fédération Wallonne Division 1.
1912 / A merger is concluded between Cercle Catholique de Marcinelle and CS Marcinelle, resulting in the foundation of FC Marcinelle. With CS Marcinelle ceasing its membership of the Fédération Wallonne, the new club joins the official Belgian Football Association (UBSFA), being placed in a competition of new member clubs from the provinces of Hainaut and Namur.
1913 / One year after the merger between Cercle Catholique Marcinelle and CS Marcinelle, the decision is taken to change the name of FC Marcinelle to reinstate the old CS Marcinelle. The club has another season in Division 1 of the debutant competition of clubs from Hainaut and Namur.
1914 / A new club sees the daylight in Marcinelle, which is given the name Marcinelle Elite W. – with the meaning of the letter W being unclear. It is equally unclear where this club played and when it folded, but – also given the outbreak of World War I and all of its terrible consequences on daily life in Belgium – its existence was probably little more than ephemeral. This is also true of another club founded that same year, Marcinelle Sports, about which equally little information is available. With regular league football being put on hold during the war years, CS Marcinelle takes part in a Regional Championship with teams from the Greater Charleroi region.
1915 / Foundation of yet another club in Marcinelle, which takes on the striking name Albert Club (AC) Marcinelle – striking, given that Hainaut as well as 95% of Belgium was living under German occupation at the time, with King Albert and his army having been pushed back to the western bank of the River Yser in West Flanders. AC Marcinelle settles on Terrain Cayat Masson in the Chenevière neighbourhood. Also in 1915, moving away from the Terrain des Hauchies, where the club had spent the past five years, CS Marcinelle settles at the Terrain de la Bruyère, situated at Chemin de Jamioulx (modern-day Avenue Eugène Mascaux) – alternatively referred to locally as the Terrain de la Ferme Bal, on the southwestern outskirts of Marcinelle, close to the Bois du Cazier. This is not a new pitch, as it had previously been used for a short time by Charleroi SC, which led a roaming existence, playing at many different locations until settling at the Stade de la Rue Spinois in 1923.
1916 / CS Marcinelle clinches the title in the Championnat Régionale de Charleroi.
1917 / Due to the hardships of World War I and its aftermath, Belgian league football, including the Championnat Régional de Charleroi, comes to a complete standstill from 1917 until 1919.
1918 / After an existence of barely three years, of which at least the last must have been spent in inactivity, Albert Club (AC) Marcinelle folds, ceasing all activities.
1919 / After two years of inactivity, CS Marcinelle is placed in Hainaut’s Provincial Division 2A.
1920 / A malevolent club secretary at CS Marcinelle rescinds the membership cards of the club’s best players, allowing them to move to Charleroi SC – and going on to send the Belgian FA a letter explaining that CS Marcinelle intends to fold, thus ending its membership of the league association. In spite of efforts by the remainder of the club’s board, this move heralds the end of CS Marcinelle.
1921 / CS Marcinelle is refounded under the name Marcinelle Sporting Association (SA), i.e. the name of the oldest club in Marcinelle, which had existed between 1905 and 1910. Joining the Belgian Football Association, the new club does not settle at the Terrain de la Bruyère, but at Terrain Amand Anciaux at Rue des Haies instead. For the 1921-22 season, the club is placed in a division of debutant clubs.
1922 / In its first season, Marcinelle SA finishes as runners-up in Hainaut’s Division of Debutants, 2 points behind champions Techniciens FC Charleroi. That same year, no fewer than four new clubs see the daylight in Marcinelle: Etoile Sportive (ES) Marcinelle, with Raoul Bouillon becoming its first chairman; it is unclear where the pitch of ES Marcinelle was situated. Moreover, Marcinelle Sports, which had become inactive during the war years, is re-established, with that club settling at Terrain aux Haies, at the back of the cemetery of Bois du Cazier. Thirdly, 1922 sees the foundation of Sport et Agrément (SA) Villettois Marcinelle, which settles at the Terrain au Tir – the old shooting range of the Belgian Army in Greater Charleroi, officially called Plaine des Manoeuvres des Artilleurs. Lastly, a new club sees the daylight, which is given the name Union Sportive (US) Marcinelle, settling at the so-called Terrain du XII (at Route de Beaumont) – given that name due to its proximity to Coalmine Number XII. All of the four mentioned clubs join the Belgian Football Association.
1923 / Whereas ES Marcinelle folds after just one year of activity, US Marcinelle finishes in first place in the Hainaut-Namur Debutant Division, 2 points ahead of runners-up US Couillet and ES Châtelineau. Following this, the club is placed in Hainaut’s Provincial Division 2 along with Marcinelle SA.
1925 / Finishing as runners-up in Hainaut’s Provincial Division 2, 4 points behind champions US Centre, US Marcinelle qualifies for the promotion play-offs for a place in National Division 3 (confusingly being referred to as ‘Promotion’ at the time). However, finishing in last place in a group with US Centre, US Tournaisienne, and eventual winners AEC Mons, the club does not reach national league football. Instead, US Marcinelle concludes a merger with Marcinelle SA, resulting in the foundation of Cercle Sportif (CS) Marcinelle – thus reinstating the name of the club which had existed between 1911 and 1920. With Terrain Amand Anciaux being abandoned, all activities now move to the Terrain du XII, home ground of US Marcinelle at Route de Beaumont. Also in 1925, SA Villettois Marcinelle is admitted to Hainaut’s Provincial Division 2 after three seasons in as a debutant club.
1926 / After an existence of three years, Marcinelle Sports folds ceasing all activities. Later that year, in December 1926, as the Belgian Football Association introduces its list of registration numbers, SA Villettois Marcinelle receives number 251, whereas CS Marcinelle is accorded number 301.
1927 / Finishing in joint first place in Hainaut’s Provincial Division 2B with US Gilly, CS Marcinelle qualifies for the promotion play-offs along with the aforementioned club as well as Union Jemappienne and FC Binchois. In the end, with CS Marcinelle finishing in third place, the club from Jemappes walks away with the ticket for National Division 3. Meanwhile, finishing bottom of the table in Provincial Division 2B, SA Villettois Marcinelle descends into Provincial Division 3 – but the club folds at the end of the 1926-27 season after an existence of five years.
1928 / Foundation of a new club in Marcinelle, which is given the name Standard Club (SC) Marcinelle, joining Belgium’s Football Association with registration number 1217. It is unclear on which pitch this club played its home matches.
1929 / Runners-up in Hainaut’s Provincial Division 2B, 3 points behind champions US Gilly, CS Marcinelle qualifies for the promotion play-offs along with the aforementioned club as well as US Centre and Union Jemappienne. However, yet again, the club does not reach national divisions, finishing in last place, with the promotion ticket going to US Jemappienne.
1930 / Moving away from Terrain du XII, CS Marcinelle settles on a pitch laid out in the Parc de la Villette at Rue du Vélodrome (modern-day Rue Vital Françoisse).
1931 / Moving away from the Parc de la Villette after just one year, CS Marcinelle settles at the Terrain de la Bruyère, alternatively referred to as Terrain de la Ferme Bal, at Route de Beaumont (modern-day Avenue Eugène Mascaux). This is the same pitch which had been used by the old CS Marcinelle in the 1910s. It is unclear if the ground was in use by another football club in the years between 1920 and 1931.
1932 / Champions in Hainaut’s Provincial Division 2, 3 points ahead of closest rivals Union Farciennoise, CS Marcinelle wins promotion to Promotion, i.e. National Division 3, for the first time. The club’s debut match in Promotion C is a 1-1 away draw at CS Marchienne-Monceau, with Marcinelle’s star player Jef Oeyen scoring the club’s first goal at this level.
1933 / In the best season in club history, CS Marcinelle manages a ninth place in Promotion C.
1934 / In spite of ending the season on a high, with a win in its last home match, against CS Andennais (2-0), CS Marcinelle finishes in second-last place in Promotion C, thus dropping back into what is meanwhile called Provincial League 2, along with FC JS Athusienne and bottom club R Entente Tamines. Meanwhile, Standard Club (SC) Marcinelle takes on the new name Association Sportive (AS) Marcinelle.
1936 / Finishing in eleventh place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 2, CS Marcinelle descends into Regional League 2 along with Union Farciennoise, US Baudour, and bottom club Borina Club Quaregnon. Meanwhile, AS Marcinelle, the former Standard Club Marcinelle, folds after an existence of eight years.
1937 / Moving away from the Terrain de la Bruyère (Terrain de la Ferme Bal), CS Marcinelle moves into the old ground of Marcinelle SA between 1921 and 1925, Terrain Amand Anciaux at Rue des Haies.
1941 / One year into the occupation of Belgium by the German army in World War II, CS Marcinelle temporarily ceases its activities. Terrain Amand Anciaux is ploughed, with potatoes being sown. After the war, trees are planted on the site.
1942 / Following the temporary suspension of activities of CS Marcinelle, a small club is founded in Marcinelle to allow local youths to practice their sports. The new club is given the name FC Marcinelle, acquiring registration number 3524 upon joining Belgium’s FA. With no pitch being available in Marcinelle proper, FC Marcinelle, which is placed in Hainaut’s Regional League 3, concludes a groundsharing agreement with RC Montigny from nearby Montigny-le-Tilleul, settling at that club’s Terrain au Petit Lac.
1944 / Moving away from its groundshare with RC Montigny at Terrain au Petit Lac, FC Marcinelle moves into the severely damaged, but hastily repaired Terrain de la Bruyere a.k.a. Terrain de la Ferme Bal, in January 1944. Following the 1943-44 season, FC Marcinelle allows itself to be absorbed into CS Marcinelle, which resumes its activities in Regional Division 2 of the so-called Entente Caroloregienne, a makeshift league organised in the Charleroi region to bridge the period until the prospective resumption of regular league football. CS Marcinelle takes the place of FC Marcinelle at the Terrain de la Bruyère / Terrain de la Ferme Bal, which, in the post-war years (either in the late 1940s or, more probably, in the course of the 1950s), is taken over by Marcinelle’s town council and turned into a municipal sports facility, officially called the Plaine Communale de Jeux et de Sports, although universally being continued to be referred to with the two old names.
1945 / At the resumption of regular league football, CS Marcinelle is placed in Hainaut’s Regional League 2.
1947 / CS Marcinelle finishes as runners-up in Hainaut’s Regional League 2C, 2 points behind champions ACS Couillet.
1948 / Runaway champions in Hainaut’s Regional League 2D, 16 points ahead of runners-up Châtelet SC – and without suffering a single defeat all season – CS Marcinelle qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which it takes on FC Ath, US Quiévrain, and FC Ecaussinnois. With three promotion places being at stake, CS Marcinelle finishes in third place – just ahead of FC Ath and thus gaining promotion to Provincial League 2.
1950 / Finishing bottom of the table in Hainaut’s Provincial League 2, CS Marcinelle drops back into Regional League 2 (renamed Provincial League 2 in 1952 as the ‘old’ Provincial League 2 is renamed Provincial League 1) along with Borina Club Quaregnon and US Ransartoise.
1952 / Acquiring the royal epithet, CS Marcinelle officially changes its name to become Royal Cercle Sportif (RCS) Marcinelle.
1955 / Champions in Hainaut’s Provincial League 2C, 5 points ahead of runners-up FC Farciennes, RCS Marcinelle qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which its second place finish behind FC Hautrage, but ahead of US Bracquegnies, is sufficient to gain a ticket for Provincial League 1 for the new season.
1956 / Finishing bottom of the table in Hainaut’s Provincial League 1, RCS Marcinelle drops back into Provincial League 2 after just one season, along with RLC Hornu and RA Marchiennoise des Sports. That same year, the club concludes an agreement with the widow of Amand Anciaux to allow the club to return to the old Terrain Anciaux at Rue des Haies. The membership was eager to move back to the ground used until 1941 due to the rather remote location of the Plaine Communale de Jeux et de Sports, situated at the outskirts of Marcinelle, as well as the rather poor state of the pitch. Works get underway to remove the trees and level the ground at Rue des Haies.
1957 / Moving away from the Plaine Communale once and for all, RCS Marcinelle settles at the re-established Terrain Amand Anciaux at Rue des Haies, also referred to as Terrain aux Haies occasionally. The new ground is officially inaugurated on October 27, 1957 by Marcinelle’s Alderman for Sports Affairs, Joseph Pirson, with the gala match organised on the day against RSA Forchies ending in a draw in front of an estimated crowd of over 500.
1958 / Finishing in second-last place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 2C, RCS Marcinelle descends into Provincial League 3 for the first time, along with bottom club FC Gilly. Meanwhile, a new club is founded in Marcinelle, Marcinelle Cazier Club, which joins the Belgian Football Association with registration number 6133. The new club settles at the Plaine Communale / Terrain de la Bruyère, vacated by RCS Marcinelle the previous year; and starting its life in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3. For the further history of Marcinelle Cazier Club, renamed Marcinelle FC following its merger with RC Charleroi-Marcinelle in 1961, please check the article dedicated to the ground later renamed Plaine Communale Marius Meurée – and, even later than that, Zebra Academy.
1959 / Finishing in joint first place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3E with CS Erquelinnois, RCS Marcinelle meets the club from Erquelinnes in a tie-break match, played in front of a crowd of some 750 at SC Leval’s ground in Leval-Trahegnies. Going on to win the encounter (5-2), RCS Marcinelle qualifies for the promotion play-offs against ES Frasnoise, SC Naastois, FC Elouges, and AS Obigies – which are broken off subsequently due to enough promotion places being available for all of these clubs to accede to Provincial League 2 for the new season.
1976 / Champions in Hainaut’s Provincial League 2C, 4 points ahead of runners-up RSA Forchies, RCS Marcinelle wins promotion to Provincial League 1, thus managing a return to that level after an absence of twenty years.
1978 / Moving away from Terrain Amand Anciaux at Rue des Haies after 21 years, RCS Marcinelle moves into the newly laid-out Stade de la Chenevière at Rue de la Grande Chenevière, where it has the luxury of two pitches. The club’s debut match in Provincial League 1 at the new ground is played against the club which later crowns itself champion in the division, R Excelsior Mouscron. At some point – or perhaps from the outset in 1978 – RCS Marcinelle is joined at Stade de la Chenevière by part of ROC Charleroi’s youth academy.
1980 / Finishing in second-last place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 1, with an equal number of points as SC Havré and RFC Houdinois, but with only six wins (against nine for the two other clubs), RCS Marcinelle drops back into Provincial League 2 after four seasons, along with bottom club FC Farciennes.
1983 / RCS Marcinelle finishes as runners-up in Hainaut’s Provincial League 2C, 5 points behind champions US Courcelloise.
1984 / Champions in Hainaut’s Provincial League 2C, 4 points ahead of closest followers FC Gilly, RCS Marcinelle manages a return to Provincial League 1 after an absence of four years.
1986 / Finishing bottom of the table in Hainaut’s Provincial League 1, RCS Marcinelle drops back into Provincial League 2 after two years, along with the club in second-last place, RSC Wasmes.
1989 / Finishing in second-last place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 2C, RCS Marcinelle descends into Provincial League 3 after an absence of thirty years at that lowly level, with derby rivals Marcinelle FC being the other club to suffer relegation.
1995 / Finishing in second-last place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3D, RCS Marcinelle descends into Provincial League 4 for the first time in club history, along with bottom club RC Gouy.
1996 / In spite of clinching the title in Hainaut’s Provincial League 4D, 7 points ahead of runners-up RC Gouy, the latter club wins promotion instead of RCS Marcinelle. It is unclear if RCS Marcinelle voluntarily ceded its place in P3 to Gouy, or if promotion was withheld from the club by way of punishment meted out by Belgian FA authorities.
1998 / Runners-up in Hainaut’s Provincial League 4D, 2 points behind champions Sivry Sports, RCS Marcinelle goes on to win the promotion play-offs, thus acceding to Provincial League 3. Also in or around 1998, having made use of the facilities of Stade de la Grande Chenevière for part of its youth academy for some two decades, ROC Charleroi now abandons the ground to settle at its new academy ground at Rue Georges Tourneur – laid out on the site also (previously?) used by recreational club FC Electrabel and the youth academy of R Charleroi SC, right next to the training ground (and former main pitch) of RA Marchiennoise des Sports.
2001 / In its last season as an independent club, RCS Marcinelle manages a sixth place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3D. Following the 2000-01 season, the club concludes a merger with Marcinelle FC, resulting in the foundation of RFC Sportif Marcinelle, which retains RCS Marcinelle’s registration number 301. With Stade Marius Meurée being abandoned and taken over by the youth academy of Sporting du Pays de Charleroi, all activities of the new club move to the Stade de la Grande Chenevière. Given that Marcinelle FC had ended its existence on a sixth place in Provincial League 2C, RFC Sportif (RFCS) Marcinelle starts its life at that level in the 2001-02 season.
2013 / Finishing bottom of the table in Hainaut’s Provincial League 2C, RFC Sportif Marcinelle descends into Provincial League 3 along with the club in second-last place, RFC Farciennes. Following the 2012-13 season, the club changes its name to become Football Couillet-Marcinelle, moving its first team football to Stade Fiestaux “Eugène Van Walleghem”, the former ground of RACS Couillet as well as moving part of its youth academy to Stade des Tourterelles, also in Couillet, a ground also used by Couillet Sport, a young club, founded in 2010 (registration number 9579). The Stade de la Chenevière remains in use as well for lower team football, with Football Couillet-Marcinelle thus subdividing its activities among three different sites.
2015 / Finishing in seventh place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3D, Football Couillet-Marcinelle withdraws from first team football. Oddly, the same action is taken by Couillet Sport at Stade des Tourterelles, following its relegation from Provincial League 3 into Provincial League 4.
2016 / Football Couillet-Marcinelle folds once and for all, with registration number 301 being erased from the Belgian FA’s official lists. That same summer, Couillet Sport changes its name to become Racing Couillet-Marcinelle, with first team football – a restart in Provincial League 4 – moving to Stade de la Chenevière and Stade des Tourterelles being retained for lower team football. The Stade du Fiestaux is abandoned.
2017 / Champions in Hainaut’s Provincial League 4F, 3 points ahead of closest rivals ES Frasnoise, Racing Couillet-Marcinelle wins promotion to Provincial League 3. Following the 2016-17 season, the club undergoes a new name change, becoming Marcinelle Sport. Simultaneously, the club leaves its youth academy ground, the Stade des Tourterelles.
2018 / Marcinelle Sport changes its name to become Racing Club (RC) Marcinelle.
2023 / Runners-up in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3D, 4 points behind champions FC Bouffioulx, RC Marcinelle qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club knocks out FC Beclers in R1 (2-2 & penalty shoot-out), only to be eliminated in R2 by La Louvière Centre B (3-4). In a lucky loser competition, organised between four clubs with one extra promotion place being at stake, RC Marcinelle has the better of FC Casteau in R1 (1-2), going on to defeat RFC Ellezellois in the final (0-1). As such, the club accedes to Provincial League 2 through the backdoor.

Note 1 – A pivotal source for this article is an excellent book by Hector Mahau about the history of RCS Marcinelle: “Livre d’Or Jubilaire du RCS Marcinelle 1911-1964”, ed. Excelsior: Marcinelle 1964. Infinite thanks to Racing Club Marcinelle (and former RCS Marcinelle) clubman Donato D’Alimonte for putting a free copy of this priceless piece of source material at my disposal.

Note 2 – Below, a compilation of photos of two visits to the Stade Chenevière: pictures 1-7 = non-matchday visit, July 2010 / pictures 8-27 = matchday visit, January 2019.