BELGIUM: FC Tihange (1984-2021) / R Marchin Sports (B) (2021-2022)

Rue Batti Gérard, Huy = Hoei Tihange (formerly FC Tihange & temporary B ground of R Marchin Sports)

Belgium, province: Liège = Luik

February 2019 & September 2022 / no match visited

Timeline

• 1968 / Foundation of Bassinia Tihange FC, with the name being simplified to FC Tihange soon after. The club does not apply for membership of the Royal Belgian Football Association, instead joining the RLBFA or Royale Ligue Belge de Football Amateur de Liège. Not having a ground at its disposal, the club plays its first home match in the hamlet of Dommartin, to the east of Huy. On September 1st, a makeshift ground is inaugurated closer to home at La Motte en Gée, a pasture half way between Tihange and Strée.
• 1970 / Being evicted from its ground by the owner, FC Tihange temporarily settles at La Sucrérie de Wanze.
• 1971 / Inauguration of a new permanent ground at Rue Arbre Sainte-Barbe.
• 1977 / The club moves for a third time, this time finding a home at Rue de la Justice.
• 1983 / With the ground at Rue de la Justice being taken over by a fish farm, FC Tihange temporarily moves into a makeshift ground, Terrain de Moha.
• 1984 / On January 1st, 1984, a new permanent ground is inaugurated at Rue Batti Gérard.
• 2021 / While the club sported several teams in the 1980s and 1990s, FC Tihange has been down to just one veteran team, competing in the ALFA league (Association Liégeoise de Football Amateur), for several years now. In 2021, however, the veterans are unable to field a team, withdrawing at the start of the championship. That same summer, R Marchin Sports, obliged to leave its ground at Rue Emile Vandervelde for a full season due to the premises undergoing a thorough refurbishment, settles at Rue Batti Gérard temporarily, using the ground for their B squad's matches as well as lower team football and training purposes. Marchin's first team plays its football in Huy's Stade Communal - Avenue de la Croix Rouge.
• 2022 / R Marchin Sports returns to its home ground, but FC Tihange - restarting in ALFA with a veteran team - have to vacate their premises at Rue Batti Gérard as well; the ground is due to be redeveloped for housing. Instead, the club moves to Huy's Stade Communal for the time being.  

Note: Below, a compilation of photos of two different non-matchday visits: pictures 1-5 = February 2019 / pictures 6-11 = September 2022.

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