BELGIUM: ESFC du Geer (1970-2020, 2022-)

Stade René Linotte / Complexe Sportif Freddy Dabompré, Geer (Entente Sportive Football Club du Geer)

Belgium, province: Liège = Luik

28 III 2019 / ESFC du Geer - R Stade Waremmien B 2-2 / Liège, Provincial League 2A (= BE level 7)

Note 1 - Due to the Stade René Linotte undergoing renovations from the summer of 2020 onwards, ESFC du Geer moved its first team football to Waremme's Stade Longchamps for the 2020-22 seasons as well as the start of the 2022-23 season. The inauguration of the rechristened Complexe Sportif Freddy Dabompré took place in October 2022.

Note 2 - Below, a compilation of photos of two different visits: pictures 1-25 = match visit, March 2019 (pre-renovation) / pictures 26-27 = non-matchday visit, August 2023 (post-renovation)

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

BELGIUM: R Stade Waremmien FC (C) (±1972-2010, 2013-) / R Stade Waremmien FC (B) (2010-2013)

Site "Haute-Wegge", Waremme = Borgworm (R Stade Waremmien - training ground)

Belgium, province: Liège = Luik

March 2019 / no match visited

Timeline

• 1921 / Foundation of a new football club in Waremme, which is given the name Stade Waremmien FC.
• 1922 / A year following its foundation, Stade Waremmien FC joins Belgium’s Football Association. The club moves into Stade Longchamps in Petit-Axhe that same year.
• 1972 / Having played at Stade Longchamps for 50 years, the club now moves away to the newly built Stade Edmond Leburton, situated closer to the town centre. Simultaneously, on the northern side of the new stadium, a pitch is put in place for the benefit of local recreational clubs, including Cosmo Waremme, which is sponsored by a local café, named Cosmos. Moreover, not far from the new stadium, at Site Haute-Wegge, new training facilities are built for R Stade Waremmien around the same time. 
• 2020 / Waremme’s municipal authorities allow asylum seekers to make use of the clubhouse at Site du Haute-Wegge, meaning that Stade Waremmien can no longer use the premises. Youth academy training sessions have continued to be held at the two pitches of Haute-Wegge, but with the youths having to use the dressing rooms of Stade Leburton.
• 2024 / New floodlights are put in place at Site Haute-Wegge.

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

BELGIUM: DK Mielen (1977-1994) / RDK Gravelo (B) (1994-)

Diepe Steeg, Mielen-boven-Aalst (Rapid Dappere Kampers Gravelo - training ground, formerly Dappere Kampers Mielen)

Belgium, province: Limburg

March 2019 / no match visited

Timeline

• 1929 / Foundation of a football club in Mielen-boven-Aalst, Dappere Kampers (DK) Mielen – Dappere Kampers actually being the alternative for the name the club had originally submitted to the Belgian FA, but which was rejected; Dikkoppen Mielen. Inhabitants of Mielen are nicknamed ‘dikkoppen’ (fat heads); not necessarily intended as a compliment, but adopted as a badge of honour by locals. Under the adapted name, the club is accepted as FA members under registration number 1475. It is unclear where DK Mielen’s ground was situated.
• 1930 / DK Mielen takes part in Limburg’s local divisions for the first time, being placed in Regional League 3C (3e Gewestelijke).
• 1933 / DK Mielen’s registration number is erased from the Belgian FA’s official lists following one year of inactivity. 
• 1941 / Refoundation of Dappere Kampers (DK) Mielen under a new registration number, 2921. The club is placed in Limburg’s Regional League 2B (2e Gewestelijke). It is unclear where this club’s ground was situated.
• 1945 / DK Mielen has its registration number erased from the Belgian FA’s official lists for a second time.
• 1964 / Second refoundation of Dappere Kampers (DK) Mielen under a new registration number, 6711. DK Mielen’s first ground is situated at Grote Steenweg.
• 1965 / In its first competitive season, DK Mielen is placed in Limburg’s Provincial League 3D.
• 1968 / DK Mielen has its best season ever, finishing in 3rd place in P3C; the club repeats this result the following year in P3F.
• 1977 / Abandoning Terrein Grote Steenweg, DK Mielen settles at a new ground situated at Diepe Steeg, where the club disposes of 2 pitches.
• 1992 / A precursor to a definitive merger, DK Mielen merges its youth academy with Rapid Buvingen.
• 1994 / Having played in Provincial League 3 for 29 (!) consecutive seasons, DK Mielen concludes a merger with Rapid Buvingen (registration number 8452), resulting in the foundation of Rapid Dappere Kampers (RDK) Gravelo, with Mielen’s registration number 6711 being retained. 'Gravelo' is a reference to the name of a plot of land halfway between Mielen-boven-Aalst and Buvingen, which used to be part of the estates of the Counts (= Graven in Dutch) of Loon before Napoleon conquered the Low Countries, destroying the Ancient Régime. RDK Gravelo’s first chairman is Benny Janssens, who also was the last chairman of DK Mielen prior to the merger. Following the merger, first team football moves to Buvingen’s ground at Truilingenstraat, while the two pitches in Mielen are retained for lower team football and training sessions. The new club’s first team starts its life in Limburg’s Provincial League 3, the level at which DK Mielen played in its last season as an independent club. 

Note - Important parts of the information above were provided by Omer Cartuyvels, co-founder of Rapid Buvingen as well as chairman of Rapid Buvingen (c. 1984-94) and RDK Gravelo (2015-present); and by Hugo Vanbrabant, former official at DK Mielen who joined RDK Gravelo following the merger with Rapid Buvingen in 1994.

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

BELGIUM: White Star Wommersom (1976-2018)

Klein Broekstraat, Wommersom (formerly White Star Wommersom)

Belgium, province: Flemish Brabant

March 2019 / no match visited

Note: the hamlet of Wommersom had three football clubs: first, Vlug & Vrij Wommersom (1941-1946 / matricule 3229 / moved & changed name to become Voorwaarts Tienen, 1946); then Wit Star Wommersom (1952-1958 / matricule 5583) and lastly White Star Wommersom (matricule 8410), which folded in December 2018. It is beyond my knowledge if White Star Wommersom's two predecessors played their football on this same pitch.

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