BELGIUM: RAEC Sclayn (1959-2019) / Union Namêchoise (B) (2019-2020) / Jeunesse Sclaynoise (2020-)

Stade Jean Lombet, Sclayn (La Jeunesse Sclaynoise, formerly RAEC Sclayn / youth academy of Union Namêchoise)

Belgium, province: Namur = Namen

2 IX 2022 / Jeunesse Sclaynoise - R Union Saint-Georges Sinsin-Waillet 4-1 / Namur, Provincial League 3B (= BE level 8)

Timeline

• 1937 / Foundation of Albert-Elisabeth Club (AEC) Sclaigneaux. Sclaigneaux is a hamlet situated on the northern bank of the Meuse, just opposite of the village of Sclayn, but the club's ground was situated on the eastern outskirts of Sclayn, along the road leading to Andenne. Joining Belgium's Football Association, AEC Sclaigneaux obtains matricule 2518.
• 1955 / AEC Sclaigneaux changes its name to become AEC Sclayn.
• 1959 / AEC Sclayn settles at its newly constructed ground at Rue Docteur Parent, several hundreds of yards to the west of the club's old pitch. In the preceding years, a spoil tip situated on the Meuse's southern bank had been levelled by engineers of the Belgian Armed Forces to allow a football ground being put in place. The new ground is named after Jean Lombet, quarryman and mayor of Sclayn on behalf of the Belgian Socialist Party from 1947 until his untimely death in 1957 (aged 49) due to a motor accident. In his years as mayor, Lombet had invested much time and energy in the creation of a football ground in Sclayn, instigating the works leading to the construction of the ground which was inaugurated two years after his passing.
• 1977 / Guided by player-manager Jose Toyos, AEC Sclayn wins access to Namur's Provincial League 1 for the first time in its history in (probably) 1977. The club manages to hold its own for several seasons, eventually suffering relegation to Provincial League 2 in 1984 (the year 1977 still requires confirmation).
• 1987 / At its 50th anniversary, AEC Sclayn obtains the royal epithet, thus becoming Royal Albert-Elisabeth Club (RAEC) Sclayn.
• 1993 / For a second time, RAEC Sclayn manages a promotion to Provincial League 1. The spell lasts two seasons, until relegation to P2 following in 1995.
• 2019 / In spite of a good season, in which the club's first team finishes fourth in Provincial League 3B, RAEC Sclayn folds due to financial difficulties. The club's matricule is erased from the official Belgian FA's lists immediately, in June 2019. Quickly, a new committee is formed to save the club's youth academy; helped out by a club from a neighbouring village, Union Namêchoise FC, Sclayn's youth teams play the 2019-20 season under Namêche's flag at Stade Jean Lombet.
• 2020 / Although already founded officiously in 2019, La Jeunesse Sclaynoise, successor club of RAEC Sclayn, does not join Belgium's FA until the spring of 2020. The new club receives matricule 9747.
• 2022 / Jeunesse Sclaynoise has reason to celebrate, as its first team wins the league title in Namur's Provincial League 4C, thus making the step to P3.
• 2023 (projected) / The clubhouse at Stade Jean Lombet is due to be replaced with a new construction. While the works are underway, Jeunesse Sclaynoise will probably groundshare with Union Namêchoise FC at Namêche's ground at Rue Sous Meuse.

Note: Below, a compilation of photos of two different visits: pictures 1-7 = non-matchday visit, April 2019 / pictures 8-25 = match visit, September 2022.

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