Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: RFC Sérésien matr. 17 (B) (1993-1994) / RFC Seraing matr. 17 (B) (1994-1996) / Seraing RUL (B) (1996-2006) / La Débrouille Seraing (2004-2006) / FC Seraing matr. 9310 (2006-2008) / RFC Sérésien matr. 23 (B) (2006-2014) / Seraing United (B) (2014-2015) / RFC Seraing matr. 167 (B (2015-)

Stade du Pairay / Complexe Sportif Communal de la Boverie - terrain F/A2, Seraing (first side-pitch of RFC Seraing, formerly B pitch / training pitch of RFC Sérésien matr. 17 / RFC Seraing matr. 17 / Seraing RUL / RFC Sérésien matr. 23 / Seraing United & A pitch of La Débrouille Seraing & FC Seraing matr. 9310)

Belgium, province: Liège = Luik

2 XI 2022 / RFC Seraing B - RUS Binche 1-1 / ACFF Amateur Division 2 (= BE level 4)

Timeline

1904 / Foundation of FC Seraing. The club's first ground is situated in the southern part of Seraing, more specifically in the Quartier des Biens-Communaux.
1905 / FC Seraing joins the Belgian Football Association
1906 / Moving away from the Quartier des Biens-Communaux, FC Seraing settles on a plot of land owned by the Société John Cockerill, on the eastern side of Rue de la Boverie - the current main pitch of Stade du Pairay is exactly in the same position as the original pitch created in 1906. Until the 1990s, the ground is referred to as Terrain de la Boverie or Stade de la Boverie.
1924 / FC Seraing wins promotion to the national leagues for the first time - destined to stay there for the next 72 years - in fact, until the demise of the club (with two spells of top flight football, 1982-87 & 1993-96). Still in 1924, FC Seraing changes its name to become FC Sérésien.
1926 / At the introduction of the matricule register by Belgium's FA, FC Sérésien acquires matricule 17.
1927 / Becoming a Société Royale, the club adapts its name to become Royal Football Club (RFC) Sérésien.
1993 / Until the early 1990s, Stade de la Boverie, officially renamed Stade du Pairay around this time, disposes of four side-pitches, two of which are behind the ground's eastern end (terrains B & C) - one with a gravel surface, the other with 'terre noire'; these two pitches might well date back to the very early days of footballing history at La Boverie. In the 1970s or early 1980s, two more grass pitches (terrains D & E) were added on the other side of Rue de la Boverie for the benefit of RFC Sérésien's youth academy as well as training sessions of its senior squad. In 1993, however, upon the club's return to Division 1, an extra pitch is created to the west of terrain E. With the underground of terrains D & E being rather soggy, the new pitch F is laid out on an old spoil tip - turned into a small plateau, making the underground much dryer than the other two grass pitches. As a result, terrain F is more or less reserved exclusively for training sessions of Sérésien's first team.
1994 / RFC Sérésien changes its name to become RFC Seraing.
1996 / RFC Seraing is absorbed by R Standard de Liège, with Seraing's matricule 17 being erased from the Belgian FA's official lists. Complexe Sportif de la Boverie - Stade du Pairay as well as its side-pitches - are taken over by Royale Union Liégeoise (RUL), an ambitious Provincial League 1 club created in 1992 with the merger of RFC Bressoux and R Jupille FC under Bressoux's matricule 23. Transferring its first team from Rue de Visé in Jupille to Stade du Pairay, Royale Union Liégeoise changes its name to become Seraing RUL.
2004 / La Débrouille Seraing, a recreational football club founded in 1985 which made the leap to Belgian FA membership in 1997 under matricule 9310, is allowed by Seraing's municipal authorities to move its first team football to Terrain F of Stade du Pairay, abandoning its own Complexe du Haut-Pré. Financed by Seraing's municipal authorities, a small covered stand as well as changing rooms with a clubhouse on top are constructed for the benefit of La Débrouille's staff, players, and supporters. By 2004, having managed two promotions after its introduction in the football pyramid (1998, 2000), La Débrouille plays its football in Liège's Provincial League 2.
2006 / La Débrouille Seraing wins the title in Provincial League 2A, thus acceding to Provincial League 1 for the first time in the club's short history. Following the successful season, the club changes its name to become FC Seraing. Meanwhile, Seraing RUL changes its name as well, becoming RFC Sérésien, thereby even more clearly stating its claim to the heritage of the old matricule 17.
2008 / FC Seraing (matricule 9310) clinches the title in Liège's Provincial League 1, thereby winning direct promotion to National Division 4. To the club's dismay, it is not placed in the completely Walloon Division 4D, but in D4C, in which it is faced with predominantly Flemish opposition - involving longer away trips and fewer spectators being drawn to home matches, which are still being played on Stade du Pairay - terrain F. By then already financially overstretched, FC Seraing withdraws its first team in December 2008 - having only picked up one point in 15 matches (goal difference: -47). FC Seraing. Not fielding any team in the 2009-10 season, FC Seraing eventually folds in mid-2010. Since December 2008, Terrain F at La Boverie has not seen any first team football, instead remaining in use for training sessions and matches of Seraing's youth academy teams. FC Seraing's clubhouse is turned into a fitness room.
2010 / Refoundation of FC Seraing under the name Foot Seraing Chatqueue (matricule 9544), a club focusing exclusively on youth football; Foot Seraing Chatqueue settles at La Débrouille's old ground, Complexe du Haut-Pré.
2014 / Groupe Metz, the ownership of RFC Seraing since 2013, purchases matricule 167 of R Boussu Dour Borinage, changing the club name to become Seraing United. Matricule 23 is erased from the Belgian FA's official lists. Meanwhile, at Complexe du Haut-Pré, Foot Seraing Chatqueue ceases all activities.
2015 / Seraing United changes its name to become RFC Seraing. Meanwhile, Seraing's mayor Alain Mathot allows a petting zoo to take over Complexe du Haut-Pré.
2021 / A synthetic pitch is installed on RFC Seraing's Terrain F - which, by 2019, had been rebaptised Terrain 3, but becomes Terrain 2 from 2021 onwards. Whereas this pitch had only been used by RFC Seraing's first team for training sessions in the previous years, it now sees more match action, with many youth academy teams playing their matches here.
2022 / With part of the professional league clubs' U21 sides being integrated into the national divisions, RFC Seraing's U21s are placed in ACFF Amateur Division 2, the fourth step of the league pyramid - with matches being played on Terrain A2, the former Terrain F.
2023 / RFC Seraing B is unable to stay up in ACFF Amateur Division 2, finishing 17th and descending into D3 along with R Stade Waremmien and Solières Sport. Also in 2023, with the old clubhouse of Seraing's youth academy (cp. photo 1 below) being demolished to make way for a parking lot, a new clubhouse with ten dressing rooms is constructed on the southern end of the academy ground.
2024 / Finishing in fifth place in ACFF Amateur Division 3B, RFC Seraing B wins direct promotion to ACFF Amateur Division 2 due to an extra promotion place being available for an U23 team.

Note 1: Thanks to RFC Seraing's staff member Mike Rockx for providing part of the information given above.

Note 2: Below, a compilation of photos of two different visits: pictures 1-6 = non-matchday visit, November 2019 / pictures 7-24 = match visit, November 2022.