Belgium, province: Antwerp
22 VII 2021 / Leest United - SK Rapid Leest 0-6 / Pre-season friendly
Timeline
- 1987 / Foundation of a recreational football club in Heffen (near Mechlin), which takes on the name Racing Heffen. The club settles on Site Vaart, a pitch laid out at Gentsesteenweg, not far from provincial club Heffen SK. In fact, Racing Heffen was created by former Heffen SK players.
- 2004 / At Site Vaart, Racing Heffen are joined by a newly created club, Leest United, formed by a group of disgruntled members of VV Leest. While Racing Heffen stayed true to recreational football, Leest United joins the official Belgian Football Association (URBSFA / KBVB), acquiring registration number 9456 upon being accepted as new member club.
- ± 2006 / Racing Heffen folds, ceasing all activities, leaving its groundsharers Leest United as sole users of Site Vaart.
- 2011 / Finishing in fifth place in Antwerp’s Provincial League 4B, Leest United qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is eliminated in R1 by KFC Heultje (4-3 aggr.).
- 2016 / Runners-up in Provincial League 4C, 2 points behind champions VVH Lippelo, Leest United qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is eliminated in R1 by K Achterbroek VV (7-4 aggr.).
- 2018 / Finishing in fifth place in Provincial League 4C, Leest United qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club eliminates K Oelegem SK in R1 (4-3 aggr.), only to be knocked out in the final by KFC Flandria (7-3 aggr.).
- 2019 / Finishing in fifth place in Provincial League 4C, Leest United qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club eliminates K Tubantia Borgerhout VK in R1 (6-4 aggr.), only to be knocked out in the final by KVV Rauw Sport (4-4 aggr. & away goals). Due to an extra promotion place being available, though, Leest United is placed in Provincial League 3 for the first time. The successful coach is Kurt Van Bavel.
- 2020 / In March 2020, when the 2019-20 season is cut short due to the first COVID lockdown, Leest United finds itself in thirteenth place in Provincial League 3B. The club is retrograded to Provincial League 4 along with Zennester Hombeek, K Hove Sport, and Nielse SV.
- 2022 / In its last season as an independent club, Leest United finishes in tenth place in Antwerp’s Provincial League 4D. Leest United changes its name to become VC Leest – though this is a technical solution to what in effect is a merger with village rivals SK Rapid Leest, which had just suffered relegation from Provincial League 1. While SK Rapid Leest sold its registration number 3737 to Nielse SV, which makes the leap from Provincial League 4 to Provincial League 2 as a result, VC Leest starts its life with Leest United’s registration number 9456 in Provincial League 4. First team football is played at Site Vaart, with first team football moved to Leest United's ground, with SK Rapid Leest’s Complex Grote Bleukens at Pastoor De Heuckstraat remaining in use for lower team football and training purposes. This is a temporary arrangement, however, as Mechlin’s municipal authorities undertake to renovate VV Leest’s former ground at Dorpstraat.
- 2023 / A synthetic pitch is laid out at Terrein Dorpstraat on the exact location of the main pitch of VV Leest’s former ground. Although the new clubhouse still has to be built, VC Leest moves all its activities to Terrein Dorpstraat in the summer of 2023. SK Rapid’s former ground, Complex Grote Bleukens at Pastoor De Heuckstraat, is abandoned to be turned into a natural reserve, while the fate of Site Vaart is as yet unclear.
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