Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: Chimay Sport matr. 1656 (1930-1938) / US Chimay (1938-1939) / Chimay Sport matr. 3869 (1943-1951) / ASAC Chimay (1953-1964) / FC Chimay (1969-1992) / AS Chimay-Virelles (B) (1992-2007)

Stade Jéricho, Chimay (formerly Chimay Sport / US Chimay / ASAC Chimay / FC Chimay / B ground of AS Chimay-Virelles)

Belgium, province: Hainaut = Henegouwen

November 2021 / no match visited

Timeline

1930 / Foundation of a first football club in Chimay, which takes on the name Chimay Sport, acquiring registration number 1656 upon joining the Belgian Football Association (URBSFA / KBVB). According to local sources, the club probably played its football on the pitch known locally as Stade Jéricho from the very start.
1931 / Chimay Sport takes its place in Hainaut’s Regional League 3, the lowest level of the football pyramid at that time.
1937 / Chimay Sport withdraws its first team from Hainaut’s Regional League 3 after six years. That same year, a rival club sees the daylight, Sporting Club (SC) Chimacien, which joins the Belgian FA under registration number 2519; this club, however, did not field a first team, probably having to compete in a division of aspirant clubs instead. It is unclear if SC Chimacien groundshared with Chimay Sport or if this club disposed of a pitch of its own.
1938 / A merger is concluded between Chimay Sport and SC Chimacien, resulting in the foundation of Union Sportive (US) Chimay, which, following the FA rules of the day, acquires a new registration number 2668; numbers 1656 and 2519 of the two predecessor clubs are erased from the Belgian FA’s official lists. For the 1938-39 season, US Chimay fields a first team in Hainaut’s Regional League 3.
1939 / US Chimay manages an eighth place in Hainaut’s Regional League 3C. However, following the 1938-39 season, the club withdraws from first team football – as was the case with so many other Belgian clubs, the main reason behind this withdrawal probably was the mobilisation of the Belgian armed forces in the summer of 1939, with many young men being called away to the army barracks. In the case of US Chimay, the club immediately folds, withdrawing from the Belgian FA in August 1939, with registration number 2668 being erased from the association’s membership list.
1943 / With Belgium still suffering under the cruel German occupation, a new football club is founded in Chimay, which takes on the name of one of its predecessors; Chimay Sport, which joins the Belgian FA with registration number 3869. However, for the time being, the new club does not or is unable to field any first team.
1945 / Two years after its foundation, Chimay Sport enters regular league football with a first team in Hainaut’s Regional League 3.
1947 / Either as champions or as runner-up, Chimay Sport wins promotion from Hainaut’s Regional League 3B to Regional League 2 alongside US Rance.
1949 / Finishing in twelfth place in Hainaut’s Regional League 2, Chimay Sport drops back into Regional League 3 along with US Rance, Club Goutroux Sport, AS Hameautoise Monceau, and bottom club Fleurus Sport.
1950 / Chimay Sport withdraws its first team from Hainaut’s Regional League 3.
1951 / After one year without first team football, Chimay Sport folds, withdrawing its Belgian FA membership. In November 1951, registration number 3869 is struck from the association’s membership list.
1953 / Two years after the demise of Chimay Sport, a new club sees the daylight in Chimay, Association Sportive des Anciens du Collège (ASAC) de Chimay, which joins the Belgian FA with registration number 5663. The new club takes its place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3 for the 1953-54 season.
1960 / Runner-up in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3D, ASAC Chimay wins promotion to Provincial League 2 alongside champions Sivry Sports.
1961 / Finishing bottom of the table in Hainaut’s Provincial League 2C, ASAC Chimay drops back into Provincial League 3 after just one season, along with the club in second-last place, R Jumet SC.
1963 / ASAC Chimay withdraws its first team from Hainaut’s Provincial League 3C.
1964 / After one year without first team football, registration number 5663 of ASAC Chimay is struck from the Belgian FA’s membership list.
1969 / Foundation of a new football club in Chimay, which takes on the straightforward name FC Chimay. The new club, which settles at the Stade Jéricho, acquires registration number 7323 upon being accepted as a new Belgian FA member club.
1970 / One year after its affiliation with the Belgian FA, FC Chimay commences its existence as a competitive club in Provincial League 4, the newly created bottom division in the Province of Hainaut.
1976 / In its best season so far, FC Chimay finishes in a joint second place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 4G with JS Ham-sur-Heure, 7 points behind champions FC Nalinnois.
1978 / FC Chimay finishes as runner-up in Hainaut’s Provincial League 4H, 3 points behind champions and derby rivals US Saint-Rémy.
1979 / FC Chimay finishes as runner-up in Hainaut’s Provincial League 4G, 5 points behind champions FC Lobbain.
1980 / FC Chimay finishes as runner-up in Hainaut’s Provincial League 4H, 1 point behind champions JS Solrézienne.
1981 / Champions in Hainaut’s Provincial League 4H, 3 points ahead of closest rivals REC Beaumont, FC Chimay finally manages the leap to Provincial League 3.
1984 / In the best season in club history, FC Chimay manages a sixth place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3D.
1985 / Finishing in third-last place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3D, FC Chimay descends into Provincial League 4 after four years, along with FC Collège and bottom club SC Biercée.
1990 / FC Chimay finishes as runner-up in Hainaut’s Provincial League 4G, 3 points behind champions JS Thudinienne.
1992 / In its last season as an independent club, FC Chimay manages an eighth place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 4G. Following the 1991-92 season, the club concludes a merger with US Virelloise from the nearby village of Virelles, resulting in the foundation of Association Sportive (AS) Chimay-Virelles, which retains Virelloise’s registration number 7593; Chimay’s number 7323 is erased from the Belgian FA’s official lists. The merger club, of which the name is often abbreviatedly given as ASCV, takes the place of US Virelloise in Provincial League 3, with first team football being played at the Stade de la Praye in Virelles and the club’s youth academy settling at Stade Jéricho in Chimay.
2007 / As plans are drawn up to construct a helicopter landing area on the site of the Stade Jéricho – plans which never materialise – AS Chimay-Virelles abandons its second ground, withdrawing all its activities to the Stade de la Praye in Virelles. The Stade Jéricho has been left to its own devices ever since.