BELGIUM: FC Denderzonen Pamel (1948-2018)

La Belle Alliance, Pamel (formerly FC Denderzonen Pamel)

Belgium, province: Flemish Brabant

February 2019 & March 2023 / no match visited

Timeline

• 1944 / Foundation of FC Denderzonen Pamel in the wake of Belgium's liberation from the German yoke, in November 1944. Founding father and first club president is Frans Asselmans. Obtaining membership of the Belgian Football Association under matricule 4184, the club first takes part in Brabant's provincial divisions from the summer of 1945 onwards, with the start of the first post-war Belgian league season.
• 1947 / FC DZ Pamel registers its first success, winning the title in Brabant's Provincial League 3H, thus acceding to Provincial League 2.
• 1948 / It is unclear where FC Denderzonen Pamel played its football in the first four years of existence, but the club settles at a pitch situated at Ninoofsesteenweg in 1948 - the ground being commonly referred to with the French name 'La Belle Alliance'.
• 1956 / After mostly having played in the upper reaches of P2 in the preceding years, FC Denderzonen Pamel clinches the title in Provincial League 2B, thus acceding to Brabant's Provincial League 1.
• 1960 / FC DZ Pamel finishes in second place in Brabant's Provincial League 1. Along with champions SV Asse, the club accedes to National Division 4 - either directly or after winning a set of promotion play-offs (no exact information could be obtained). 
• 1961 / In its first season as a national league side, FC DZ Pamel finishes in a respectable 5th place. In the first half of the 1960s, the club is sometimes placed in the same division as local rivals FC Ninove, with derby encounters between the two drawing up to 4,000 spectators.
• 1965 / Finishing in 14th place in National Division 4B, just one point behind KMSK Deinze as well as KSC Menen - who both save their skin with the narrowest of margins -, FC Denderzonen Pamel drops back into Provincial League 1 after five seasons along with East Flanders' sides KFC Eeklo and RAS Renaisienne.
• 1966 / Winning Brabant's P1 title, FC DZ Pamel manages a return to the national division after a one-year absence.
• 1968 / Following two difficult seasons in National Division 4, Denderzonen Pamel finishes in 16th place in D4A with just 7 points and 1 win - making the relegation to P1 unavoidable.
• 1971 / For the second time in club history, FC Denderzonen Pamel clinches the Provincial League 1 title, thus managing a new return to the national divisions.
• 1972 / Managing the best result in club history, FC DZ Pamel finishes in third place in National Division 4A behind champions Racing Jet de Bruxelles. Unlike runners up RSC Boussu-Bois, Pamel does not qualify for the promotion play-offs.
• 1974 / FC DZ Pamel equals its best result ever with a third place in National Division 4D, finishing behind Zonhoven VV and KFC Verbroedering Geel, both of which win direct promotion. With the possibility of extra promotion places becoming available in the case of mergers or bankruptcies occurring in the higher divisions, a promotion play-off is held with four teams battling it out in a group - and Pamel finishes on top in a group of four, with FC Heist Sportief, RCS Stavelotain, and RFC Houdinois being the other participants. Unfortunately, however, no extra place in D3 turns out to be available that year, resulting in DZ Pamel staying in D4.
• 1975 / In a reversal of fortunes, a year after coming within a whisker of promotion to D3, FC Denderzonen Pamel finishes dead-last in National Division 4A with just 10 points from 30 matches. The club returns to Brabant's provincial divisions, never managing a return to the national level, where it spent a total of 11 seasons.
• 1976 / Finishing 15th in Brabant's Provincial League 1, DZ Pamel suffers a second relegation in a row, thus being retrograded to P2, a level at which the club last played twenty years previously.
• 1978 / FC DZ Pamel wins the title in Provincial League 2C, thus managing a return to P1 level.
• 1992 / Having spent 14 consecutive seasons in P1, FC Denderzonen Pamel finishes in 15th position, resulting in relegation to Provincial League 2.
• 2000 / With a 15th place in Provincial League 2C, DZ Pamel drops back into Provincial League 3, more than half a century after last having played at this lowly level. With the exception of the 2002-03 season, which is spent in P2, the club spends the following decade at Provincial League 3 level.
• 2011 / With 68 points, just 1 more than VC De Leeuwkens Teralfene, FC DZ Pamel obtains the title in P3C, thus returning to P2 after an eight-year absence.
• 2016 / Having had a fairly steady season in P2C, resulting in a sixth place in the final table, DZ Pamel qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which it finishes second in the group stage behind Racing Butsel. Subsequently, it is placed in a lucky-loser competition, but even for the winner of that stage, FC Herne, there is no additional place available in Provincial League 1.
• 2018 / In the 2017-18 season, the last in club history, FC Denderzonen Pamel finishes 16th and last in Provincial League 2B, with 7 points from 30 matches. Following this, the Belgian FA does not allow the club to participate in regular competitions for the 2018-19 season due to a debt of some 30,000 euros, due to be paid to the football association. For a time, a potential investor from Turkey fostered hopes of club officials that a new start could be made, but in the end those plans came to naught. Subsequently, Denderzonen's board sees no other option but to cease all activities and liquidate the club. Plans are made to make a restart in mid-2019 with a new club, Pamel 2020, and a new matricule. At the time of my first visit to the ground in February 2019, club volunteers who were present at the ground - who were busy to renovate the premises - assured me that these plans were still valable.
• 2019 / Somehow, the plans to form a new club in Pamel never materialise - probably due to a lack of aspiring new club members. After more than 70 years, La Belle Alliance is abandoned once and for all.

Note - Below, a compilation of photos of two different non-matchday visits: pictures 1-12 & 16 = March 2023 / pictures 13-15 & 17-19 = February 2019.

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