BELGIUM: Nielse AC (1931-1949) / K Nielse SV (1949-1992) / KVK Nielse (1992-2003) / FC Apollo-Nielse (2003-2012) / Nielse SV matr. 9546 (2013-2022) / Nielse SV matr. 3737 (2022-)

Stadion 'Hellegat' = 'De Put' = Bart De Troetselstadion, Niel (Nielse SV, formerly Nielse AC / K Nielse SV / KVK Nielse / FC Apollo-Nielse)

Belgium, province: Antwerp

18 III 2012 / FC Apollo-Nielse - Nielse SV matr. 9546 2-2 / Antwerp, Provincial League 4C (= BE level 8)

Timeline

• 1924 / Foundation of Niel Football Club; the club joins Belgium's Football Association.
• 1926 / Upon the introduction of the matricule system by Belgium's FA, Niel FC obtains matricule 415.
• 1926 / Merger of Niel FC with Rupelzonen, resulting in the foundation of Nielse SK, retaining matricule 415.
• 1931 / A second name change sees the club henceforth being known as Nielse AC (Athletiek Club).
• 1931 / Nielse AC moves from the ground where Niel FC started activities in 1924 to a new pitch situated on the same street - a pitch constructed in a dredged clay pit, which gave the ground, situated in the hamlet of Hellegat, just south of Niel, its nickname: De Put (The Pit). 
• 1931 / Nielse AC accedes to the national league for the first time, winning promotion to Bevordering, the third level of the Belgian pyramid. With an interruption of one season (1932-33), the club manages to maintain itself at this level until 1939.
• 1946 / Nielse AC returns to the national leagues.
• 1949 / Upon their becoming a Société Royale, Nielse AC takes on a new name, becoming K Nielse SV (Koninklijke Nielse Sportvereniging).
• 1953 / After seven consecutive seasons at national league level (six at level 3 followed by one at level 4), K Nielse SV is relegated back to the provincial leagues.
• 1957 / K Nielse SV manages a return in National Division 4; this time, the spell lasts for three years before relegation follows.
• 1963 / K Nielse SV has a last season (1963-64) in National Division 4. It is followed by an abysmal year in Antwerp's Provincial League 1, which sees the club tumbling down into Provincial League 2. The club never manages a return to Provincial League 1, let alone the national leagues.
• 1992 / K Nielse SV concludes a merger with VK Niel (matricule 7299, founded in 1969 as FC Niel and changing its name to VK Niel in 1989), forming Koninklijke Voetbalklub (KVK) Nielse under K Nielse SV's matricule 415.
• 2003 / Due to a budget deficit, KVK Nielse is forced to go into administration. Stadion Hellegat is taken over by Apollo FC, a recreational club changing its name to become FC Apollo-Nielse and obtaining membership of Belgium's FA under matricule 9446.
• 2004 / Upon winning the play-offs in Provincial League 4, FC Apollo-Nielse accedes to Provincial League 3 - only to stay at this level for two seasons. The club never manages to climb out of 'P4' again.
• 2010 / FC Apollo-Nielse is faced with the foundation of a breakaway club which consciously chooses a name referring to the rich history of football in Niel: Nielse SV (matricule 9546). Barred from Stadion Hellegat, Nielse SV settles down at Sportterrein De Klinkaert in Reet.
• 2012 / Faced with heavy financial difficulties, FC Apollo-Nielse ceased all activities before the start of the 2012-13 season. Nielse SV's chairman Bart De Troetsel purchases Stadion Hellegat.
• 2013 / After some amendments at the ground, Nielse SV moves into Stadion Hellegat in January 2013, abandoning De Klinkaert. After a thorough renovation of the ground, De Troetsel chooses to name it after himself - and thus Stadion Hellegat has since officially - and rather pompously - been known as Bart De Troetselstadion.
• 2022 / Obviously ambitious, Bart De Troetsel purchases matricule 3737 of SK Rapid Leest, a Provincial League 2 side. The move is presented as a merger between Nielse SV and SK Rapid Leest to become... Nielse SV, in which Rapid Leest's matricule 3737 is retained. In reality, Rapid Leest merged with Leest United - though this officially amounted to a name change of Leest United to become VC Leest. VC Leest starts its life at the level of Leest United, Provincial League 4, while Nielse SV, who never managed to win promotion from Provincial League 4, leaps two divisions to Provincial League 2.
• 2023 / Finishing last in P2A, Nielse SV descends into Provincial League 3 along with KSV Bornem.
• 2024 / Finishing last in P3A, Nielse SV suffers its second relegation in a row, dropping back into Provincial League 4 along with SK Peulis, Heffen SK, and KSV Bornem.

Note 1: The match I visited at Stadion Hellegat saw FC Apollo-Nielse - in one of the last games of their existence - take on Nielse SV, who took over De Put only a few months later.

Note: Below, a compilation of images of two different visits: photos 1-21 = match visit, March 2012 / photos 22-25 = non-matchday visit, March 2022.

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