Belgium, province: Luxembourg
13 IX 2026 / FC Herbeumont - RUC Bras Reserves 1-2 / Luxembourg, Reserves' League - Group C
Timeline
- 1941 / Foundation of a football club in Saint-Médard, a village in the heart of the Belgian Ardennes, situated halfway between Bertrix and Neufchâteau. The new club takes on the name Jeunesse Sportive (JS) de Saint-Médard, acquiring membership of the Belgian Football Association (URBSFA / KBVB) that same year with registration number 3153. Léon Leclercq takes on the role of chairman, with his fellow founding members being Jean Clementz, Joseph Damain, Paul Englebert, Jean Maury, and Hubert Werner. JS Saint-Médard settles on a pitch laid out to the west of the hamlet of Gribomont, at Route de la Gare, in the forests beyond the local train station – the location still in use today.
- 1943 / Two years after its foundation, JS Saint-Médard takes its place in the reserves’ leagues of Belgian Luxembourg.
- 1949 / Apparently never aspiring at taking part in the regular regional divisions, JS Saint-Médard now wins Group B of Belgian Luxembourg’s competition for emerging clubs – even going on to win the pan-provincial title in this category following a play-off against JS Mageretoise, RC Mormont, SC Nobressart, and Union Burettoise.
- 1951 / In March 1951, registration number 3153 of JS Saint-Médard is struck from the Belgian FA’s membership list, which means that the club most probably ceased its activities following the 1949-50 season.
- 1954 / Refoundation of JS Saint-Médard, with the club settling on the pitch of its predecessor at Route de la Gare and acquiring registration number 5748 upon being accepted into the Belgian FA. The new club takes its place in the bottom division of Belgian Luxembourg’s provincial divisions, Provincial League 3.
- 1974 / Having managed a fourth place in the previous season, JS Saint-Médard achieves its best performance so far, finishing as runner-up in Luxembourg’s Provincial League 3B, 9 points behind champions SC Villers-devant-Orval.
- 1976 / Having managed a third place in the previous season, JS Saint-Médard now equals its performance of 1974, finishing as runner-up in Luxembourg’s Provincial League 3A, 12 points behind runaway champions ES Jamoigne.
- 2002 / In what could be considered the nadir in club history, JS Saint-Médard finishes bottom of the table in Luxembourg’s Provincial League 3C without a single point picked up in its 26 matches, with an abysmal goal difference of -247 (12-259). Also in subsequent years, the club is always to be found near the bottom places in Provincial League 3.
- 2012 / Raymond Saudmont, chairman of JS Saint-Médard since 2001, passes away unexpectedly at the age of 60.
- 2014 / Following renovations of the clubhouse at Route de la Gare, the ground of JS Saint-Médard is officially renamed Stade Raymond Saudmont on April 12th, 2014. That same year, JS Saint-Médard acquires the royal epithet, with the board taking the opportunity to change the club’s prefix, which becomes Royale Union Sportive (RUS) Saint-Médard.
- 2021 / With the 2020-21 season having been cut short following the second COVID lockdown in the fall of 2020, Fabrice Tinant, the last chairman of RUS Saint-Médard, sees himself left with no other option but to allow his club to fold, when the possibilities to form a first team for the following season prove too limited. Registration number 5748 is struck from the Belgian FA’s official lists, with the 67-year-long history of RUS Saint-Médard thus ending with the club always having played at the same level and never having won promotion – possibly a world record?
- 2022 / One year after the demise of RUS Saint-Médard, a successor club sees the daylight at the Stade Raymond Saudmont – with founding chairman Claude Hennuy choosing to name his club after the municipality of Herbeumont rather than the village of Saint-Médard. The new FC Herbeumont joins the Belgian FA with registration number 9781, starting its existence in the reserves’ divisions of Belgian Luxembourg.
- 2024 / After two years of just competing in the reserves’ divisions, FC Herbeumont also fields a first team, which takes its place in Luxembourg’s Provincial League 3.
- 2025 / Finishing bottom of the table in Luxembourg’s Provincial League 3C with 3 points (1 win) from 22 matches (goal difference: -146), FC Herbeumont withdraws its first team, continuing its existence in the reserves’ divisions.
Note 2 – Below, a compilation of photos of two different visits: pictures 1-6 = non-matchday visit, April 2022 / pictures 7-20 = match visit, September 2026.
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