BELGIUM: US Couillet d'Amérique (1949-1977) / RACS Couillet (B) (1977-±2002)

Terrain de l'Amérique, Charleroi Couillet (formerly US Couillet d'Amérique / youth academy of RACS Couillet matr. 94)

Belgium, province: Hainaut = Henegouwen

July 2022 / no match visited

Timeline

• 1949 / Foundation of Union Sportive (US) Couillet d'Amérique. The club joined a regional league not affiliated to the Belgian Football Association. The club is named after the street where its ground is situated, the Rue de l'Amérique in Couillet.
• 1952 / US Couillet d'Amérique takes the leap to the ranks of Belgium's FA, obtaining matricule 5580 upon being accepted as a new member.
• 1967 / Reaching Hainaut's Provincial League 2 for the first time, US Couillet d'Amérique begins a spell of three seasons at that level.
• 1971 / A title in Provincial League 3C sees the club bouncing back to P2 after an absence of just one year.
• 1973 / Following two relegations in as many years, US Couillet d'Amérique finds itself in Provincial League 4, the bottom division of Hainaut's provincial ladder. This is where the club spends the four last seasons of its existence. 
• 1977 / US Couillet d'Amérique is absorbed in a merger with Royal Amical Cercle Sportif (RACS) Couillet, becoming Royal Association Cercle Sportif (RACS!) Couillet, retaining RACS's matricule 94. First team football is played at RACS's Stade du Fiestaux, while the Terrain de l'Amérique remains in use for lower team football and training purposes; mainly housing the club's youth academy. 
• 1995 / A small covered stand is added to the ground, while the grass surface is replaced with one of Belgium's first synthetic football pitches around that same time.
• ±2002 / Due to the low quality of the artificial underground, which caused regular injuries, RACS Couillet's youth academy moves to the nearby Site 'Les Tourterelles'. From that time on, the Terrain de l'Amérique has been left to decay. The clubhouse, situated at the eastern end of the ground, must have been knocked down in ±2017.

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

BELGIUM: Carolo Team (19??-±2002) / RACS Couillet (B) (±2002-2009) / Football Couillet La Louvière (B) (2009-2011) / Couillet Sport (2010-2016) / FC Charleroi (C) (2011-2013) / FC Charleroi (B) (2013-2014) / Racing Charleroi-Couillet-Fleurus (B) (2014-2017) / Racing Couillet-Marcinelle (B) (2016-2017) / SC Montignies (C) (2017-2020) / RACS Couillet matr. 9369 (2020-)

Site 'Les Tourterelles', Charleroi Couillet (Racing ACS Couillet, formerly various recreational teams including Carolo Team, youth academy of RACS Couillet - Football Couillet La Louvière - FC Charleroi - Racing Charleroi-Couillet-Fleurus - SC Montignies)

Belgium, province: Hainaut = Henegouwen

31 VII 2022 / AS Fontainoise - RJS Taminoise B 0-1 - encounter broken off after 12 minutes / Pre-season friendly (neutral venue)

Timeline

• ???? / It remains unclear when the football ground at Les Tourterelles was constructed. Before RACS Couillet moved in their youth academy, the pitch was used by recreational football teams, including, most notably, Carolo Team and AS Naples. It is not improbable that the short-lived Provincial League club Gioventù Sportiva Interclub Couillet (GSI Couillet, matricule 7709), founded in 1971 and changing its name to GSI Gerpinnes in 1978 - retaining that name until its demise in 1987 - played at Les Tourterelles as well before their move to Gerpinnes (anyone able to shed a light on the pre-2000 history of the pitch at Les Tourterelles is more than welcome to contact me).
• ±2002 / National league club RACS Couillet moves its youth academy from Terrain de l'Amérique to Les Tourterelles; this club's first team football takes place at Stade du Fiestaux.
• 2009 / RACS Couillet, playing in National Division 4, sells its matricule 94 to a group of supporters of RAA Louviéroise, the club from La Louvière which went bankrupt earlier that year, with RACS Couillet changing its name to become Football Couillet La Louvière - commonly abbreviated to FC La Louvière. First team football moves to Stade Communal du Tivoli in La Louvière, but part of RACS's youth academy remains at Les Tourterelles.
• 2010 / Foundation of Couillet Sport (matricule 9579). Couillet Sport, starting life in Provincial League 4 in 2011, settles at Site Les Tourterelles.
• 2011 / As URS du Centre from Haine-Saint-Pierre - but sharing Stade Communal du Tivoli with FC La Louvière - takes on the new name of UR La Louvière Centre, hereby staking its claim to the heritage of the old RAA Louviéroise, the FC La Louvière project is abandoned. The matricule moves back to Couillet, with the club being renamed FC Charleroi - initially playing its first team football in Stade de la Neuville in Montignies-sur-Sambre, but moving to Stade du Fiestaux in 2013. Les Tourterelles is the site of FC Charleroi's youth academy.
• 2014 / FC Charleroi concludes a merger with R Charleroi-Fleurus, becoming Racing Charleroi-Couillet-Fleurus, retaining FC Charleroi's matricule 94. With first team football being played at Fiestaux, Les Tourterelles remains in use for lower team football and training purposes.
• 2012 / In its first season, Couillet Sport clinches the title in Hainaut's Provincial League 4H with an impressive 61 points. 
• 2015 / After three seasons in Provincial League 3, Couillet Sport suffers relegation to P4. The club withdraws its first team from the regular league system.
• 2016 / Changing its name to Racing Couillet-Marcinelle, Couillet Sport moves its activities to Marcinelle's Stade de la Chenevière, with Les Tourterelles probably remaining in use for one more season for lower team football. In 2017, the club cuts its ties with Couillet, undergoing a second name change to become Marcinelle Sport - and, eventually, in 2018, Racing Club Marcinelle.
• 2017 / The matricule of Racing Charleroi-Couillet-Fleurus is sold to R Francs Borains, leaving Couillet without a football club of its own. The two grounds in Couillet, Stade du Fiestaux as well as Les Tourterelles, are taken over temporarily by SC Montignies. With just one pitch at its own Stade du Yernaux in Montignies-sur-Sambre, this club is more than happy to benefit from two extra playing fields for lower team football and training purposes.
• 2020 / FC Wangenies 61 (matricule 9369, founded in 2000 as Racing Club de Charleroi and having undergone several subsequent name changes) changes its name to become Racing Amical Cercle Sportif (RACS!) Couillet, with all activities moving from Wangenies to Les Tourterelles. The new club's aim is a return to Stade du Fiestaux, where RACS Couillet (matr. 94) used to play its first team football, but as yet no permission has been granted by Charleroi's town council. That same summer, SC Montignies abandons Les Tourterelles.
• 2021 / The new RACS Couillet first enter a first team in Hainaut's provincial leagues, starting life in Provincial League 4F.
• 2023 / Finishing runners-up in Provincial League 4G, 2 points behind RFC Gilly B, RACS Couillet qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which it is eliminated in R1 by FC Rumes-la-Glanerie (2-3).

Note: The game I attended at Les Tourterelles was stopped after some 12 minutes of play due to RJS Taminoise B refusing to continue after one of their players had been red-carded due to foul language directed at the referee.

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

BELGIUM: R Albert Elisabeth Club Mons (B) (19??-2015) / R Albert Quévy-Mons (C) (2015-2020) / Renaissance Mons 44 (C) (2020-2021) / Renaissance AEC Mons (B) (2021-)

Stade Charles Tondreau - terrain 2 "Dragon's Academy", Mons = Bergen (B pitch of Renaissance AEC Mons, formerly B pitch of R Albert Elisabeth Club Mons & C pitch of R Albert Quévy Mons & Renaissance Mons 44)

Belgium, province: Hainaut = Henegouwen

30 VII 2022 / Renaissance AEC Mons B - BX Brussels 2-0 / Belgian Cup R1

Timeline

• 19?? / It is as yet unclear if the first side-pitch of Stade Charles Tondreau is as old as the stadium itself, which dates back to 1910 - probably not, but surely this second pitch has been in place for decades. Historically, it housed the youth academy of Royal Albert Elisabeth Club (RAEC) Mons (matricule 44).
• 2015 / RAEC Mons folds, ceasing all activities after 115 years - of which the 90 last were spent uninterruptedly in the national leagues. Upon the club's bankruptcy, its place at Stade Charles Tondreau is taken by R Albert Quévy-Mons (RAQM) - no more than ACFF Amateur Division 3 club RUS Genly-Quévy (matricule 4194) taking on a new name. Genly-Quévy's A ground, Stade de la Motte in Genly, remains in use for lower team football and training purposes, while part of RAEC Mons' youth academy remains home at the side pitches of Stade Trondreau.
• 2020 / R Albert Quévy-Mons changes its name to become Renaissance Mons 44.
• 2021 / In an even more emphatic reference to the old Royal Albert Elisabeth Club, Renaissance Mons 44 changes its name yet again, this time becoming Renaissance Albert Elisabeth Club (RAEC!) Mons. The ties with Genly-Quévy are cut, with a new club being founded at Stade de la Motte: FC Quévy-Genly (matricule 9764). 
• 2022 / RAEC Mons' B squad, main user of Stade Trondreau's first side pitch, wins promotion to Hainaut's Provincial League 1 for the first time.
• 2023 / The adventure at the highest provincial level does not last longer than one season for RAEC Mons B, finishing 14th in P1 and suffering relegation along with four other clubs (AC Le Roeulx, SC Montignies, RUS Solrézienne, and RFC Luingnois).
• 2024 / Runners-up in Hainaut's Provincial League 2B, 1 point behind champions RFC Houdinois, RAEC Mons B qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the team is eliminated in R1 by Erpion-Les Lacs de l'Eau d'Heure (2-3).

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

BELGIUM: RAA Brainoise (± 1965-1969) / R Stade Brainois (B) (1969-2021) / R Union Tubize-Braine (D) (2021-2022) / R Union Tubize-Braine (C) (2022-)

Stade Communal du Poseur, Braine-le-Comte = 's-Gravenbrakel (C ground of R Union Tubize-Braine, formerly RAA Brainoise / B ground of R Stade Brainois)

Belgium, province: Hainaut = Henegouwen

July 2022 / no match visited

Timeline

• 1924 / Foundation of a first football club in Braine-le-Comte, which is given the name Amicale Athlétique (AA) Brainoise. The club probably started its life on a pitch situated at Rue de la Bienfaisance.
• 1926 / With the introduction of the matricule register at the Belgian Football Association, AA Brainoise obtains matricule 343.
• 1932 / Winning the title in Hainaut's Provincial League 2A, AA Brainoise accedes to Provincial League 1 for the first time. The club holds its own at that level for two seasons before dropping back into P2 in 1934.
• 1938 / After Amicale Athlétique (AA) Brainoise in 1924, a second football club sees the daylight in Braine-le-Comte; this new club, Union Sportive (US) Brainoise (matricule 2607) settles at the Stade au Sans-Fond. Remarkably, the distance between the pitches of AA Brainoise and US Brainoise was no more than some 100 metres.
• 1947 / Winning the title in Provincial League 2B, AA Brainoise joins its more ambitious village rivals US Brainoise in Provincial League 1.
• 1951 / Obtaining the royal epithet, AA Brainoise adapts its name to become Royale Amicale Athlétique (RAA) Brainoise.
• 1958 / Suffering relegation from Provincial League 1, RAA Brainoise alternates spells in P2 (1958-61, 1966-69) and P1 (1961-66) in the following decade.
• ± 1965 / Moving away from its ground at Rue de Bienfaisance, RAA Brainoise settles at a newly laid-out ground at Rue du Poseur.
• 1969 / A merger is concluded between RAA Brainoise and US Brainoise, resulting in the foundation of Stade Brainois. Although the merger club retains Amicale's matricule 343, the royal epithet is lost - and not recovered for the following three decades. The new club plays in all-white shirts, thus avoiding any reference to the colours of the two old clubs (Amicale's blue and black; and Union's red and white). Stade Brainois starts its life in Hainaut's Provincial League 1, the level at which US Brainoise played in its last season as an independent club. From the merger onwards, first team football is played at Stade au Sans-Fond, while Amicale's Stade du Poseur remains in use for lower team football and training sessions.
• 1995 / The women's football branch of Stade Brainois forms a breakaway club, founding Standard Fémina de Braine (matricule 9286).
• 1999 / Stade Brainois finally retrieves its royal epithet, thus becoming Royal Stade Brainois.
• 2021 / R Stade Brainois concludes a merger with former professional league side AFC Tubize from nearby Tubize in Walloon Brabant. The new club, which retains Tubize's matricule 5632, is officially given the name Royale Union Tubize Braine-le-Comte, although it has since universally been referred to as Royale Union Tubize-Braine (RUTB). Henceforth, the new merger club's first team, which continues at ACFF D2 level, at which AFC Tubize played in its last season as an independent club, plays its football in Tubize's Stade Leburton. A B team, which is placed in Walloon Brabant's (instead of Hainaut's!) Provincial League 1 - one obligatory step down from the level at which R Stade Brainois ended its existence -, settles at Stade au Sans-Fond. The youth academy grounds in Tubize (Terrain du Chalet) and Braine-le-Comte (Stade du Poseur) are retained as well.
• 2022 / Royale Union Tubize Braine's board files a request at Braine-le-Comte's town council to renovate the Stade au Sans-Fond, but permission for the planned works is not granted. Thereupon, the club takes the far-reaching decision to abandon the historic ground. Home matches of RUTB's B team, which admirably held its own in Brabant's ACFF Provincial League 1 in the 2021-22 season, are moved to Tubize's Terrain du Chalet. While the other ground in Braine, Stade du Poseur, will remain in use for part of RUTB's youth academy, the Stade au Sans-Fond is due to be turned into a sports facility for padel and tennis.

Note: Important parts of the information given above were provided by Pascal Delmoitiez; many thanks to him, as well as to Michel Vancamp for bringing me in touch with Mr Delmoitiez.

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

BELGIUM: Snef FC (±1979-2000) / AS Snef-Tyber (2000-±2012) / AS Snef-Tyber (B) (±2012-2020) / FC Snef (B) (2020-)

Stade du Maffle - terrain 1, Seneffe (B pitch of FC Snef, formerly Snef FC / AS Snef-Tyber / B pitch of AS Snef-Tyber)

Belgium, province: Hainaut = Henegouwen

August 2019 & July 2022 / no match visited

Timeline

• 1969 / Foundation of Snef Football Club (FC). Upon joining Belgium's FA, the club, which first fielded a first team for the 1970-71 season, obtains matricule 7315.
• 1977 / Following back-to-back promotions, Snef FC accedes to Hainaut's Provincial League 2 for the first time. In the following 42 years, the club alternates spells in P2 and P3, with just one excursion to Provincial League 4 in the 2007-08 season.
• ±1979 / Snef FC must have moved to Stade du Maffle around 1979 (anyone able to provide the exact year is more than welcome to contact me).
• 2000 / Snef FC changes its name to become Association Sportive (AS) Snef-Tyber.
• 2010 / A synthetic surface is installed on the second pitch of the ground (Stade du Maffle - terrain 2).
• ±2012 / First team football moves to the synthetic pitch on the other side of the clubhouse Unfortunately, the former main pitch has seen little activity since, with the odd youth match being played on it now and then (anyone able to provide the exact year of AS Snef-Tyber's first team moving to the 3G is more than welcome to contact me).
• 2020 / AS Snef-Tyber changes its name to become FC Snef - a near-copy of the original club name created in 1969.
• 2021 / Inauguration of FC Snef's new clubhouse (cp. pictures 6-9 below).

Note: Below, a compilation of photos of two different non-matchday visits: pictures 1 & 6-14 = July 2022 / pictures 3-5 = August 2019 / picture 2: screenshot taken from Google Maps (Streetview) giving an impression of what the old canteen looked like - viewed from the 3G pitch on the northern side of the clubhouse. 

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