Chemin des Sarts, Loyers (Lisogne) (youth academy of RUS Dinantaise, formerly AL Lisogne FC / AL Lisogne-Thynes / B ground of RUS Dinantaise)
Belgium, province: Namur = Namen
28 VIII 2022 / RUS Dinantaise - US Saint-Hadelin Haversin 1-0 / Namur, Provincial League 1 (= BE level 6)
Timeline
- 1972 / Foundation of AL (Awagne-Loyers) Lisogne Football Club (FC), matricule 7927. Being a football club of Lisogne, Awagne, and Loyers, villages situated to the east of Dinant, the club name incorporates the names of all three - with Lisogne being given priority as it is the main village in the municipality at the time. Administratively, the municipality of Lisogne was absorbed into the larger entity of Dinant in 1977. From the start in 1972 on, AL Lisogne FC plays its football at Chemin des Sarts in Loyers (not to be confused with the village of Loyers - and its football club RUS Loyers - near Namur). The club's first chairman is François Beausart.
- 1981 / AL Lisogne FC accedes to Provincial League 2, beginning an uninterrupted spell of 11 years at that level.
- 1993 / One year after suffering relegation to Provincial League 3, AL Lisogne FC concludes a merger with another P3 side, SC Thynois from nearby Thynes. Henceforth, the new club AL Lisogne-Thynes, which retains Thynois' matricule 5226, plays its first team football at Chemin des Sarts in Loyers, while Thynes' ground at Rue Barbion remains in use for lower team football and training purposes.
- 1994 / The new merger club has reason to celebrate, as AL Lisogne-Thynes' first team gains promotion to Provincial League 2 after winning the play-offs.
- 2005 / AL Lisogne-Thynes wins promotion to Namur's Provincial League 1 - a level which was previously reached by SC Thynois as an independent club. In order to be able to receive a maximum of supporters for the first team's home matches, the club concludes an agreement with R Dinant FC to groundshare at that club's Stade de la Citadelle. The grounds in Loyers and Thynes remain in use for lower team football.
- 2007 / After two years in Provincial League 1, AL Lisogne-Thynes is relegated to P2. The club moves its first team football back to Chemin des Sarts in Loyers.
- 2020 / AL Lisogne-Thynes concludes a merger with RSC Neffe, forming RUS (Royale Union Sportive) Dinantaise, with Neffe's matricule 5156 being retained. Neffe already having played its first team football - in Provincial League 1 - at Dinant's Stade de la Citadelle, the new club's flag-bearing team starts its life there. RUS Dinantaise has the luxury of having three other grounds for lower team football and training purposes; apart from the premises in Loyers and Thynes, Neffe's Stade André Quinet remains in use as well, mainly for training purposes. RUS Dinantaise's B squad as well as the majority of the club's youth academy settles at Loyers.
- 2022 / Due to a disagreement between R Dinant FC and RUS Dinantaise, the former rescinds the groundsharing agreement, refusing RUS Dinantaise access to Stade de la Citadelle. In a new arrangement, RUS Dinantaise moves its first team football to Neffe, while the B team settles at Thynes and the youth academy remains in Loyers. Due to the pitch in Neffe not being in a state deemed not yet good enough for first team football, the club played at Lisogne/Loyers until the second week of October (cp. photos below taken in August 2022).
- 2023 / With first team football moving to Stade de la Citadelle once more, the ground in Lisogne is now taken over by RUS Dinantaise's B team, which previously played in Thynes.
- 2024 / The home matches of RUS Dinantaise B are moved to Stade André Quinet in Neffe, with the ground in Loyers remaining in use for lower team football and training sessions.
Note: Thanks to AL Lisogne FC's founding member and former chairman Jean-Claude Hatert, who provided me with most of the information in the historical timeline above.
All photos: (c) W.B. Tukker / www.extremefootballtourism.blogspot.com. Publication of any of these images only after permission of author