Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: R Entente Marche FC (B) (1992-2012) / Olympic Marche FC (B) (2012-2015) / Union Famenne Waha-Marche (B) (2015-2019) / R Entente Durbuy (2022-2023)

Sunday 4 September 2022

BELGIUM: R Entente Marche FC (B) (1992-2012) / Olympic Marche FC (B) (2012-2015) / Union Famenne Waha-Marche (B) (2015-2019) / R Entente Durbuy (2022-2023)

Centre Sportif Local de la Ville de Marche - terrain 2, Marche-en-Famenne (formerly R Entente Marche FC & Olympic Marche FC)

Belgium, province: Luxembourg

4 IX 2022 / R Entente Durbuy - RUS Givry 5-0 / ACFF Division 3B (= BE level 5)

Timeline

1992 / R Entente Marche FC, founded in 1933 (matricule 1954), moves from its old Stade Léon Lambert, in the hamlet of Pirire just to the south of Marche-en-Famenne proper (immediately to the west of the premises occupied by Rugby Club Famenne since 1985) to the newly built Centre Sportif et Culturel (later renamed Centre Sportif Local) at Chaussée de l'Ourthe. Apart from facilities for several other sports, the park disposes of two football pitches. The new park's main pitch, surrounded by an athletics track, is adorned with a small covered stand.
2012 / Due to financial difficulties, R Entente Marche FC, in P3 for the last nine seasons of its existence, ceases all activities. Its matricule 1954 is erased from Belgium's FA's official lists one year later. Still in 2012, a successor club is founded, Olympic Marche Football Club (matricule 9593; oddly, the logo of the club reads Olympic Marchois FC instead of Marche), which takes the place of Entente at the Centre Sportif Local.
2015 / After an existence of only three seasons - all spent in Belgian Luxembourg's Provincial League 3 -, Olympic Marche FC concludes a merger with Union Sportive Waha, becoming Union Famenne Waha-Marche. The new merger club retains Waha's matricule 8350. First team football moves to Waha's ground at Rue du Point du Jour, while pitch 2 at Marche's Centre Sportif Local remains in use for training purposes. From 2015 onwards, the former main pitch in Marche-en-Famenne has been used exclusively for athletics.
2019 / The side pitch in Marche is equipped with a synthetic surface (pictures 2-3 below show the pitch as it looked before this renovation). Meanwhile, this second pitch is no longer used by UF Waha-Marche's youth academy, but serves local schools as well as training sessions organised by Marche-en-Famenne's city hall for youth players affiliated to clubs in the vicinity of Marche (R Entente Roy-Lignières-Grimbiémont / R Jeunesse Réunie d'Aye FC / Union Famenne Waha-Marche) as well as young, aspiring players not affiliated to any club.
2022 / R Entente Durbuy, evicted from its Stade Communal 'Basse Commène' in Barvaux-sur-Ourthe after a conflict with local authorities as well as other clubs belonging to the municipality of Durbuy, moves its first team football to the synthetic pitch in Marche-en-Famenne. Playing in ACFF's Amateur Division 3 - the fifth and lowest national division -, R Entente Durbuy brings back national league football to the town of Marche-en-Famenne for the first time in 62 (!) years (R Entente Marche played three seasons in National Division 4, 1957-60). The match attended by me at Centre Sportif Local de la Ville de Marche - terrain 2 (photos below) was Durbuy's first home game in the 2022-23 season.
2023 / Unable to hold its own in ACFF Amateur Division 3, RE Durbuy finishes second-last, suffering relegation to Luxembourg's Provincial League 1 along with bottom club RUS Givry and RCS Libramontois. Due to a conflict with Marche-en-Famenne's town hall, the club sees its permit to play at Cente Sportif de la Ville withdrawn - and after a long-wound procedure, seeing the club concluding a groundsharing agreement with Namur club RCS Andennais, Belgian Luxembourg's provincial committee refuses the club permission to play at a ground beyond the provincial borders - thus sounding the death-knell for RE Durbuy.

Note: Below, a compilation of photos of three different visits: picture 1 = non-matchday visit, July 2022 / pictures 2-3 = non-matchday visit, May 2011 / pictures 4-19 = match visit, September 2022.