Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: VK De Slappe (1992-±2017) / FC De Molen (2007-±2017) / Team Aasem (±2012-) / FC 't Gewat (±2017-)

Saturday, 8 October 2022

BELGIUM: VK De Slappe (1992-±2017) / FC De Molen (2007-±2017) / Team Aasem (±2012-) / FC 't Gewat (±2017-)

Terrein 'De Slappen Uier', Nijlen (Team Aasem & FC 't Gewat, formerly VK De Slappe & FC De Molen)

Belgium, province: Antwerp

8 X 2022 / FC 't Gewat - SK Diamant 0-1 / Liefhebbersvoetballiga (LVL) Division 1

Timeline

1984 / With some friends, Jan Verbraecken (born 1963), son of farming couple Eduard Verbraecken and Roza Van den Eynde, opens a makeshift beer tent on a small practice pitch, carved out on a plot belonging to his parents' farm at Laureys Gewatstraat in Nijlen. Some months later, Nijlen's local hunting club suggests converting the barn into their clubhouse, baptising it De Lustige Schutters - also the name of the hunting club itself.
1985 / Jan Verbraecken, who was a talented footballer in K Lierse SK's youth academy before joining KFC SV Nijlen for two seasons in National Division 4, bows out of Belgian FA football after one last year at provincial league club K Bevel FC. Marred by injuries, he is forced henceforth to stick to recreational football, joining KWB (Kristelijke Werkliedenbeweging) Onze-Lieve-Vrouw Nijlen, which plays in a Saturday League competition at the ground of FC Sparka (Beekpark, Nijlen).
1988 / At a meeting of Nijlen's local branch of the Farmer's Union, an inebriate colleague of Eduard Verbraecken suggests renaming Café De Lustige Schutters to Café De Slappen Uier' (literally translated: 'The Floppy Udder') - which has been the name and badge of pride of the pub ever since. That same year, Jan Verbraecken takes over the ownership of the café from his parents. In subsequent years, he slowly turns the simple countryside café into a tavern or small restaurant.
1992 / Jan Verbraecken undertakes installing a football pitch on one of the fields of his parents' farm. His recreational team, KWB OLV Nijlen, is renamed VK De Slappe (often referred to as FC De Slappe) and settles down at this new ground. Jan is part of VK De Slappe's squad before finally hanging up his boots in ±2006.
1995 / Diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, Eduard Verbraecken is forced to give up farming. The farm's cows are sold, with the land henceforth being used to grow wheat and corn.
2007 / Recreational team FC De Molen (formerly known as FC 't Trommeltje, FC 't Centrum, and FC 't Kruiske) abandons its old ground at Café De Keizer (Itegemsesteenweg, Bevel-Heikant), henceforth groundsharing with VK De Slappe at Terrein De Slappen Uier.
±2012 / A third recreational team, Team Aasem, settles at Terrein De Slappen Uier; Aasem is made up of a group of former KFC Nijlen players.
2013 / Café De Slappe(n) Uier, meanwhile a restaurant with a good reputation stretching beyond the municipal boundaries of Nijlen itself, adds bison meat to its menu. To this end, Jan Verbraecken purchases a small herd of bisons, which have been bred on the fields of his parents' former farm. Wheat and corn are no longer grown on the fields surrounding the café.
±2017 / VK De Slappe is renamed Veteranen KFC Nijlen and abandons Terrein De Slappen Uier. Around that same time, FC De Molen takes on a new name as well, becoming FC 't Gewat. 't Gewat is the name of Eduard Verbraecken's old farm - the word 'gewat' in its turn meaning 'ford' in the local dialect. In the old days, there was a inn called Herberg Laureys, situated on a dyke on the river Kleine Nete, just a stone's throw away from the current restaurant De Slappen Uier... also explaining why the street where the premises can be found is called Laureys Gewatstraat.