Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: US Saint-Hadelin Haversin

Sunday 6 November 2022

BELGIUM: US Saint-Hadelin Haversin

Route de Pessoux, Haversin (US Saint-Hadelin Haversin)

Belgium, province: Namur = Namen

6 XI 2022 / US Saint-Hadelin Haversin - R Arquet FC 2-2 / Namur, Provincial League 1 (= BE level 6)

Timeline

1950 / Foundation of Union Sportive (US) Saint-Hadelin Haversin. The football club is named after the patron saint of the local parish church (alternatively referred to in various sources as Hadelinus, Hadelin, or Adelin). Being accepted as Belgian FA members on July 24th, 1950, US Saint-Hadelin Haversin acquire registration number 5389. In the following decades, the club leads a quiet, rather anonymous existence in the lower reaches of Namur's provincial league system.
1982 / Abandoning its original pitch at Route de Barvaux, US Saint-Hadelin Haversin move into a newly built ground at a mere stone's throw distance, at Route de Pessoux. At the inauguration, a stone bearing an inscription honouring the involvement of club president Robert Pirard in the realisation of it, is revealed at the ground's entrance. For unknown reasons, this stone was later removed.
2000 / At USSH Haversin's fiftieth anniversary, a request is filed at the king's palace in Laeken to confer the royal epithet upon the club. Probably due to an administrative mistake on the part of the club, however, the request is never granted - and a new attempt was never made.
2014 / In the most confident of ways, with an advantage of 10 points over closest rival RRC Havelange, US Saint-Hadelin Haversin clinches the title in Namur's Provincial League 3C. Along the way, several matches were won with extremely large margins, most notably a 15-0 away win at RFC Yvoir.
2022 / After eight years in Provincial League 2, US Saint-Hadelin Haversin wins the title in P2B after a closely fought three-horse title race with ES Pétigny-Frasnes and Excelsior FC Evelette-Jallet. Also given the fact that, in previous years, Haversin was never a serious title contender, the promotion to Provincial League 1 - the first-ever in club history - comes as a complete surprise. Sadly, many of the successful team's players had already signed with other clubs for the 2022-23 season before the title was won. As a result, USSH Haversin began the new season in P1 with a squad which was weaker rather than stronger than the previous season.
2023 / Unable to cope at P1 level, USSH Haversin finishes joint-last in this division, suffering relegation along with RCS Andennais.
2024 / Finishing second from bottom in P2B, USSH Haversin suffers a second relegation in a row, dropping back into Provincial League 3 along with FC Vencimontois and bottom club US Pesche.