BELGIUM: FC Ramsdonk (1969-2023) / VV Groot Kapelle (2023-)

Jozef Bruggemansstadion, Ramsdonk (FC Ramsdonk)

Belgium, province: Flemish Brabant

29 I 2023 / FC Ramsdonk - KFC Eendracht Kapelle-op-den-Bos 2-2 / Brabant, VFV Provincial League 3B (= BE level 8)

Timeline

• 1965 / Foundation of FC Ramsdonk, which joins Sportverbond Brabant, Brabant's branch of Belgium's Roman-Catholic Football Association. The club's first ground was situated at Bormstraat, on or near the probable location of the former SC Kapelle-op-den-Bos, a provincial league club (matricule 1710) which existed between 1930 and 1937.
• 1968 / Applying for membership of Belgium's official Football Association, FC Ramsdonk is accepted on December 7th, 1968, obtaining matricule 7300. The club's logo mentions 1969 as the official year of foundation - not illogical, given that FC Ramsdonk did not enter teams in the official FA's leagues until the summer of 1969.
• 1969 / Moving away from the pitch at Bormstraat, FC Ramsdonk settles at a new ground hemmed in between the dead-ends of Berkenstraat and Leireken; some years later, this ground is named after one of FC Ramsdonk's founding fathers, Jozef Bruggemans, after his untimely passing.
• 1971 / FC Ramsdonk enters a first team in Brabant's Provincial League 4 for the first time.
• 1973 / Winning the title in Provincial League 4D, FC Ramsdonk accedes to Provincial League 3. In the following 20 years, the club alternates spells in P3 (1973-83, 1986-88, 1990-93) and P4 (1983-86, 1988-90).
• 1993 / Finishing in second place in Provincial League 3F, FC Ramsdonk manages a promotion to Provincial League 2 for the first time in club history by winning the play-offs.
• 1994 / The club has the best season in club history by finishing in 5th place in P2C.
• 1996 / After three seasons in P2, FC Ramsdonk suffers relegation to P3.
• 2005 / Following nine consecutive years in P3, the club finds its way back to P2 by winning the promotion play-offs after finishing second in P3E, two points behind champions KVC Delta Londerzeel. As in the 1990s, the adventure in P2 lasts three seasons.
• 2013 / After five seasons in Provincial League 3, FC Ramsdonk finds itself in Provincial League 4 for the first time in 23 years.
• 2014 / Finishing in third place in P4D, FC Ramsdonk is admitted to Provincial League 3 without play-offs due to extra promotion places being available.
• 2019 / Although celebrating its 50th anniversary, FC Ramsdonk disdains applying for the royal epithet, as the club's presidency lacks the motivation to go through the red tape required to complete the application. 
• 2023 / In its last season as an independent club, FC Ramsdonk finishes 13th in P3A, 3 points ahead of KFCE Kapelle-op-den-Bos, which suffers relegation into P4. Following the season, a merger is concluded between those two clubs, resulting in the foundation of VV Groot Kapelle, which retains Ramsdonk's registration number 7300; Kapelle's number 4265 is erased from the Belgian FA's official lists. For the time being, the new club retains both grounds, with first team football being played in Ramsdonk, and Kapelle's Karel Symonsstadion hosting the matches of the B team.  
• 2024 / Finishing in fourteenth place in P3B, VV Groot Kapelle suffers relegation to Provincial League 4 in its first season as a competitive club, along with K Europa 90 Kraainem FC B and FC Melsbroek B. Also in 2024, the club moves all its activities to Ramsdonk, with Kapelle's Karel Symonsstadion being abandoned.

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

BELGIUM: KFC Eendracht Kapelle-op-den-Bos (± 1965-2023) / VV Groot Kapelle (B) (2023-2024)

Karel Symonsstadion, Kapelle-op-den-Bos Oxdonk (formerly KFC Eendracht Kapelle-op-den-Bos & B ground of VV Groot Kapelle)

Belgium, province: Flemish Brabant = Vlaams Brabant

22 I 2023 / KFCE Kapelle-op-den-Bos - FC Melsbroek B 4-2 / Brabant, VFV Provincial League 3B (= BE level 8)

Timeline

• 1930 / Foundation of Sporting Club (SC) Kapelle-op-den-Bos, a first football club in Kapelle-op-den-Bos. Joining Belgium’s FA, the club obtains matricule 1710. This club was probably home at Bormstraat, on or near the later location where FC Ramsdonk started its life as a recreational club in 1965.
• 1937 / Having played six seasons in Brabant’s Provincial League 3 (1930-32, 1933-36), SC Kapelle-op-den-Bos is officially wound up on April 5th, 1937.
• 1939 / Two years after the demise of SC Kapelle-op-den-Bos, a successor club sees the daylight called Hooger Op Kapelle. Joining Belgium’s FA, the club obtains matricule 2819. It is unknown where Hooger Op Kapelle's ground was situated.
• 1942 / Foundation of FC Vaartkapoenen, which was probably the football club of the hamlet of Oxdonk, on the eastern bank of the Brussels–Scheldt Maritime Canal – whereas Kapelle itself is situated on the western side. FC Vaartkapoenen is admitted as FA member under matricule 3517. It is unknown where FC Vaartkapoenen's ground was situated.
• 1943 / Foundation of a third club in Kapelle-op-den-Bos, Voetbalvereniging (VV) Sparta Kapelle-op-den-Bosch (matricule 3866). This club was home at a ground situated at Westdijk.
• 1945 / In the year following the liberation of Belgium from the German yoke, the three clubs in Kapelle-op-den-Bos, none of which really made much of an impression in the war years, conclude a merger, resulting in the foundation of FC Eendracht Kapelle-op-den-Bos, often referred to abbreviatedly as FCE Kapelle-op-den-Bos. Following FA rules of the time, the merger club is awarded a new matricule (4265). While the grounds of Hooger Op Kapelle and FC Vaartkapoenen are abandoned, the newly formed merger club settles at Westdijk, former home of VV Sparta Kapelle-op-den-Bosch. First president of the new club is Karel Symons.
• 1947 / FCE Kapelle-op-den-Bos registers its first success, winning the title in Brabant’s Provincial League 3I and thus acceding to Provincial League 2. The adventure at that level lasts for three seasons, with relegation following in 1950. In the following 18 years, the club alternates spells in P3 (1950-54, 1960-62 & 1964-66) and P2 (1954-60, 1962-64 & 1966-68).
• ± 1965 / As the Brussels–Scheldt Maritime Canal, separating Kapelle-op-den-Bos proper and its eastern hamlet of Oxdonk, is considerably widened, the football club has to make way for the new Eternit asbestos factories situated on the western side of the canal. A new location is found at Haaksdonkweg / Oostdijk in Oxdonk; after the inauguration of the new ground, the (main) pitch was moved eastwards twice due to the canal being further widened. 
• 1968 / Winning the title in Provincial League 2C, FC Eendracht Kapelle-op-den-Bos accedes to Brabant’s Provincial League 1 for the first – and only – time in club history. This historic feat is celebrated at Kapelle-op-den-Bos' community hall. Sadly, also in 1968, founding father and club president Karel Symons passes away; to mark his role in club history, the ground at Haaksdonkweg / Oostdijk is given his name. The chairmanship is taken over by his son Louis Symons.  
• 1969 / Finishing last in P1, FCE Kapelle-op-den-Bos is retrograded to P2. In the 1968-69 season, the highest attendance at Karel Symonsstadion was recorded at the derby game against KFC Humbeek, as some 1,000 spectators found their way to the ground.
• 1983 / After 14 consecutive seasons in Provincial League 2, the club is relegated to Provincial League 3. 
• ± 1987 / The clubhouse shown in the photos below is constructed.
• 1995 / Upon the club's 50th anniversary, the royal epithet is obtained, resulting in an adaptation of the club name to becoming Koninklijke Football club (KFC) Eendracht Kapelle-op-den-Bos, often abbreviated to KFCE Kapelle-op-den-Bos.
• 1999 / Finishing bottom of the league in P3E, KFC Eendracht Kapelle-op-den-Bos finds itself in Provincial League 4 for the first time in club history. In the following decades, the club alternates spells in P4 (1999-2005, 2010-11, 2014-15, 2016-20) and P3 (2005-10, 2011-14, 2015-16, 2020-).
• 2011 / Having been the club's president for an impressive 43 consecutive years, Louis Symons steps back in favour of his grandson Kristof Van den Troost. In spite of renouncing all his functions in the club, Symons remains the proprietor of the ground.
• 2017 / Louis Symons sells the ground named after his father to local enterpreneur Bart Verhaeghe, who lives only a stone's throw away from the ground. Verhaeghe, a good friend of KFCE Kapelle's new chairman Dirk Christiaens, is best-known in Belgium for being the president of Club Brugge KV (since 2011).
• 2023 / In its last season as an independent club, KFCE Kapelle-op-den-Bos finishes 14th in P3A, 3 points below FC Ramsdonk and security; as such, the club descends into P4 along with K Londerzeel SK B and K Sporting FC Haren. Following the season, a merger is concluded with FC Ramsdonk, resulting in the foundation of VV Groot Kapelle, which retains Ramsdonk's registration number 7300; Kapelle's number 4265 is erased from the Belgian FA's official lists. For the time being, the new club retains both grounds, with first team football being played in Ramsdonk's Jozef Bruggemansstadion, and Kapelle's Karel Symonsstadion hosting the matches of the B team.  
• 2024 / VV Groot Kapelle moves all its activities to Ramsdonk's Jozef Bruggemansstadion, with Kapelle's Karel Symonsstadion being abandoned once and for all.

Note: Thanks due to KFC Eendracht Kapelle-op-den-Bos long-time president Louis Symons and his son-in-law Paul De Ridder for providing us with important parts of the information given above.

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

NETHERLANDS: vv DOS Kampen

Sportpark De Maten Zuid, Kampen (vv DOS Kampen)

Netherlands, province: Overijssel

21 I 2023 / vv DOS Kampen - vv Hulzense Boys 3-1 / Saturday League 1E (= NL level 6)

Timeline

• 1926 / Foundation of Voetbalvereniging (vv) Door Oefening Sterk (DOS) Kampen, often referred to locally as 'DOSK'. The first pitch of this Saturday league club is situated at Sint Nicolaasdijk.
• 1937 / DOS Kampen moves from its first ground to the so-called Singel-Terrein, situated in Kampen's main park (Kamper Stadspark). The club's nickname, 'Poelänten', is a reference to ducks from the nearby canal regularly flying onto the pitch. 
• 1958 / After a relatively anonymous first three decades of club history, DOS Kampen wins promotion to Saturday League 3 by obtaining the title in District East's Saturday League 4B.
• 1960 / DOS Kampen wins promotion to Saturday League 2, the highest level of the Saturday league pyramid at the time.
• 1963 / Winning the title in Saturday League 2C without losing a match, DOS Kampen qualifies for the National Saturday League championship play-offs, in which SV Spakenburg and vv Noordwijk prove too strong. In the following decades, DOS remains a force to be reckoned with in the higher reaches of Saturday League 2, but the club misses out on promotion to Saturday League 1, a new level which is created in 1970.
• 1972 / Moving away from its Singel-Terrein after a stay of 35 years, vv DOS Kampen settles at the newly built Sportpark De Maten on the southern outskirts of Kampen. The main pitch disposes of a covered grandstand holding some 750 spectators; and a covered terrace facing it. Due to being situated in a new housing estate with an ever-growing population, the club attracts large groups of young new members in the following years.
• 1977 / Winning the title in Saturday League 2C after a comprehensive victory over CVV Be Quick '28, vv DOS Kampen finally qualifies for Saturday League 1.
• 1981 / Quickly establishing itself as one of the dominant teams in Saturday League 1 after the promotion in 1977, vv DOS Kampen clinches the title in Saturday League 1B - subsequently also winning the National Saturday League title by defeating vv Noordwijk. In the National Non-League final against Sunday League champions (and future professional league side) RKC, DOS loses the away leg (5-2), but makes up for that with a home win (4-1). In the end, the club misses out on the title by emphatically losing the ensuing third game, played at a neutral venue in Veenendaal (5-1).
• 1982 / In a reversal of fortunes, after the very successful 1980-81 season, DOSK finishes in 13th place in Saturday League 1B, resulting in the first-ever relegation in club history. On March 19th, 1982, the main stand, offering a place to some 750 spectators, is inaugurated; prior to 1982, there were no spectator facilities at all around DOS' main pitch. In the 1990s, an uncovered terrace was added on the side of the pitch facing the main stand; and this terrace was given a plastic roof - purchased from the nearby gas station - in c. 2010.
• 1983 / After finishing second in Saturday League 2D, vv DOS Kampen manages to return to League 1 after an absence of just one season by winning the play-offs.
• 1988 / In the most successful year of club history, DOSK first manages to win the title in Saturday League 1B for the second time in seven years; the decisive match, away at vv Heerjansdam, is won 1-0. Following this, the club also wins the National Saturday League title by winning a group of 3 against fellow-champions in 1A and 1C, vv IJsselmeervogels and vv Bennekom. Lastly, making up for the loss against RKC in 1981, DOS Kampen clinches its first and only-ever National Non-League title by defeating Sunday champions SV De Treffers (the first two matches end in 1-1; finally, in the tie-break, played at Rohda Raalte's Sportpark Tijenraan, DOS has the better of their rivals from Groesbeek (2-1).
• 1992 / Following the title in 1988, some more, mostly satisfactory, seasons followed in Saturday League 1B, until relegation follows in 1992. Meanwhile, 19-year-old youth prodigy Jaap Stam earns himself a transfer to professional league side FC Zwolle - and goes on to have an impressive career at Cambuur-Leeuwarden, Willem II, PSV, Manchester United FC, SS Lazio, AC Milan, and AFC Ajax (as well as earning 67 caps for the Netherlands). Stam is not the only DOS Kampen player who made it to the pro ranks - others include Henri van der Vegt, Gerard van den Belt, and the brothers Jeroen & Henrico Drost.
• 1993 / Winning the title in League 2D, DOSK manages an immediate return to Saturday League 1.
• 1996 / At ABS's Sportpark De Looënk in Bathmen, vv DOS Kampen loses the final of District East's Regional Cup against Sunday League 2 side vv DVC '26 (2-1). That same year, a new division is created to top the Saturday League pyramid, the so-called Hoofdklasse (already in existence in Sunday League football since 1974) - and by virtue of its third place in Saturday League 1C, DOSK qualifies automatically for the new division.
• 1998 / After two seasons at Hoofdklasse level, DOS Kampen is relegated to Saturday League 1, but manages an immediate return in 1999 through a title win in League 1D. In the following decade the club alternates two spells in Zaterdag Hoofdklasse (1999-2000 & 2003-2008) with a three-year spell in Saturday League 1 (2000-03).
• 2003 / In July 2003, vv DOS Kampen plays host to English pro side Sheffield Wednesday FC, losing the pre-season friendly 4-0. The following year, another high-profile side from abroad visits Sportpark De Maten - Argentina's CA Boca Juniors.
• 2008 / DOSK is relegated from Hoofdklasse - and have never returned to that level (renamed National Division 4 since 2022) since.
• 2012 / A synthetic surface is installed on DOS' main pitch.
• 2015 / vv DOS Kampen suffers an humiliating relegation to Saturday League 2.
• 2019 / Winning the title in Saturday League 2H, the club manages a return to Saturday League 1.
• 2023 / Finishing in 11th place in Saturday League 1E, vv DOS Kampen has to play a round of play-offs to secure its place in that division for the following season. Eliminating SV Nieuwleusen in R1 (4-1), the club suffers a 4-3 away defeat at vv DOS '37, thus descending into L2 after 4 years.
• 2024 / Finishing in third place in Saturday League 2H, vv DOS Kampen qualifies for the promotion play-offs. Successively defeating WSV (0-2), vv Unicum (0-1), and SV Nieuwleusen (1-2) in away matches, the club wins promotion to L1, thus managing an immediate return to that level.

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