BELGIUM: FC Rillaar (1969-1994) / FC Rillaar Sport (B) (1994-2018) / RWL Sport (B) (2018-2021) / RWL Sport (2021-)

Terrein Langestraat, Rillaar (RWL Sport, formerly FC Rillaar / B ground of FC Rillaar Sport & RWL Sport)

Belgium, province: Flemish Brabant

19 II 2023 / RWL Sport - KV Tervuren-Duisburg 1-2 / Brabant, VFV Provincial League 2B (= BE level 7)

Timeline

• 1943 / Foundation of a first club in Rillaar, FC Rillaar, which joins Belgium's FA obtaining matricule 3891. The club is short-lived, though, playing in Brabant's Provincial League 3 for three seasons before withdrawing its first team in 1946 and the club's matricule being erased from the official FA list in 1948.
• 1955 / Foundation of Rillaar Sport, seeking affilition with Belgium's Football Association under matricule 5825. The club starts its life at a ground situated at Diestsesteenweg, prior to moving to a newly laid-out pitch at Schoonderbukenweg in 1971.
• 1969 / A second club is founded in Rillaar, a refounded FC Rillaar, which joins Belgium's FA under matricule 7309; this club plays its football at a ground at Langestraat, on the northern outskirts of the village. Part of the reason for the foundation of this second provincial league club is to give less ambitious players from the village the opportunity to play league football at a more modest level than would be possible at Rillaar Sport.
• 1979 / Winning the title in Provincial League 4G, FC Rillaar enjoys its first success, acceding to Provincial League 3.
• 1981 / After a two-year spell in P3, FC Rillaar drops back into P4 after finishing last in P3D.
• 1993 / Having played the 12 previous seasons in P4, FC Rillaar finishes second in P4G, subsequently winning the promotion play-offs to accede to P3. That same year, the club's more ambitious village rivals Rillaar Sport, who were in P1 ten years previously, dropped into P4 for the first time in that club's history.
• 1994 / In its last season as an independent club, FC Rillaar finishes in 7th place in P3D, the best result in club history. That summer, FC Rillaar concludes a merger with Rillaar Sport, resulting in the foundation of FC Rillaar Sport. The merger club retains Rillaar Sport's matricule 5825. Henceforth, first team football is played at Rillaar Sport's ground at Schoonderbukenweg, while FC Rillaar's Terrein Langestraat is retained for lower team football and training purposes. Thanks to FC Rillaar's good performance in P3, the new club starts its life at that level.
• 2018 / Having had a successful spell in P1 (2011-14), FC Rillaar Sport tumbles down the league ladder, finding itself in P3 in 2016. In 2018, the club concludes a merger with VC Wolfsdonk Sport, forming Rillaar-Wolfsdonk-Langdorp (RWL) Sport. The new merger club retains Wolfsdonk's matricule 7162. For the time being, first team football continues to be played at Terrein Schoonderbukenweg in Rillaar. Terrein Langestraat and Wolfsdonk's Stadion De Hel at Volkensvoortstraat are retained for lower team football and training sessions. Although KVC Langdorp (matricule 5767) does not take part in the merger, it cedes its youth academy to RWL Sport, while also allowing its Terrein Op 't Sant to be used for part of the new merger club's youth academy activities.
• 2021 / RWL Sport moves its first team football to Terrein Langestraat, home of the former FC Rillaar. The pitch at Schoonderbukenweg, having been in use for 50 uninterrupted seasons, is abandoned.
• 2022 / Winning the title in P3A in its first season at Langestraat, RWL Sport finds its way back to Provincial League 2.

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