Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: FC Testelt (1978-1990) / Hoger Op Testelt (1990-2023) / FC Averbode Testelt Okselaar (B) (2023-2024)

Paul Verdonckstadion, Testelt (Hoger Op Testelt, formerly FC Testelt)

Belgium, province: Flemish Brabant

19 III 2023 / Hoger Op Testelt - KSV Drieslinter 4-4 / Brabant, VFV Provincial League 3D (= BE level 8)

Timeline

1940 / Foundation of FC Sportkring (SK) Testelt, which joins Belgium's Football Association under matricule 2870. It is unknown where this club's pitch was situated - most probably at a location south of Nieuwstraat, Terrein De Weefberg - the future birthplace of FC Testelt (in 1950).
1943 / Having taken part in just one season of Brabant's regional divisions, FC SK Testelt folds, ceasing all activities. Matricule 2870 is erased from the Belgian FA's official lists.
1950 / Foundation of a new football club in Testelt, FC Testelt, which joins Belgium's FA under matricule 5377. The club's first ground is situated at Nieuwstraat, Terrein De Weefberg - possibly also the ground where FC SK Testelt played its football in the war years. The first decade of club history has been poorly documented, but it is clear FC Testelt played a modest role in Brabant's Provincial League 3 all through the 1950s - with the club even failing to field a first team in the 1952-53 season.
± 1960 / It is unclear in which year FC Testelt moved from its initial pitch near Café De Weefberg to a newly laid-out ground to the north of Nieuwstraat, but the move must have happened some time around 1960. The old ground is removed to make way for housing; one of the streets running across the old pitch is given the apt name 'Sportstraat'.
1964 / Winning the title in Brabant's Provincial League 3A, FC Testelt manages the first promotion in club history, acceding to Provincial League 2.
± 1965 / Again the exact year is unclear, but some time in the mid-1960s, FC Testelt must have moved away from Nieuwstraat to settle at a new pitch at Hollestraat. The pitch at Nieuwstraat remained in use by various recreational football teams, lastly FC Scouts Testelt, well into the 20th century before being taken over by a local horse farmer.
1974 / Having spent ten seasons in Provincial League 2, FC Testelt clinches the title in Provincial League 2B, thus acceding to Brabant's Provincial League 1 for the first time.
1978 / Sensationally, FC Testelt wins the Provincial League 1 title, thus becoming a national league team for the first time. As the pitch at Terrein Hollestraat does not have the correct measurements for national league football, a solution has to be found quickly - and the club finds it by purchasing a plot of land from a noble family from Westerlo, De Merode. This new ground is also situated at Nieuwstraat, only several dozens of yards west of the initial Terrein Nieuwstraat which was abandoned in the 1960s. The new ground is adorned with a large clubhouse at its northern end, facing a main stand constructed mainly in wood.
1979 / In its first season in National Division 4C, the fourth tier of Belgium's football pyramid, FC Testelt finishes in a respectable 4th place behind champions K Stade Leuven as well as K Merksem SC and KFC Putte.
1980 / Clinching the title in National Division 4B with an advantage of 9 points over closest followers KSV Bornem, FC Testelt accedes to National Division 3 for the first time.
1981 / In its first season in the third tier of the Belgian league pyramid, FC Testelt finishes in 3rd place in D3B behind FC Witgoor Sport Dessel and Patro Eisden. In retrospect, this is the best season in FC Testelt's history.
1982 / In R5 of the Belgian Cup, FC Testelt draws a home tie against Club Brugge KV. With manager George Kessler on the bench, the Bruges side wins the match 0-6 with goals scored by Gino Maes, Jan Sørensen (3x), and Jan Ceulemans (2x) - and Birger Jensen and Ron Spelbos also being in the line-up. At Nieuwstraat, some 3,500 spectators gather to attend the match.
1983 / Having managed a respectable 7th place the previous season, FC Testelt has a disastrous 1982-83 campaign, finishing dead-last in National Division 3B and dropping back into D4 along with RFC Hannutois. FC Testelt's chairman Frans Similon, a local mushroom grower and former mayor of Testelt, cedes his place at the helm of the club in favour of Theo Nuyts, an orthopaedic surgeon.
1985 / FC Testelt finishes in 3rd place in National Division 4B, trailing champions R Francs Borains Boussu-Bois Elouges by only four points.
1987 / Once more, FC Testelt is close to managing a return to D3, finishing 3rd in National Division 4C, with eventual champions KFC Zwarte Leeuw only gathering three more points.
1988 / Beating D3 side R Olympic Club Charleroi in a home tie in the Belgian Cup, FC Testelt draws R Antwerp FC. Selling its home advantage, the club agrees to play the match at Antwerp's Bosuilstadion. With a poor attendance of only 2,500, R Antwerp FC manages a 4-1 win, with Testelt's goal being scored by Rudy Caers. Antwerp's side includes the likes of Nico Claesen, Hans-Peter Lehnhoff, Rudi Smidts, Marc Van der Linden, and Frans van Rooij.
1989 / Having played 11 consecutive seasons of national league football, FC Testelt finishes 16th and last in National Division 4B, dropping back into the provincial leagues along with SV Asse and K Wuustwezel FC. The club's main problem during the latter years of its spell in the national divisions was the obligation to field youth teams at provincial rather than regional level, as a result of which transportation costs ran out of hand.
1990 / In its first season back in Brabant's Provincial League 1, FC Testelt barely saves its skin, finishing in a 14th place. That summer, the club officially changes its name to become Hoger Op Testelt - the motivation being that it was hoping to get rid of a creditor if the money owed was due to be paid by FC Testelt rather than HO Testelt. However, due to the matricule remaining unchanged, the financial problems did not go away - further aggravated by the causes of the Bosman Ruling in 1995.
1993 / Finishing 15th in Brabant's Provincial League 1, HO Testelt faces relegation to Provincial League 2, a level at which the club last played 15 years previously.
1995 / Unable to hold its own even in Provincial League 2, HO Testelt drops back into P3 after a 15th place finish in P2B.
1996 / In August 1996, HO Testelt's clubhouse at Nieuwstraat is ground to dust due to a local pyromaniac setting it on fire. In the following months, helped by insurance money, a wooden replacement is erected, a bit smaller than its stone predecessor. Groundsman Paul Verdonck, who put an admirable amount of time and energy into the reconstruction works, was honoured by having the ground named after him, Paul Verdonckstadion.
1999 / Finishing 16th and last in Provincial League 3D, HO Testelt finds itself at the bottom of the provincial league ladder for the first time in club history - and this only a decade after the club's last season as a national league side.
2007 / Following a closely fought race with VC Bekkevoort, Hoger Op Testelt clinches the title in Provincial League 4E, thus managing to climb back into Provincial League 3 after an eight-year spell in P4.
2013 / Finishing 15th in P3D, HO Testelt drops back into P4 along with KVV Scherpenheuvel Sport and FC Tildonk.
2014 / HO Testelt finishes in 2nd place in P4G behind Sportief Rotselaar, but wins promotion back to P3 without having to play promotion play-offs.
2017 / In Brabant's Provincial League 3A, HO Testelt finishes second last - thus facing a new relegation into P4 along with bottom club KMJ FC Zichem.
2018 / Managing the title in Provincial League 4B with an impressive advantage of 12 points over closest rivals FC Meensel Kiezegem - and a goal difference of +85 -, Hoger Op Testelt wins promotion to P3 for the third time in 11 years.
2020 / In the 2019-20 season, cut short due to the COVID lockdown in March 2020, HO Testelt finishes second-last in P3A in a table based on 27 of 32 matches, thus being relegated back into P4 once more.
2022 / Winning the title in P4B with an advantage of 5 points over Korbeek Sport, Hoger Op Testelt returns to Provincial League 3 once again.
2023 / Hoger Op Testelt concludes a merger with FC Averbode-Okselaar, resulting in the foundation of FC Averbode Testelt Okselaar, retaining Averbode's registration number 2030. For the time being, Testelt's Paul Verdonckstadion remains in use for lower team football.
2024 / In the last season of football at Testelt's Paul Verdonckstadion, with the ground being used by FC Averbode Testelt Okselaar B team, FC ATO B finishes in thirteenth place in P3D, descending into Provincial League 4 along with KRD Zoutleeuw, KVZ Glabbeek-Zuurbemde, and bottom club VC Bekkevoort. Following the 2023-24 season, all activities are moved to Averbode's Terrein Vorststraat, with the Paul Verdonckstadion being abandoned.