Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: KSK Sint-Paulus Opwijk (1938-2014)

Ringlaan, Opwijk (formerly KSK Sint-Paulus Opwijk)

Belgium, province: Flemish Brabant

No match visited (visited location) / March 2023

Timeline

1935 / Foundation of a first football club in Opwijk, which is given the French name Cercle Sportif (CS) Opwijck. The club joins Belgium's FA, obtaining matricule 2283 upon being accepted as new members. It is unclear where CS Opwijck's ground was situated.
1936 / CS Opwijck first takes part in Brabant's regional leagues.
1938 / Having played two seasons of regional league football, CS Opwijck folds, ceasing all activities. Matricule 2283 is erased from the Belgian FA's official lists. That same year, a new club is founded, Sportkring (SK) Sint-Paulus Opwijk, which refrains from seeking membership of the official Football Association, instead joining the rivalling Vlaamse Voetbalbond. It is unclear if SK Sint-Paulus Opwijk played its football at Ringlaan from the beginning onwards.
1943 / Having been members of Vlaamse Voetbalbond for five years, SK Sint-Paulus Opwijk makes the leap to the official Belgian FA, receiving matricule 4013 upon joining.
1944 / SK Sint-Paulus Opwijk first fields a team in Brabant's Regional League 3.
1948 / The club wins its first title, finishing in first place in Provincial League 3I. The ensuing adventure in Provincial League 2 lasts just one season, with relegation following in 1949. In the following 14 seasons, the club alternates spells in P3 (1949-56 & 1957-58) and P2 (1956-57 & 1958-62).
1962 / Clinching the title in Brabant's Provincial League 2C, SK Sint-Paulus Opwijk accedes to Provincial League 1 for the first time in club history.
1963 / Finishing in second place in its first season in P1, just behind champions Klim-Op Begijnendijk, SK Opwijk is admitted to National Division 4 directly due to an extra promotion place to the national leagues being available.
1964 / In its first season as a national league club, SK Sint-Paulus Opwijk manages a respectable third place in National Division 4B, four points behind champions RCS Schaerbeek; and two behind KSC Maccabi Voetbal Antwerp. In hindsight, this third place is the best result ever in SK Sint-Paulus Opwijk's history.
1968 / Finishing 15th in National Division 4A, SK Opwijk drops back into Brabant's Provincial League 1 after five seasons of national league football.
1974 / Having played six consecutive seasons in P1, SK Sint-Paulus Opwijk finishes in 13th place, resulting in relegation to Provincial League 2.
1980 / SK Opwijk wins the title in Provincial League 2C with a staggering 13-point advantage over closest followers Markzonen Tollembeek. The ensuing spell in P1 is very short, however, with relegation following immediately in 1981.
1983 / Finishing second in P2C behind VC Leeuwkens Teralfene, SK Sint-Paulus Opwijk just misses out on promotion in the play-offs. The exact same scenario occurs in 1988 and 1989, with KFC Avenir Lembeek and Kampenhout SK walking away with the league title respectively.
1993 / SK Opwijk clinches the title in Provincial League 2C, thus returning to Brabant's top provincial level after an absence of 12 years.
1994 / Upon its 50th year of membership of Belgium's FA, the club obtains the royal epithet, thus adapting its name to become Koninklijke Sportkring (KSK) Sint-Paulus Opwijk.
1997 / Having qualified for the promotion play-offs in P1 in the 1994-95 and 1995-96 seasons, KSK Opwijk has an abysmal season, finishing 14th and dropping back into Provincial League 2.
2003 / With SK Beersel and KSK Sint-Paulus Opwijk finishing in joint first position in P2C, the two teams face each other in a play-off. As the tie finished 1-1 after extra time, Opwijk wins the penalty shoot-out (5-3) to return to Provincial League 1.
2005 / Qualifying for the promotion play-offs after finishing third in Provincial League 1, KSK Opwijk reaches the final of the interprovincial play-offs, in which it faces another club from Brabant, Racing Jet Wavre. With the match finishing in a 1-1 draw (A.E.T.), Opwijk wins the penalties, thus managing a return to national league football after an absence of 37 years.
2006 / Finishing 6th in National Division 4B, KSK Sint-Paulus Opwijk qualifies for the promotion play-offs to reach the third tier of the Belgian national divisions for a first time. Having defeated K Lyra TSV (1-0) and FC Bleid (2-1), the club loses the final 1-0 against Hainaut side RRC Péruwelz. In the ensuing lucky losers final, a second defeat is incurred at the hands of RFC Liégeois (2-0), as a result of which Opwijk remains in National Division 4.
2008 / KSK Opwijk manages a fourth place in National Division 4A, thus equaling the best result in club history from 1964. Qualifying for the promotion play-offs for the second year running, the club is eliminated by FC Bleid (1-0).
2010 / Finishing 13th in D4B, KSK Sint-Paulus Opwijk has to play a long string of play-off matches to remain a national league club. After wins over Racing Jet Wavre, KFC Witgoor Sport Dessel, and ES Vaux-Noville, the club suffers defeats against K Herk FC and RUSG Tertre-Hautrage, yet saves its skin thanks to several mergers which result in extra places at the national league level being available.
2011 / Having enjoyed six consecutive seasons in National League 4, KSK Opwijk finishes 15th in D4B, thus dropping back into Brabant's Provincial League 1.
2014 / In a dramatic season, KSK Sint-Paulus Opwijk picks up just 11 points in Provincial League 1, with a goal difference of -94. The club falls back into P2, but withdraws all its teams - preferring to have a break of one season without any activities in an attempt to solve its debts. To allow the youth academy to continue its existence, an agreement is concluded with neighbouring P3 club VC Eendracht Mazenzele, which changes its name to become Eendracht Mazenzele Opwijk and takes over all of KSK Opwijk's youth teams.
2015 / The plans of KSK Sint-Paulus Opwijk's board to pay off all its debts in the course of the 2014-15 season having come to naught, the club folds once and for all; matricule 4013 is erased from the Belgian FA's official lists. Not long after, the historic ground at Ringlaan in Opwijk is demolished.
2018 / Regular first team football returns to Opwijk proper, as Eendracht Mazenzele Opwijk moves its activities to the newly laid-out Campus Tesseskouter at Klaarstraat, having abandoned its old ground at Vossenstraat in Mazenzele. Three years previously, the club had already taken up moving part of its youth activities to another new ground in Opwijk, Terrein Molenkouter.

Note - A good photo impression of KSK Sint-Paulus Opwijk's ground at Ringlaan can be found by following this link to Jurgen Vantomme's website www.groundhopping.be.