Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: KVC De Toekomst Borsbeke

Sportpark De Vrede "Vredestadium", Borsbeke (KVC De Toekomst Borsbeke)

Belgium, province: East Flanders

4 III 2023 / KVC De Toekomst Borsbeke - KFC Eendracht Zele 4-1 / East Flanders, Provincial League 1 (= BE level 6)

Timeline

1927 / Football is being played in the village of Borsbeke - and a group of young men get together to form a team; no official club as such is being founded yet. Friendly matches against other teams are being played on makeshift grounds on pastures in and around Borsbeke.
1928 / Official foundation of Voetbalclub (VC) De Toekomst Borsbeke on March 30th, 1928, during a meeting organised at Benoit Vidts' inn. The club joins Katholiek Vlaamsch Sportverbond (KVS), a Flemish Roman-Catholic football association. A pitch is created near the local church, on the southern side of Provincieweg, the road leading from Borsbeke to Burst. The chosen colours being vertical black and white stripes, the club takes on the nickname 'The Zebras'. The club makes its debut in KVS Division 2, the third tier of KVS' own league system, with a 2-0 away win at Daring Aalst.
1934 / In the 1933-34 or 1934-35 season - contemporary sources being unclear, VC De Toekomst Borsbeke wins the title in KVS Div. 2, thus acceding to Division 1.
1937 / Winning the title in KVS Division 1 with an advantage of 6 points over its nearest rival Sint-Koleta Gent, VCDT Borsbeke accedes to KVS's Division of Honour (Ereklasse) for the first time.
1940 / Having won the title in KVS's Division of Honour for the second time running - and in order to test its mettle against more serious opposition - VC De Toekomst Borsbeke joins the official Belgian Football Association, receiving matricule 3324 upon being accepted as new members.
1941 / Making its debut in the Belgian FA's East Flemish league system, VC De Toekomst Borsbeke takes part in the so-called Schaal Edgar Durant, a temporary local league created in the opening stages of German occupation of Belgium. Losing its first match comprehensively (5-1 against Standaard SV Denderleeuw), the club has to wait until early November before picking up its first win - a 4-2 home victory over SK Geraardsbergen.
1945 / The Allies having liberated Belgium, regular league football is taken up, with VCDT Borsbeke being placed in Regional League 2, the level below Provincial League 2. That summer, at the instigation of Father Paul De Vuyst, one of the founding fathers of the club, works get underway to create a new ground for the club; permission for the building works is being granted by the local English garrison commander. With the assistance of a regiment of Scottish soldiers - and their bulldozers -, a heigth difference of 7 metres is surmounted to create a pitch surrounded by a cycling track at Pastorijstraat, on the northern fringes of the village centre.
1946 / Inauguration of the so-called Vredestadium (in English, literally: Stadium of Peace, the reasoning behind the chosen name being obvious given the recent end of hostilities in WW2 and the help of allied troups on the construction works) with a professional cycling racing event attended by over 4,000 spectators. By that time, Father Paul De Vuyst, who spent the occupation years in his local Borsbeke, has returned to Belgian Congo, where he had already been working as a missionary priest between 1936 and 1939, bringing about the creation of no fewer than 24 new football pitches in the process.
1950 / Winning the title in Regional League 3, VCDT Borsbeke returns to Regional League 2 - renamed Provincial League 2 in 1952 when a Provincial League 1 is created at the top of East Flanders' Provincial league pyramid.
1952 / At the club's 25th anniversary, August 1927, a Holy Mass is celebrated in the village church, while the club itself organises a banquet with zebra soup (!) being one of the dishes. That year, the club also acquires the royal epithet, thus becoming officially Koninklijke Voetbalclub (KVC) De Toekomst Borsbeke.
1955 / Winning the title in Provincial League 2C with an advantage of 7 points over its closest rivals VC Jong Lede and Standaard SV Denderleeuw, KVCDT Borsbeke wins promotion to East Flanders' Provincial League 1 for the first time.
1957 / In its second season in P1, KVC De Toekomst Borsbeke is a serious title contender, in the end finishing fourth, three places below eventual title winner KSV Sottegem.
1960 / In the best season in club history so far, KVCDT Borsbeke finishes third in East Flanders' P1.
1965 / Having had ten consecutive seasons of P1 football, KVC De Toekomst Borsbeke drops back into P2 after finishing 16th and last in the 1964-65 season.
1968 / Finishing third-last in P2C, KVCDT Borsbeke is relegated to Provincial League 3.
1969 / With an advantage of 9 points over the nearest contender, Toekomst Borsbeke wins the title in P3G - and yet, the club does not earn itself a promotion to Provincial League 2 due to a reorganisation of East Flanders' provincial league system, which sees the creation of a Provincial League 4 below P3. With no promotion places to P2 being made available, the top half finishers in P3 of the previous season retain their P3 status, whereas the remainder of the clubs is placed in the new bottom division.
1970 / KVCDT Borsbeke wins its second P3 title in a row after a hotly contested title race with Sparta Geraardsbergen.
1972 / The club's founding father and inspirator Paul De Vuyst passes away due to a lethal accident in Kimwenza, Zaire.
1981 / Having played in P2 for 11 years, Toekomst Borsbeke manages a return to Provincial League 1 via the promotion play-offs.
1983 / KVC De Toekomst Borsbeke finishes in a respectable fifth place in P1 - an accomplishment which is repeated in the 1984-85 season.
1986 / Finishing last in P1, Toekomst Borsbeke drops back into Provincial League 2 after a five-year spell at the highest provincial level.
1993 / After two relegations in three seasons, KVC De Toekomst Borsbeke finds itself in Provincial League 4 for the first time in club history.
1997 / Following back-to-back promotions - both successes being achieved via the play-offs -, Borsbeke returns to Provincial League 2 after a seven-year absence.
1999 / After two relegations in a row, KVCDT Borsbeke finds itself in P4 again.
2002 / After winning the title in P4C the previous season, Toekomst Borsbeke wins the P3 promotion play-offs to return to Provincial League 2.
2003 / In what is officially registered as a merger, KVC De Toekomst Borsbeke absorbs FC Maria-Lierde from nearby Sint-Maria-Lierde. FC Maria-Lierde's matricule 8469 is erased from the Belgian FA's official lists, while its Terrein Caudenberg is abandoned.
2008 / The lowpoint in club history, as KVC De Toekomst Borsbeke finishes dead-last in Provincial League 2B without picking up a single point the entire season. At home, the club is defeated 0-10 by KRC Bambrugge and 0-13 by FC Mere.
2017 / After nine seasons in P3, Borsbeke manages a return to Provincial League 2 by winning the P3D title with an advantage of 5 points over nearest contenders VK Nederhasselt.
2022 / Managing the title in P2B with just one point more than KSV Sottegem, KVC De Toekomst Borsbeke returns to Provincial League 1, 36 years after having played at that level for the last time.
2023 / In an incredibly strong first season in P1, KVC De Toekomst Borsbeke clinches the title, 4 points ahead of KVV Sint-Denijssport. As the club had taken the decision earlier on not to apply for a license for the national divisions, Borsbeke stays in P1, with KVV Sint-Denijssport taking its place in VFV Amateur Division 3.

Note 1 - Large parts of the information given above were taken from a booklet which was compiled on the occasion of KVC De Toekomst Borsbeke's 50th anniversary in 1978. Thanks to Borsbeke's board member André Wijnendaele for putting it at my disposal.

Note 2 - Below, a compilation of photos of two different visits: pictures 1-6 = non-matchday visit, August 2022 / pictures 7-23 = match visit, March 2023.