Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: Sporting Eizeringen

Saturday 18 March 2023

BELGIUM: Sporting Eizeringen

Terrein Georges Sterckx, Eizeringen (Sporting Eizeringen)

Belgium, province: Flemish Brabant = Vlaams Brabant

18 III 2023 / Sporting Eizeringen - KFC Avenir Lembeek 2-4 / Brabant, VFV Provincial League 3A (= BE level 8)

Timeline

1971 / Foundation of Sporting Eizeringen upon the initiative of two locals, Jamain De Vos and Hubert Borremans. Joining Belgium's Football Association under matricule 7579, the club starts its life in Brabant's Provincial League 4B at Terrein Dolf Dekens, a pitch rented from a local farmer.
1972 / Abandoning Terrein Dolf Dekens after just one year, Sporting Eizeringen settles at a plot of land belonging to another local farmer, Georges Sterckx, situated at the crossroads of Eizeringenstraat and Molenstraat. A clubhouse and dressing rooms are constructed (in fact the buildings shown in the photos below).
1976 / Winning the title in Provincial League 4B, Sporting Eizeringen accedes to Provincial League 3 for the first time.
1997 / Having played in P3 for 21 consecutive years, the club finishes in 15th place in Provincial League 3F, thus dropping back into the bottom division of Brabant's provincial league system.
1999 / After a second-place finish in P4D, Sporting Eizeringen returns to P3 - it is unclear if the club had to go through a series of play-offs to attain the higher division.
2004 / Clinching the title in Provincial League 3F, Eizeringen attains the Provincial League 2 level for the first time in club history.
2009 / Although finishing only in 10th place in P2C, Sporting Eizeringen qualifies for the promotion play-offs for a place in Provincial League 1 for the first time - though without the hoped-for result.
2011 / Sporting Eizeringen has the best season in club history, finishing in an impressive second place in Provincial League 2C, yet with a staggering 13 points behind champions FC Pepingen. Qualifying for the promotion play-offs again, Eizeringen is eliminated in a group with RUS Rebecquoise and VS Kortenaken.
2014 / Having lost the last 11 matches in a row, Sporting Eizeringen finishes dead-last in Provincial League 2C, thus suffering relegation back into P3 after ten years.
2023 / Following nine years in Provincial League 3, Sporting Eizeringen drops back into P4 for the first time since the turn of the century - finishing 15th in P3A, and with KFC Avenir Lembeek and KFC Rhodienne-De Hoek B being the other clubs dropping out.
2024 / Finishing in third place in P4A, Sporting Eizeringen qualifies for the promotion play-offs, defeating Stormvogels Haasrode B in R1 (3-0), only to be eliminated by KFC Avenir Lembeek in R2 (2-0).