BELGIUM: FC Zelzate (1964-2008) / KVV Zelzate (B) (2008-2024)

Terrein Verbroederingslaan, Zelzate (formerly KFC Zelzate & youth academy ground of KVV Zelzate)

Belgium, province: East Flanders = Oost-Vlaanderen

22 IV 2023 / KVV Zelzate U21 - RVC Hoboken U21 6-1 / U21 Provincial League 2C

Timeline

• ± 1933 / Foundation of Voetbalclub (VC) Blue Boys Zelzate, which, instead of applying for membership of the official Belgian Football Association (KBVB), joins the so-called Vlaamsche Voetbalbond. The club's first ground is situated at the northern edges of the town, alongside a street called Oude Westtragel nowadays.
• 1945 / Following the example of its Roman-Catholic town rivals SLV Zelzate, which joined the official Belgian FA in the latter stages of 1944, the bourgeois VC Blue Boys also applies for membership, being admitted under registration number 4386. Meanwhile, the club plays its football on a new pitch at Boerenstraat, situated not that far from Oude Westtragel.
• 1946 / VC Blue Boys Zelzate starts its life in East Flanders' Regional League 2 (2e Gewestelijke) - and in Provincial League 3 from 1952 onwards.
• 1957 / Keen to shed its liberal ("blue") and bourgeois image, VC Blue Boys Zelzate's board takes the decision to change the club's name, replacing it with the painstakingly simple FC Zelzate.
• 1964 / Abandoning its pitch at Boerenstraat, FC Zelzate moves to a newly laid-out ground at Verbroederingslaan, again no further than a stone's throw away from the club's old premises. 
• 1969 / Always have played at the bottom of the league ladder since joining the Belgian FA 24 years earlier, FC Zelzate now drops into East Flanders' newly founded Provincial League 4.
• 1970 / Finishing 2nd in Provincial League 4A, FC Zelzate accedes to Provincial League 3 - constituting the first-ever promotion of the club since joining Belgium's FA 25 years earlier.
• 1977 / Clinching the title in Provincial League 3A under the guidance of coach André Van Driessche, FC Zelzate wins promotion to Provincial League 2 for the first time in club history.
• 1979 / In its second season in P2, FC Zelzate finishes bottom of the table in Provincial League 2A, resulting in the club being retrograded to P3.
• 1984 / Winning the closely-fought title race in Provincial League 3A against eternal rivals SLV Zelzate, FC Zelzate, coached by Rudy Haemerlinck, manages a return to Provincial League 2.
• 1987 / FC Zelzate has the most successful season in club history, finishing in 4th place in Provincial League 2A.
• 1989 / Having played in P2 for 5 seasons, FC Zelzate now finishes second-last in P2A, thus dropping back into Provincial League 3.
• 1998 / Finishing bottom of the league in P3A, FC Zelzate sinks back into Provincial League 4, 28 years after last having played at that lowly level.
• 2002 / Requiring 4 seasons to battle its way back up the league ladder, FC Zelzate, coached by Filip De Rijcke, wins the title in Provincial League 4A, thus acceding to P3 after a 4-year absence.
• 2007 / FC Zelzate obtains the royal epithet, thus changing its name to become Koninklijke Football Club (KFC) Zelzate.
• 2008 / Losing the title race in Provincial League 3A in the most dramatic of fashions, KFC Zelzate suffers a 3-0 defeat away at KVV Klauwaarts Bassevelde on the last day of the season, thereby being overtaken in first place by town rivals KSLV Zelzate, which manages a 4-2 home win over KFC Eendracht Belzele-Evergem (4-2 after trailing 0-2) - the final result being that KSLV Zelzate wins the title with 64 points over KFC Zelzate with 62 points, with the latter having been top of the league for almost the entire season. Following the 2007-08 season, a merger is concluded between KSLV Zelzate and KFC Zelzate, resulting in the foundation of Koninklijke Voetbalvereniging (KVV) Zelzate, which retains KSLV's matricule 4165; KFC Zelzate's matricule 4386 is erased from the Belgian FA's official lists. Henceforth, first team football is played at KSLV Zelzate's ground at Patronagestraat, while the merger club's youth academy settles at KFC Zelzate's pitches at Verbroederingslaan. For some time, the club also disposes of a third ground at Zeestraat, but this is given up some time later to be taken over by recreational football clubs. With Johan Schenkels becoming the new club's first chairman, KVV Zelzate starts its life in Provincial League 2 following the title win of the former KSLV Zelzate.
• 2012 / At the instigation of Zelzate's municipal authorities, renovation works are undertaken at Terrein Verbroederingslaan.
• 2022 / In the summer of 2022, after many years of fruitless talks, the go-ahead sign is given to start the building works on a new ground for the club at Broeder Leopoldstraat, which is given the provisional name Site Zelzate-Zuid.
• 2024 / Abandoning its two grounds at Patronagestraat and Verbroederingslaan in January 2024, KVV Zelzate moves to its new ground at Zelzate-Zuid, the so-called Armand Seghers Sportcomplex. Both old grounds are due to be removed to make way for housing.

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