Extreme Football Tourism: NETHERLANDS: RKVV Montagnards (1957-2023) / SJO SSA MSH Maasduinen (2023-)

Sportpark Venhorst, Nieuw Bergen (RKVV Montagnards)

Netherlands, province: Limburg

10 IV 2023 / RKVV Montagnards - SV Kronenberg 1-1 / District South II, Sunday League 4F (= NL level 9)

Timeline

1928 / In Café Lamers Tramhalte in Bergen (Oud-Bergen), Limburg, a football club is founded; with several names being considered, notably Bergsche Voetbalvereeniging (BVV), the club is eventually given the name Rooms-Katholieke Voetbalvereeniging (RKVV) Montagnards - Montagnards being a French pun on the name of the village (Bergen is Dutch for 'mountains'). A. van Kappel is elected as the club's first chairman, with local chaplain G. Stoot taking on the task of spiritual advisor (an obligatory feature for any Roman-Catholic sports club in the Netherlands in those days). A plot of land is rented from a local farmer, Mr Jaspers, situated at Rijksweg in Bergen (Oud-Bergen). The club joins the so-called Rooms-Katholieke Limburgse Voetbalbond (RKLVB), a Roman-Catholic league of clubs.
1930 / RKVV Montagnards' first team clinches the title in RKLVB's Division 1M, thereby acceding to RKLVB's so-called Overgangsklasse.
1933 / A rivalling club is founded in Bergen, possibly the result of a pub brawl. This new club, Aurora, also joins RKLVB, but no further mention of it is found after 1935 - and its dissolution must have occurred some time between 1935 and 1938.
1935 / Winning the title in RKLVB's Overgangsklasse F without suffering a single defeat all season, RKVV Montagnards accedes to Division 3 of the so-called Interdiocesane Voetbalcompetitiebond (IVCB), of which RKLVB used to be a feeder league. Floodlights are installed around the pitch at Terrein Jaspers, enabling midweek training sessions.
1937 / Having a particularly good season, RKVV Montagnards finishes in 3rd place in IVCB Division 3F, behind vv Union (from Malden) and SV Hatert.
1940 / After the German occupation of the Netherlands, all football associations except the official Netherlands' FA (Nederlandsche Voetbalbond, NVB) are abolished, upon which RKVV Montagnards joins NVB. Until the mid-1950s, the club alternates spells in (K)NVB Sunday Leagues 3 & 4.
1956 / The club suffers relegation from KNVB Sunday League 4 to LVB Division 1 - LVB (Limburgse Voetbalbond) being the league of clubs from the province of Limburg playing below the divisions organised by the Netherlands' Football Association. Also in 1956, Terrein Jaspers is abandoned. It is unclear where the club played its home matches in the 1956-57 season.
1957 / RKVV Montagnards clinches the title in LVB D1 with coach Jan Daemen, thus managing an immediate return to the ranks of KNVB Sunday League 4. That same year, in an inaugural ceremony attended by the local mayor, Mr Van Mackelenberg, the club moves into a new, purpose-built sports park at Industrielaan, which is later given the name Sportpark Venhorst - thus moving from (Oud-)Bergen to Nieuw Bergen. There, the club disposes of two pitches - with an extra pitch being added later on. In subsequent years, the club unofficially changes its name to Rooms-Katholieke Sportvereniging (RKSV Montagnards) due to the addition of branches for volleyball, table-tennis, gymnastics, and judo - with all of those being wound up or breaking away as independent clubs later onwards.
1959 / Finishing in joint-first place in Sunday League 4G, the club plays a play-off against RKVV Volharding from Vierlingsbeek, losing this match and thus missing out on promotion.
1967 / Winning the title in Sunday League 4H, RKVV Montagnards accedes to Sunday League 3 after an absence of 17 years. The stay at this level lasts for three seasons, with relegation following in 1970.
1973 / Having played in Sunday League 4 for the past 16 seasons, RKVV Montagnards now wins the title in Sunday League 4H, winning the decisive match away against derby rivals RKVV HRC '27 (1-3). To boost the chances of survival upon the club's return in League 3, the squad is boosted with the arrival of Rob Lelieveld, former professional league player at NEC.
1974 / Having a strong season under the aegis of coach Ben Peeters, RKVV Montagnards is a serious title contender in Sunday League 3D. In the end, the club has to settle for 2nd place after losing the home match against the last remaining rival vv Tiglieja (2-3) - whereas a draw would have been sufficient to win the title. However, with an extra promotion place being available, the club accedes to Sunday League 2 nonetheless - for the first time in club history. Local sponsors treat the squad to a trip to Hanover's Niedersachsenstadion for the Netherlands' World Cup encounter with Uruguay (2-0).
1975 / Comfortably holding its own, RKVV Montagnards finishes in 7th place in Sunday League 2B, the best result in club history. The following year, the club manages an 8th position.
1977 / Having played in Sunday League 2 for three seasons, the club from Nieuw Bergen now finishes in 12th place in L2B, resulting in the drop back into L3 - which is followed by a second relegation in a row in 1978. The following three decades are mainly spent in Sunday League 4, alternated with shorter spells in L3.
1993 / Replacing the original clubhouse built in the 1950s, a new, larger construction is erected at Sportpark de Venhorst.
2005 / Finishing in 12th place in District South II's Sunday League 4G, RKVV Montagnards finds itself in Sunday League 5 for the first time. In subsequent years, the club has alternated spells in L5 (2005-08, 2013-15, 2017-18) and L4 (2008-13, 2015-17, 2018-present).
2023 / As a prelude to a merger, a partnership deal is concluded between RKVV Montagnards, RKVV HRC '27, and RKSV Stormvogels '28. With first team football moving to RKVV Montagnards' Sportpark Venhorst, the grounds in Afferden and Siebengewald remain in use for lower team football and training sessions.

Note - The main source of information for the article above is a booklet published on the occasion of RKVV Montagnards' 75th anniversary, written by Jack Kandelaars & Ernest Buddiger: "Montan75jaar. Het roemruchte verleden van de Bergse voetbalvereniging", Minoprint: Afferden 2003.