Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: R Charneux FC

Sunday 7 May 2023

BELGIUM: R Charneux FC

Cour Beaupré - terrain 2, Charneux (R Charneux FC)

Belgium, province: Liège = Luik

7 V 2023 / Charneux FC - R Herve FC B 0-0 - Herve won penalty shoot-out (1-3) / Liège, Provincial League 4F - promotion play-off, preliminary round

Timeline

1973 / Foundation of Charneux FC as a recreational club. In the first year of its existence, the club sticks to playing friendlies against teams from surrounding villages. The club disposes of just one pitch, situated at Cour Beaupré. A small clubhouse is constructed, situated on the northern end of the pitch.
1974 / Applying for membership of the Belgian Football Association, Charneux FC obtains matricule 8152 and is placed in Liège's Provincial League 4.
1987 / Having played in Provincial League 4 for the past 13 seasons, Charneux FC manages a first promotion to Provincial League 3. It is unclear how long the club managed to stay at that level, but a relegation back to the bottom division must have occurred some time between 1988 and 1994.
1995 / Charneux FC wins promotion to Provincial League 3 for the 2nd time in club history; also in this case, it is unclear how long the club stayed up at this level, but relegation must have taken place some time between 1996 and 2002. Also in 1995, in a major renovation of Terrain Cour Beaupré, a start is made on building a new clubhouse on the western end of the main pitch. As this renders the pitch unusable, an emergency pitch is laid out at the northern end of the old clubhouse, while the club is given the luxury of a training pitch (current terrain 3) to the south of the main pitch.
1996 / In June 1996, the new clubhouse (to be seen in the photos below) is inaugurated, as well as a new B pitch on its western end (the pitch pictured below). With the emergency pitch being given up, the ground now consists of two pitches suitable for matches as well as one training pitch.
2003 / Charneux FC wins promotion to Provincial League 3 for the 3rd time.
2010 / In Provincial League 3C, Charneux FC manages a respectable 4th place.
2014 / In a repeat of the 2009-10 season, Charneux FC finishes in 4th place in Provincial League 3C. Qualifying for the promotion play-offs, the club reaches the final, which it loses after a penalty shoot-out in an away match at SFC Saive. Charneux FC never came closer to promotion to Provincial League 2, a level which was never reached by the club either before or afterwards.
± 2018 / First team football is moved from terrain 1 to terrain 2, which is situated on a hillside - and hence less vulnerable to flooding.
2020 / Having played in Provincial League 3C for over 10 consecutive years, Charneux FC is placed in P3D, which includes many teams from the German-speaking eastern parts of Liège, for the 2019-20 season. In this strong division, the club finishes 16th and last, thus dropping back into Provincial League 4 after a 17-year spell in P3.
2023 / Finishing runners-up in Provincial League 4F behind KFC Eupen 1963 B, Charneux FC is eliminated in the first preliminary round of the promotion play-offs by R Herve FC B after a penalty shoot-out.
2024 / Celebrating its fiftieth anniversary as a Belgian Football Association member, Charneux FC acquires the royal epithet, thus officially becoming Royal Charneux Football Club. Moreover, the club wins the title in P4F, with an equal number of points as R Herve FC B, but with a better goal difference (+87 vs. +67). As such, R Charneux FC accedes to Provincial League 3.