Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: ERFC Manhay (± 1974-2017) / RES Harre-Manhay (2017-)

Stade Georges Huet, Manhay (RES Harre-Manhay, formerly ERFC Manhay)

Belgium, province: Luxembourg

23 VII 2023 / RES Harre-Manhay - US Halthier 5-2 / Belgian Luxembourg, Provincial Cup (P1-P2) - group stage, group E

Timeline

1941 / Foundation of FC Grandmenilois in the village of Grandmenil, 1 km west of Manhay. Upon joining Belgium's Football Association, the club acquires matricule 3159.
1945 / Not having disputed a single championship since its foundation - mainly due to the hardships of war, which culminated in the near-total destruction of the region in the Battle of the Bulge in the latter stages of 1944, FC Grandmenilois changes its name to become Entente Sportive (ES) Grandmenil-Vaux-Chavanne. The club is placed in Belgian Luxembourg's division of aspiring clubs.
1948 / ES Grandmenil-Vaux-Chavanne has its best season, finishing runners-up in the league of aspiring clubs. The club voluntarily refrained from joining the regular provincial divisions.
1951 / Not having fielded a team since 1949, ES Grandmenil-Vaux-Chavanne is erased from the Belgian FA's official membership list.
1959 / Foundation of a new club, Entente Régionale Football Club (ERFC) Manhay, which is accepted as new Belgian FA member under matricule 6224. The club's first chairman is Georges Huet. Starting its life in Belgian Luxembourg's Provincial League 3D, the club plays its home matches on a pitch situated halfway between Manhay and Chêne-al-Pierre.
1961 / In its second season, ERFC Manhay wins the title in Provincial League 3D, 5 points ahead of SC Grand-Halleux and 10 points ahead of JFC Wibrin. The club accedes to Provincial League 2 for the first time.
1962 / Abandoning its initial ground, ERFC Manhay moves to a pitch in Manhay proper, Terrain Julien Lacasse, situated at Vieux Chemin de la Vaux.
1967 / ERFC Manhay clinches the title in Provincial League 2B, 7 points ahead of ES Houffalize. For the first time in history, the club accedes to Belgian Luxembourg's Provincial League 1.
1969 / Defeating AC Saint-Mard (6-0), ERFC Manhay reaches R2 of the Belgian Cup, in which it is eliminated in a home game against FC Union La Calamine (2-3).
1972 / Georges Sepult, who started his career at Lierneux FC before moving on to ERFC Manhay upon its foundation in 1959, plays his 900th official match (of which over 600 for Manhay). Sepult, meanwhile in his 40s, is honoured with a gala match in which ERFC Manhay hosts a team of players of surrounding villages.
1973 / Finishing last in Provincial League 1, ERFC Manhay drops back into P2 after 6 years.
1974 / Coming close to the title in P2C, ERFC Manhay has to settle for second place, finishing 2 points behind ES Houffalize. Also in or around 1974, the club must have moved to its current ground at Rue des Armées Américaines.
1975 / ERFC Manhay wins the title in Provincial League 2C, 5 points ahead of CS Vielsalm, thus managing a return to Belgian Luxembourg's top provincial division after 2 years.
1976 / Finishing 12th in P1 with an equal number of points as RC Mormont and USL Saint-Léger, ERFC Manhay has to play a relegation play-off against these two clubs. In the end, only RC Mormont saves its skin, with the two others dropping back one level.
1978 / After a closely fought race, ERFC Manhay has to leave the P2C title to RSS Salmienne. In November, co-founder and club chairman Georges Huet passes away; the ground at Rue des Armées Américaines is renamed in his honour.
1988 / Runners-up in P2C, ERFC Manhay misses out on promotion to P1, as the title goes to US Givry. A force to be reckoned with in P2C in those years, the club also manages no fewer than 5 3rd place finishes between 1979 and 1989.
1990 / After 14 consecutive seasons in Provincial League 2C, ERFC Manhay wins the title of this division, 7 points ahead of FC Bande. With a particularly strong squad, including the Lesenfants and Evrard brothers, as well as Bernard Boutay, Jean-Marie Prévot, Roland Paul, Jean-Marie Bechoux, Harry Kleijkers, and Lucy Michel, the club returns to Provincial League 1.
1998 / Having played in P1 for 8 years - the club's longest spell at this level -, ERFC Manhay finishes last in this division, thus dropping back into P2.
2001 / Finishing 2nd-last in P2C, ERFC Manhay finds itself in Provincial League 3 for the first time in 39 years.
2002 / Finishing 3rd in Provincial League 3F behind FC Compogne Bertogne and AS Regné, ERFC Manhay qualifies for the promotion play-offs - which it wins, thus earning a return to P2. The joy is short-lived, though, with relegation to the bottom division following in 2003.
2006 / With a commanding lead of 11 points over closest rivals RSS Salmienne, ERFC Manhay wins the title in Provincial League 3E, thus returning to P2.
2009 / Having dropped back into P3 the previous season, ERFC Manhay now wins its 2nd title in 3 years at that level, 15 points ahead of runners-up ES Bourcy.
2012 / Finishing 2nd-last in P2C, ERFC Manhay descends into Provincial League 3 along with RJR Aye FC and bottom club RFC Petit-Han.
2013 / In an all-time low, ERFC Manhay finishes last in Provincial League 3E without winning a single point, and a goal difference of -87 (24-111). The home match against RCS Vielsalm is lost 13-0.
2014 / In grave financial trouble, ERFC Manhay refrains from fielding a first team for the 2014-15 season. The club returns in P3E in 2015.
2017 / In its last season as an independent club, ERFC Manhay finishes 9th in Provincial League 3E. At the end of the season, a merger is concluded with R Olympic Harre, resulting in the foundation of Royale Entente Sportive (RES) Harre-Manhay, which retains Harre's matricule 3296. Guy Huet is chosen as the club's first chairman. The merger club starts its life in Provincial League 2C, given that Harre maintained itself at that level in its last season as an independent club. First team football is played at Manhay's Stade Georges Huet, while Harre's ground at Chemin du Stade remains in use for lower team football and training sessions.
2018 / In its first season, RES Harre-Manhay finishes last in Provincial League 2C, thus descending into P3.
2020 / In the 2019-20 season, broken off in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, RES Harre-Manhay is declared champion of Provincial League 3F on the basis of 16 of 26 matches, with the club having built up a relatively comfortable lead over CS Odeigne (7 points) and R Lierneux FC (8 points). Thus, the club is placed in Provincial League 2C for the new season.
2023 / In a closely fought race, RES Harre-Manhay wins the title in Provincial League 2C, with RUS Erezée and RSC Nassogne just missing out (finishing 1 and 2 points behind the merger club respectively). For the first time in a quarter of a century, Provincial League 1 football returns to Manhay. In the fall of 2023, the small bit of cover along the northern end of the pitch of Stade Georges Huet (already gone in the photos below) is replaced with a modern, small covered stand (cp. photos 16-18 below).
2024 / In its first season in Provincial League 1, RES Harry-Manhay clinches the title, 3 points ahead of closest followers RAFC Oppagne-Wéris, thus acceding to national league football for the first time by achieving a historic promotion to ACFF Amateur Division 3.

Note - Below, a compilation of photos of two different visits: pictures 1-15 = match visit, July 2023 / pictures 16-18 = non-matchday visit, March 2024.