Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: KFC Sparta Haacht-Statie (±1963-2020)

Thursday, 17 August 2023

BELGIUM: KFC Sparta Haacht-Statie (±1963-2020)

Terrein Elleveldweg I, Haacht Haacht-Station (formerly KFC Sparta Haacht-Statie)

Belgium, province: Flemish Brabant

August 2023 / no match visited

Timeline

1937 / Foundation of FC Boortmeerbeek, which joins Belgium’s Football Association, acquiring registration number 2564 upon being accepted as new members. It is unclear where FC Boortmeerbeek’s ground was situated.
1939 / In 1938-39, FC Boortmeerbeek’s only season in which a first team is fielded, the club finishes 7th in Brabant’s Provincial League 3A.
1943 / Having remained inactive for some years, FC Boortmeerbeek changes its name to become FC Sparta Haacht-Statie. Moving away from Boortmeerbeek, the club settles at a ground at Provinciebaan, nicknamed D’n Zandbak (‘The Sandpit’), which does not have the correct measurements for regular league matches. The club remains inactive, not taking part in league football.
1945 / FC Sparta Haacht-Statie starts its life as a competitive club in Brabant’s Provincial League 3C. Probably, this coincided with the move to a new ground, laid out at Elisabeth Willemslaan in Wespelaar.
1950 / FC Sparta Haacht-Statie conquers the title in Provincial League 3C, thus winning promotion to Provincial League 2.
1956 / Obtaining the title in Provincial League 2C, FC Sparta Haacht-Statie accedes to Brabant’s Provincial League 1 for the first time.
1957 / In the best season in club history, FC Sparta Haacht-Statie finishes in 10th place in Provincial League 1.
1958 / Having managed two seasons in Provincial League 1, FC Sparta Haacht-Statie finishes second-last, thus dropping back into P2.
1961 / Finishing last in P2B, FC Sparta Haacht-Statie descends into Provincial League 3.
c. 1963 / Moving away from Elisabeth Willemslaan, FC Sparta Haacht-Statie settles at a newly laid-out ground at Elleveldweg (near the crossroads with Grote Baan) in Haacht-Station proper.
1965 / Winning the title in P3D, FC Sparta Haacht-Statie manages a return to P2.
1968 / FC Sparta Haacht-Statie obtains the title in Provincial League 2B, thus winning promotion to Brabant’s top provincial division for the second time.
1969 / Unable to hold its own in Provincial League 1, FC Sparta Haacht-Statie finishes second-last, thus dropping back into P2.
1973 / Finishing second-last in P2B, FC Sparta Haacht-Statie descends into Provincial League 3.
1983 / Having played 10 consecutive years in Provincial League 3, FC Sparta Haacht-Statie now wins the title in P3D, thus acceding to Provincial League 2. The adventure at that level lasts just one season, though, with relegation duly following in 1984.
c. 1985 / A new set of dressing rooms is put in place at Terrein Elleveldweg.
c. 1993 / Possibly in 1993, FC Sparta Haacht-Statie obtained the royal epithet, thus becoming KFC Sparta Haacht-Statie.
1994 / Clinching the title in P3E, KFC Sparta Haacht-Statie manages a return to Provincial League 2 after an absence of one decade.
1999 / Following a last place in P2B – all the more shocking given the club finished 4th in that same series the previous season –, KFC Sparta Haacht-Statie is relegated to Provincial League 3.
2000 / For the first time in club history, KFC Sparta Haacht-Statie finds itself in Brabant’s Provincial League 4 following a 15th place in P3D in the 1999-2000 season.
2004 / Finishing runners-up in Provincial League 4E, KFC Sparta Haacht-Statie wins the promotion play-offs to return to Provincial League 3.
2008 / Winning the title in Provincial League 3D, 4 points ahead of Tielt Sport, KFC Sparta Haacht-Statie manages a return to Provincial League 2 for the first time in the new century. The stay at that level does not last longer than one season, though, with relegation following immediately in 2009.
2012 / Finishing last in P3D, KFC Sparta Haacht-Statie drops back into the abyss of Provincial League 4 along with Sportief Rotselaar.
2019 / Finishing runners-up in P4C, 13 points behind Sportief Rotselaar B, KFC Sparta Haacht-Statie wins promotion to Provincial League 3 without having to play promotion play-offs.
2020 / After nearly 60 years at their ground at Elleveldweg, KFC Sparta Haacht-Statie settles at a newly laid-out ground on the same road, but further to the south-east (near the crossroads with Donkstraat), in September 2020. The premises at Elleveldweg no. 5 are abandoned.