Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: La Caravelle Bruxelles (1979-1983) / AS Etoile Caravelle (1983-1991) / Sporting Dieleghem Jette (1984-1991) / Ritterklub VSV Jette (1989-) / Etoile Dieleghem Jette (1991-2002) / RSD Jette (B) (2002-) / R Union Saint-Gilloise (B) (2023-2024)

Complexe Heymbosch, Brussels = Bruxelles = Brussel Jette (Ritterklub VSV Jette & B ground of RSD Jette, formerly La Caravelle Bruxelles / AS Etoile Caravelle / Sporting Dieleghem Jette / Etoile Dieleghem Jette / R Union Saint-Gilloise B)

Belgium, Brussels Capital Area

30 VIII 2023 / R Union Saint-Gilloise B - RFC Meux 0-0 / ACFF Amateur Division 2 (= BE level 4)

Timeline

1979 / Foundation of La Caravelle Bruxelles, a new football club which joins Belgium's FA, obtaining registration number 8682. Most probably, the foundation of this club coincides with the construction of a new football ground in Jette, Complexe Heymbosch, consisting of three pitches - of which the one closest to the entrance at Avenue Jean Joseph Crocq was only intended for training purposes. Starting its life in Brabant's Provincial League 4, La Caravelle Bruxelles shared its ground, of which the middle pitch (current pitch 2) was used for first team football, with various recreational clubs.
1983 / La Caravelle Bruxelles changes its name to become Association Sportive (AS) Etoile Caravelle.
1984 / Foundation of a new football club in Jette, Sporting Dieleghem Jette, which acquires membership of Belgium's FA under registration number 8951. Sporting Dieleghem Jette becomes a groundsharer at Complexe Heymbosch with AS Etoile Caravelle. It is unclear which pitch was used by the new club's first team.
1986 / AS Etoile Caravelle has its best season up until that moment, finishing in 3rd place in Brabant's Provincial League 4B. The club goes on to equal this achievement 2 years later in P4J.
1989 / At Complexe Heymbosch, AS Etoile Caravelle and Sporting Dieleghem Jette are joined by a new groundsharer, Ritterklub VSV (Vlaamse Sportvereniging) Jette. Ritterklub was founded in 1956 as a Flemish recreational club in Brussels which initially joined Koninklijke Belgische Liefhebbersverbond - an association which later merged with Katholiek Voetbalverbond to become simply 'Sportverbond'. In 1974, Ritterklub joined Belgium's FA, receiving registration number 8104 upon being accepted as new members. Having to give up its home ground at Dieleghemdreef for the construction of houses in 1989, Ritterklub VSV Jette is temporarily allowed the use of Complexe Heymbosch, where its first team uses pitch 3 - the pitch farthest away from the entrance at Avenue Jean Joseph Crocq. The club starts its life at the new ground in Brabant's Provincial League 3, having won promotion from P4 in 1989 after having spent its first 15 seasons as a provincial league club in the bottom division.
1991 / After 2 seasons in P4, Ritterklub VSV Jette drops back into P4. Following the 1990-91 season, the two other clubs at Complexe Heymbosch, AS Etoile Caravelle and Sporting Dieleghem Jette, conclude a merger, becoming Etoile Dieleghem Jette, which retains Caravelle's registration number 8682. Neither of the clubs ever having played at a higher level than P4, the new merger club starts its life at that level as well.
1994 / Winning the title in Brabant's Provincial League 4H, Etoile Dieleghem Jette accedes to P3 for the first time.
1996 / Runners-up in P3C, Etoile Dieleghem Jette wins promotion to Provincial League 2 via the play-offs.
2000 / Runners-up in P2A, Etoile Dieleghem Jette wins promotion to Brabant's Provincial League 1 via the play-offs.
2002 / In its last season as an independent club, Etoile Dieleghem Jette finishes in 2nd place in Provincial League 1, missing out on promotion to the national divisions in the play-offs. Following the 2001-02 season, the club concludes a merger with R SCUP Jette, resulting in the foundation of Royal SCUP Dieleghem (RSD) Jette under SCUP's registration number 474. First team football moves to SCUP's Stade Communal "Complexe Expo", while Complexe Heymbosch is retained for lower team football and training sessions. Offered the opportunity to join the merger - not illogically, given its shared youth teams with Etoile Dieleghem Jette -, Ritterklub VSV Jette prefers to retain its independence, moving its first team football to pitch 2 of Complexe Heymbosch.
2006 / Having more than one reason to rejoice, Ritterklub VSV Jette wins promotion to P3 for the second time, yet again by winning the play-offs, while the club celebrates its 50th anniversary in a bash held at Stade Roi Baudouin, Belgium's national stadium, situated just across the municipal border in Laeken.
2009 / Finishing bottom in Brabant's P3F, Ritterklub drops back into P4 after 3 seasons.
2013 / Winning a regular title for the first time since joining Belgium's FA in 1974, Ritterklub VSV Jette obtains 1st place in P4D, 10 points ahead of closest rivals Sporting Eizeringen B, thus acceding to P3 for the 3rd time in club history.
2014 / Finally, after 25 years of waiting for a permanent ground, Ritterklub agrees to stay at Complexe Heymbosch for good. A brand new clubhouse - separate from RSD Jette's canteen - is inaugurated, while pitches 1 and 2 of the ground are equipped with a synthetic surface.
2016 / As Brabant's provincial leagues are subdivided into separate French-speaking and Dutch-speaking divisions (ACFF and VFV respectively), Ritterklub VSV Jette is one of the few clubs in Brussels choosing to play its football in VFV. Two of the others are K Sporting FC Haren and Bon Air Sport.
2023 / Much to the chagrin of Ritterklub's board, Jette's municipal authorities allow R Union Saint-Gilloise's B team to play its home matches at Complexe Heymbosch. After not having been given permission by Belgium's FA to play at Complexe Corneille Barca, Union B had had to spend the 2022-23 season, its first in the regular divisions, at grounds beyond the borders of Brussels - initially at Domaine Militaire in Nivelles, later at Stade André Cheron terrain 2 in Rebecq-Rognon.
2024 / After one season at Complexe Heymbosch, R Union Saint-Gilloise moves the home matches of its B team to Stade de la Chaussée de Neerstalle in Uccle - with the team being placed in ACFF Amateur Division 1 in spite of finishing in a meagre eleventh place in D2, which comes due to the circumstances that other teams in that division did not meet D1 regulations. In the best season in club history, Ritterklub VSV Jette finishes in fifth place in Brabant VFV's Provincial League 3B; qualifying for the promotion play-offs, the club defeats FC Moorsel in R1 (1-0), only to be eliminated by Londerzeel United in R2 (2-1).