BELGIUM: R Entente Engissoise (1925-1993) / R Alliance Engis-Flémalle (B) (1993-1999) / RSC Entité Engis (1999-2017) / Football Académie d'Engis (2017-) / RRC Stockay-Warfusée (B) (2023-)

Stade des Fagnes, Engis (Football Académie d'Engis & B ground of RRC Stockay-Warfusée, formerly R Entente Engissoise / B ground of R Alliance Engis-Flémalle / RSC Entité Engis)

Belgium, province: Liège = Luik

19 VIII 2023 / RRC Stockay-Warfusée B - RFC Warnant B 1-5 / Liège, Provincial League 3A (= BE level 8)

Timeline

• 1925 / Foundation of a football club in Engis, Entente Engissoise. The club joins Belgium’s FA and starts its life in Liège’s provincial divisions. It is unclear if the club played at Stade des Fagnes from the outset.
• 1926 / Upon the introduction of registration numbers by the Belgian Football Association, Entente Engissoise acquires number 525.
• 1980 / Entente Engissoise obtains the royal epithet, thus becoming Royale Entente Engissoise.
• 1993 / After an independent existence of 68 years, in which the club never reached the national divisions, R Entente Engissoise concludes a merger with Alliance FC Flémalle (registration number 7762, founded in 1972), resulting in the foundation of Royale Alliance Engis-Flémalle, which retains Engis’ registration number 525. First team football moves to Alliance’s Terrain Profondval in Flémalle-Grande, while Engis’ ground at Rue des Fagnes is retained for lower team football and training sessions.
• 1999 / Following a conflict with Flémalle’s municipal authorities, the board of R Alliance Engis-Flémalle withdraws from Terrain Profondval in Flémalle-Grande. Initially a new merger is planned, this time with Hermalle SC (registration number 9260), but this scheme falls through when it transpires that Hermalle finds itself heavily indebted. In the end, R Alliance Engis-Flémalle takes on the name Royal Sport Club (RSC) Entité Engis, moving back to Stade des Fagnes in Engis proper.
• 2012 / Finishing 6th in Liège’s Provincial League 3A, RSC Entité Engis qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which it is eliminated by Etoile de Faimes in R1 (4-0).
• 2013 / Finishing runners-up in P3A behind RFC Jehaytois, RSC Entité Engis qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which it eliminates JS Kemexhe Crisnée in R1 (5-3) and RES Wanze in R2 (1-3) to reach the final. In that final, however, the club is defeated 2-0 by Stade Disonais B (2-0); in a subsequent lucky-loser play-off, Engis defeats RFC Heusy-Rouheid (1-2), thus eventually winning promotion to P2 through the backdoor.
• 2017 / In its last season as an independent club, in which it never reached the national divisions, RSC Entité Engis finishes 5th in Provincial League 2A. In the subsequent promotion play-offs, Engis defeats ESFC du Geer in an away tie in R1 (1-1 and a penalty shoot-out) and R Union Momalloise in R2 (2-1) to qualify for the final, in which it edges past R Aubel FC at Aubel's Stade Communal (0-0 and penalty shoot-out), thus winning promotion to Provincial League 1. Following the 2016-17 season, RSC Entité Engis concludes a merger with R Union Flémalloise, resulting in the foundation of R Union Flémalle, with Flémalloise’s registration number 2874 being retained; Engis’ number 525 is erased from the Belgian FA’s official lists. For the time being, while a new infrastructure is being constructed on the pitches of the former R Mons FC at Rue Jean-Louis Adam, first team football moves to Stade Robert Lecomte in Ivoz-Ramet, while lower team football and most training sessions take place at Terrain du Beau-Site in Flémalle-Haute. The Stade des Fagnes in Engis is abandoned to make way for a new club which is founded locally, Football Académie (FA) d’Engis, which joins Belgium’s FA receiving registration number 9681. The new club’s first team starts its life in Liège’s Provincial League 4A, finishing 9th in the 2017-18 season.
• 2021 / National league club RRC Stockay-Warfusée from nearby Stockay concludes a deal with FA Engis about the use of its ground for its first team football for a short while following a spell of bad weather which has rendered the main pitch of Stockay’s own ground at Rue Joseph Wauters unplayable. For similar reasons, in the second half of the 2022-23 season, Stockay again moves two home matches of its first team to Engis.
• 2023 / FA Engis concludes a partnership agreement with RRC Stockay-Warfusée, whereby Engis’ youth academy continues under the flag of Stockay at Stade des Fagnes. FA Engis itself retains just its first team in Provincial League 4. Moreover, Stockay’s B team, which plays its football in Liège’s Provincial League 3, moves its home matches to Stade des Fagnes as well.

Note 1 - The match I attended at Stade des Fagnes was nearly called off by the referee due to the goal nets at both ends being in a deplorable state. Following Belgian FA regulations, he accorded the home side 30 minutes to repair the damage - and gave the all-clear after 29 of those 30 minutes. As such, the match kicked off at 8.30pm instead of 8pm.

Note 2 - Below, a compilation of photos of two different visits: pictures 1-2 & 4 = non-matchday visit, August 2021 / pictures 3 & 5-17 = match visit, August 2023.

All photo's: (c) W.B. Tukker / www.extremefootballtourism.blogspot.com. Publication of any of these images only after permission of author