Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: Sporting Heide Linter

Sunday 22 October 2023

BELGIUM: Sporting Heide Linter

Terrein Heidebos, Linter Heide (Sporting Heide Linter)

Belgium, province: Flemish Brabant = Vlaams Brabant

22 X 2023 / Sporting Heide Linter - K Halle VV 2-1 / Brabant, VFV Provincial League 4F (= BE level 9)

Timeline

1967 / Foundation of a recreational football club in Heide, a hamlet of Neerlinter; the club takes on the name Sporting Heide Linter and joins Brabant’s branch of recreational football league RKLVB (Rooms-Katholieke Liefhebbersvoetbalbond). In the first two years of its existence, the club plays on several different makeshift pitches.
1969 / Sporting Heide Linter settles at Terrein Heidebos.
1975 / Abandoning the RKLVB, Sporting Heide Linter joins the official Belgian Football Association (KBVB), obtaining registration number 8272. The club starts its life as a KBVB club in Brabant’s Provincial League 4.
1983 / Clinching the title in Provincial League 4F, Sporting Heide Linter accedes to Provincial League 3 for the first time.
1987 / Guided by trainer Jean-Pierre Tavernier, who took with him several players of his former club Klub 73 Tienen, Sporting Heide Linter wins the title in Provincial League 3A following a 1-1 home draw against Toekomst Bunsbeek. At the end of the season, the club has a 6-point advantage over runner-up side VV Kersbeek.
1988 / Still coached by Jean-Pierre Tavernier, Sporting Heide Linter has its best season in club history, finishing in 6th place in Brabant’s Provincial League 2B.
1989 / Finishing 15th in P2B, Sporting Heide Linter drops back into Provincial League 3 after two seasons.
1997 / Second-last in the final ranking of Provincial League 3A, Sporting Heide Linter finds itself in P4 for the first time in fourteen years.
2005 / Runners-up in Provincial League 4E, Sporting Heide Linter wins promotion to P3 without promotion play-offs. The new stay in P3 does not last longer than one season, though, with relegation following in 2006.
2008 / Finishing just one point behind title winners FC Binkom in Provincial League 4I, Sporting Heide Linter wins an automatic promotion place and thus accedes to Provincial League 3 once again.
2012 / Second-last in Provincial League 3A, Sporting Heide Linter drops back into P4 along with bottom club KSK Rummen.
2014 / Finishing in 3rd place in Provincial League 4H behind Sparta Kumtich-Tienen and RD Zoutleeuw, Sporting Heide Linter wins promotion to P3 due to extra promotion places being available.
2016 / Second-last in P3A, Sporting Heide Linter drops back into P4 along with bottom club KV Boutersem.
2019 / Sporting Heide Linter finishes runners-up in Provincial League 4A, 9 points behind village rivals KSV Drieslinter, but without the longed-for promotion back to P3. The club also comes rather close to the title in 2018 (3rd place) and 2020 (4th).