BELGIUM: FC Eprave (1967-2020) / Union Rochefortoise (B) (2020-)

Stade Abel Magerat, Eprave (B ground of Union Rochefortoise, formerly FC Eprave)

Belgium, province: Namur = Namen

18 II 2024 / Union Rochefortoise B - US Flavion-Morialmé 3-0 / Namur, Provincial League 1 (= BE level 6)

Timeline

• 1967 / Foundation of a football club in Eprave, which takes on the name FC Eprave. The club acquires membership of Belgium’s Football Association under registration number 7049. The club played its football on the pitch at Rue de la Gare – later renamed Stade Abel Magerat in honour of the club’s founding president – from the outset. 
• 2012 / The first forty-odd years of club history being somewhat shrouded in veils – but with the club never managing to reach a higher level than Provincial League 2 – FC Eprave now finishes in 3rd place in Namur’s Provincial League 3C, only 5 points behind champions RES Gesvoise. In the ensuing promotion play-offs, the club finishes second in a group with R Anhée FC and R Excelsior FC Moustier, thus having to leave the promotion ticket to Anhée; in a lucky-loser round, however, the club defeats RS Fernelmont-Hemptinne (1-1 and penalty shoot-out) to accede to Provincial League 2 through the backdoor. 
• 2013 / In a difficult season in P2B, FC Eprave eventually finishes in joint-12th place with R Anhée FC, first losing a test match against Anhée to determine which team officially finishes 13th and has to play relegation play-offs. In those play-offs, FC Eprave suffers a clear defeat at the hands of CS Wépionnais, the no. 13 of P2A (5-1 aggregate) – which would have entailed relegation to Provincial League 3, were it not for the fact that an extra spot in P2 turns out to be available, which means that the club stays up after all.
• 2014 / Finishing second-last in Namur’s Provincial League 2B, FC Eprave drops back into P3 along with bottom club RUS Biesme.
• 2016 / Finishing 4th in Provincial League 3C, FC Eprave qualifies for the promotion play-offs. Managing only last place in a play-off group with AC Lustin and RFC Sart-Bernard, however, the club misses out on a return to P2.
• 2020 / FC Eprave concludes a merger deal with R Jeunesse Rochefortoise FC, resulting in the foundation of Union Rochefortoise, with Rochefortoise’s number 2799 being retained. The new merger club disposes of three different grounds; first team football is henceforth being played at Parc des Roches in Rochefort proper, with the club’s B team settling at Stade Abel Magerat in Eprave, and some training sessions taking place at Terrain de Lavaux in Jemelle – RJ Rochefortoise FC's former youth academy, situated very close to the pitches of the former FC Jemelle, the previous merger partner of Jeunesse Rochefortoise in 2008. Union Rochefortoise’s B team starts its life in Provincial League 3, the level at which FC Eprave acted in the 2019-20 season.
• 2022 / Champions in P3C, 10 points ahead of RCS Condruzien B, Union Rochefortoise B wins promotion to Provincial League 2.
• 2023 / Finishing 3rd in Namur’s Provincial League 2B behind champions RFC Anhée and runners-up R Stade Gedinnois, Union Rochefortoise B qualifies for the promotion play-offs. Following successive defeats of R Stade Gedinnois (1-1, penalty shoot-out: 2-4), ES Pétigny-Frasnes (0-3), and CS Wépionnais (6-5 aggregate), Union Rochefortoise B becomes the second B team – after RFC Meux B in 2015 – to win promotion to Namur’s Provincial League 1, in which the club comfortably holds its own in the 2023-24 season by finishing in ninth place.

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