Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: R Harzé FC

Thursday 22 February 2024

BELGIUM: R Harzé FC

Stade Mariette Cornet, Harzé (R Harzé FC)

Belgium, province: Liège = Luik

22 II 2024 / R Harzé FC - R Union Limbourg FC 1-1 - Limbourg won penalty shoot-out (3-4) / Liège, Provincial Cup for P3-P4 teams - last 32

Timeline

1936 / Foundation of a football club in Harzé, which is given the name Harzé FC. The club, which joins Belgium’s Football Association acquiring registration number 2429, settles on a pitch at Rue de Chaineux, at the back of the local cemetery.
1982 / Moving away from the pitch at Rue de Chaineux, Harzé FC moves to the current ground at Rue Pré de Lhoneux – later renamed Stade Mariette Cornet in honour of a former club president. The current clubhouse dates back to the inauguration of the ground.
1986 / On the club’s fiftieth anniversary, Harzé FC acquires the royal epithet, thus officially becoming Royal Harzé Football Club; or R Harzé FC.
± 1995 / A small covered stand is inaugurated at Stade Mariette Cornet.
2012 / With the first sixty-odd years of its history being shrouded in veils – but with the club probably never reaching a level higher than Provincial League 3 – R Harzé FC now finishes in third place in Liège’s Provincial League 3B, thus qualifying for the promotion play-offs, in which it suffers elimination in the first preliminary round at the hands of RFC Ouffet-Warzée (0-2).
2017 / Having been a stable force in P3B in the past seasons, R Harzé FC now finishes in second-last place, 4 points short of FC Herstal B and a safe place in the final ranking. As such, the club descends into Provincial League 4 along with bottom club R Sougné-Remouchamps Sports.
2018 / In its first year back in Provincial League 4, R Harzé FC clinches the P4B title, steering 3 points clear of closest rivals JS Thier-à-Liège and R Fraiture FC. In fact, on the last day of the season, Harzé beat Thier-à-Liège in a direct confrontation at Stade Mariette Cornet (2-1).
2020-21 / The clubhouse of Stade Mariette Cornet is extended with a set of new dressing rooms.
2022 / R Harzé FC finishes in a meagre thirteenth place in P3B, just 1 point ahead of RFC Soumagne, who eventually descend into P4 after losing the promotion-relegation play-off final against R Baelen FC.
2023 / Finishing in fourth place in P3C, R Harzé FC qualifies for the promotion play-offs. Defeating Entente Jeunesse Fléron in the first qualifying round (2-5), the club bows out in the following match against R Standard FC Andrimont (2-2 and penalty shoot-out: 1-3).

Note - Below, a compilation of pictures of two different visits: pictures 1-4 = non-matchday visit, March 2024 / pictures 5-24 = match visit, February 2024.