Extreme Football Tourism: March 2024

Saturday 30 March 2024

BELGIUM: RSC Muno

Rue de Tourgeon, Muno (RSC Muno)

Belgium, province: Luxembourg = Luxemburg

30 III 2024 / RSC Muno - SC Villers-devant-Orval 2-1 / Belgian Luxembourg, Provincial League 3B (= BE level 8)

Timeline

1917 / First traces of football activity in the village of Muno, but whatever the name of the first club was, it never joined Belgium’s Football Association and must have folded some time in the following years.
1932 / Foundation of Sporting Club (SC) Muno, with local timber merchant Joseph Godfrin becoming the new club’s first chairman. Upon joining Belgium’s FA, SC Muno receives registration number 1848. The club settles at a ground at Lieu-dit-Tonois, situated at Route de France on the southern outskirts of the village – right on the border with France.
1935 / Clinching the title in Belgian Luxembourg’s Division 3A, SC Muno accedes to Division 2, the highest regional division below the national league system at that time.
1946 / Having remained inactive for most of the years of German occupation, SC Muno restarts in Belgian Luxembourg’s Division 3.
1948 / Clinching the title in D3, SC Muno wins promotion to Provincial League 2 – staying at that level until dropping back into the bottom division two years later, in 1950.
1953 / After 21 years at the helm of the club, founder-chairman Joseph Godfrin cedes his place at the helm of the club.
1964 / SC Muno wins the title in Provincial League 3B, 1 point ahead of closest rivals Standard FC Bouillon. As such, the club accedes to Provincial League 2.
1967 / Winning the title in Provincial League 2A, SC Muno breaks down the door to Luxembourg’s Provincial League 1 for the first – and only – time in its existence.
1972 / Finishing in last place in P1, SC Muno drops back into Provincial League 2 after five seasons in the provincial top flight.
1976 / Abandoning the ground at Lieu-dit-Tonois, SC Muno settles at a newly laid-out pitch at Rue de Tourgeon in the village centre.
1978 / The clubhouse at Rue de Tourgeon, which includes a small indoor hall, is inaugurated.
1982 / Upon the club’s fiftieth anniversary, SC Muno obtains the royal epithet, thus officially becoming Royal Sporting Club (RSC) Muno.
1983 / Finishing in last place in P2A, RSC Muno drops back into Provincial League 3, nineteen years after last having played at that lowly level.
1995 / Clinching the title in Provincial League 3B, RSC Muno manages a return to Provincial League 2. The club’s stay at that level lasts for two seasons, with relegation following in 1997.
2006 / RSC Muno withdraws from first team football for the 2006-07 season.
2011 / Winning the title in Provincial League 3C, 8 points ahead of strongest contenders RCS Sugny, RSC Muno manages a return to P2.
2012 / Finishing in fourteenth place in P2B, RSC Muno drops back into Provincial League 3 along with ES Jéhonvilloise and RCS Sugny.
2014 / Clinching the title in Luxembourg’s Provincial League 3B, 3 points ahead of closest followers Union Cécilienne, RSC Muno accedes to Provincial League 2.
2015 / Finishing in fourteenth place in P2A, RSC Muno escapes direct relegation, eventually saving its skin by finishing ahead of R Standard FC Bouillon and RES Durbuy-Barvaux in the relegation play-offs.
2016 / Finishing in second-last place in P2A, RSC Muno drops back into P3 along with bottom club FC Torgny-Rouvroy.
2017 / Champions in P3B, 3 points ahead of closest rivals RUS Etalle, RSC Muno manages a new return to Provincial League 2.
2019 / Finishing in twelfth place in P2A, just 1 point short of AS Nothomb-Post and safety, RSC Muno descends into Provincial League 3 along with US Saint-Bernard Waltzing-Bonnert and RUS Etalle.
2022 / RSC Muno finishes in third place in P3B, just 3 points behind champions FC Tintifontaine. Qualifying for the promotion play-offs, the club defeats R Excelsior Fouches (3-1) before being eliminated in R2 by R Espérance Rossignol (5-0).

Note - Below, a compilation of photos of two different visits: pictures 1-7 = non-matchday visit, August 2022 / pictures 8-21 = match visit, March 2024.

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

Route de Rossignol, Les Bulles (RUS Les Bulles)

Belgium, province: Luxembourg = Luxemburg

30 III 2024 / RUS Les Bulles - RUS Sainte-Marie 2-4 / Belgian Luxembourg, Provincial League 3B (= BE level 8)

Timeline

1916 / By 1916 at its latest, a first football club is founded in Les Bulles; the club, called Standard Les Bulles, is no Belgian Football Association member, but plays its football in championships against teams from villages nearby.
1922 / Standard Les Bulles joins Belgium’s Football Association.
1924 / Standard Les Bulles folds, ceasing all activities.
1934 / Foundation of a new club in Les Bulles, which takes on the name Union Sportive (US) Les Bulles. The founding committee of the club is led by the local mayor, Léon Farinelle, who also becomes the club’s first chairman. Upon applying for membership of Belgium’s FA, the club receives registration number 2167. The club’s first ground is the Terrain de la Vierre, situated to the west of the village. It is unclear for how long the club played there before moving to their second ground, situated behind the local garage.
1939 / Upon the mobilisation of Belgium, US Les Bulles, deprived of many of its players who were called up for military service, ceases all activities for the duration of two years.
1947 / Taking up activities two years after the liberation of the Ardennes from the German yoke, US Les Bulles, nicknamed ‘Les Bullots’, is placed in Belgian Luxembourg’s Regional Division 3A.
1955 / Having been runners-up in Provincial League 3 the two previous seasons (behind Jeunesse Freylangeoise and US Louftémont respectively), US Les Bulles now clinches the title in P3, an impressive 8 points ahead of closest followers RC Longlier. As such, the club accedes to Provincial League 2 for the first time.
1958 / After three seasons in Provincial League 2, US Les Bulles drops back into the bottom division of Belgian Luxembourg’s provincial league system.
± 1975 / Having moved from the pitch behind the local garage to Chemin de Blofagnu at some point in the previous decades, US Les Bulles now settles at a newly laid-out pitch at Route de Rossignol, to the east of the village centre.
1987 / Having received permission from the royal palace in Laeken in the previous summer, US Les Bulles officially takes on the royal epithet, thus officially becoming Royale Union Sportive (RUS) Les Bulles.
2016 / Coached by Mario Goffin, RUS Les Bulles clinches the title – the club’s first title since 1955 – in Belgian Luxembourg’s Provincial League 3B, finishing 4 points ahead of closest rivals FC Tintigny. The decisive points are clinched in a 1-0 home defeat of US Stabuloise (goal scored by Denis). As such, the club accedes to Provincial League 2 after an uninterrupted spell of 58 (!) years in the bottom division of Luxembourg’s provincial league system.
2017 / Falling just 2 points short of Jeunesse Lorraine Arlon B and safety, RUS Les Bulles drops back into P3 after just one season, along with RCS Halanzy and local rivals EC Jamoigne-Chiny.
2020 / Having managed respectable fourth and third place finishes in the two previous seasons, RUS Les Bulles finds itself in second place in Provincial League 3B, just 2 points behind RUS Léglise, when the season is cut short in March 2020 due to the COVID lockdown. At the behest of the provincial committee, the club gains automatic promotion to P2 for the following seasons.
2023 / Having narrowly staved off relegation in the first full season following the COVID lockdown, RUS Les Bulles now finishes rock bottom in P2B, with just 2 points from 26 matches. The club drops back into P3. On September 16th, 2023, in the P3B encounter away at RUS Sainte-Marie (3-5), RUS Les Bulles manages its first regular league win in one-and-a-half year – the last success having been in mid-April 2022 in a home match against UR Saint-Louis Saint-Léger (3-0).

Note - Below, a compilation of pictures of two different visits: pictures 1-2 = non-matchday visit, July 2010 / pictures 3-19 = match visit, March 2024

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

BELGIUM: RSC Tontelange

Terrain Beim Kreutz, Tontelange (RSC Tontelange)

Belgium, province: Luxembourg = Luxemburg

30 III 2024 / RSC Tontelange - RJS Habaysienne 1-1 / Belgian Luxembourg, Provincial League 2A (= BE level 7)

Timeline

1941 / Foundation of a first football club in Tontelange, which takes on the name Étoile Sportive (ES) Tontelange. The club joins Belgium’s Football Association, obtaining registration number 2956. It is unclear where this club’s ground was situated – but it certainly was a different ground than the pitch used by the future (R)SC Tontelange from its foundation onwards.
1943 / After just one season of activity (1941-42), ES Tontelange folds, ceasing all activities – and the club is erased from the Belgian FA’s official list in early 1943.
1959 / Foundation of a new club in Tontelange, which takes on the name Sporting Club (SC) Tontelange.
1960 / Having applied for membership of Belgium’s FA in a letter in late December 1959, SC Tontelange is admitted as new member club in January 1960, with the club obtaining registration number 6310. SC Tontelange’s founder-president is Joseph Thill. The club, which starts its life in Belgian Luxembourg’s Provincial League 3A, finds a home ground at Lieu-dit-Beim Kreutz – still the club’s ground today, at modern-day Le Brûlis, to the south of the village centre.
1983 / SC Tontelange, meanwhile locally often being referred to with the nickname ‘Les Spurs’, manages its best result in Provincial League 3 so far, finishing in third place in P3B, 4 points behind champions ES Witry-Menufontaine and 1 point behind runners-up SC Habay-la-Neuve.
1985 / A new clubhouse, which includes a set of dressing rooms, is inaugurated at Terrain Beim Kreutz.
1994 / Clinching the title in P3A, 3 points clear of runners-up and derby rivals US Martelangeoise, SC Tontelange accedes to Provincial League 2 for the first time in club history. The first experience in P2 lasts just one season, though, with relegation following immediately in 1995.
1999 / SC Tontelange finishes in second place in P3C, 11 points behind runaway champions US Mellier.
2001 / Finishing in fourth place in P3A, 12 points behind champions RAC Saint-Mard, SC Tontelange qualifies for the play-offs. Successively defeating RFC Saint-Hubert and US Waha, the club gains promotion to Provincial League 2 for a second time in club history. Yet again, though, the stay at this level remains constricted to just one season, with relegation following in 2002.
2010 / Upon the club’s fiftieth anniversary, SC Tontelange acquires the royal epithet, thus becoming Royal Sporting Club (RSC) Tontelange.
2014 / RSC Tontelange finishes in second place in P3A, 7 points behind champions R Excelsior Fouches, but no promotion play-offs are organised that season, with the club thus being deprived of the opportunity to earn its place in Provincial League 2.
2015 / Coached by Fabrice Close, RSC Tontelange clinches the title in P3B, no fewer than 13 points ahead of closest followers RUS Léglise. The decisive points are obtained in a 2-0 away win over RUS Assenois, with the goals scored by Girs and Depraetere.
2018 / In the club’s best season ever, RSC Tontelange, coached by Francis Angonèse, finishes in fourth place in Provincial League 2A. Qualifying for the promotion play-offs, the club is eliminated in R1 by RUS Gouvy (1-0).