Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: KFC Excelsior Bouwel (1934-1939, 1945-)

Stadion Georges Bosschaert de Bouwel, Bouwel (KFC Excelsior Bouwel)

Belgium, province: Antwerp = Antwerpen

10 III 2024 / KFC Excelsior Bouwel - VV Laakdal 7-1 / Antwerp, Provincial League 4F (= BE level 9)

Timeline

1924 / Foundation of a first football club in Bouwel, VC (Voetbalclub) Hooger-Op Bouwel. Joining Belgium’s Football Association that same year, VC HO Bouwel settles at Terrein Langenheuvel; at some point in the following years, the club switched to Terrein ‘t Motteke at Molendreef (site of modern-day Lourdes Cave in Bouwel).
1926 / Upon the introduction of the Belgian FA’s register of registration numbers, VC HO Bouwel receives number 412.
1927 / VC HO Bouwel enters a first team in Antwerp’s Regional League 3 (3e Gewestelijke) for the first time.
1928 / Following a fourth place in Regional League 3A, HO Bouwel is placed in Regional League 2 for the new season. The stay at that level is short-lived, though, with relegation following immediately in 1929.
1930 / Finishing in third place in Regional League 3C, HO Bouwel wins promotion to Regional League 2 for a second time.
1934 / Following financial difficulties, VC Hooger-Op Bouwel withdraws from first team football, with the club officially being wound up two years later, in 1936. Still in 1934, a new club is founded in Bouwel, FC Excelsior Bouwel, which joins Belgium’s FA receiving registration number 2155. A new pitch is put at the disposal of the new club by a local nobleman, Georges Bosschaert de Bouwel, at Molenstraat – still the main pitch of the club today. The first club chairman is August Janssens.
1935 / After one season of only playing friendly matches, FC Excelsior Bouwel is placed in Antwerp’s Provincial League 3.
1936 / Clinching the title in Antwerp’s Provincial League 3A, FC Excelsior Bouwel wins promotion to Provincial League 2 following a round of play-offs.
1939 / Finishing in fourteenth place in Antwerp’s Provincial League 2B, FC Excelsior Bouwel drops back into Provincial League 3. Following the mobilisation of Belgium in the summer of 1939, the club withdraws from first team football, remaining inactive for the following years. For the duration of the war, only friendly matches between teams of Bouwel’s various neighbourhoods are organised. Meanwhile, the pitch at Molenstraat falls into disrepair.
1944 / Upon the liberation of Belgium in the latter stages of 1944, FC Excelsior Bouwel resumes its activities. While the pitch at Molenstraat is laid out anew, the club temporarily moves to a makeshift pitch, Terrein Delen-Van Doninck.
1945 / Returning to Terrein Molenstraat, FC Excelsior Bouwel resumes its activities in Antwerp’s Provincial League 3E.
1949 / Coached by Karel Willems, FC Excelsior Bouwel wins the title in Provincial League 3E, thus acceding to Provincial League 2 for the first time since the end of the war.
1957 / Winning the title in Provincial League 2B with trainer Louis Moons, FC Excelsior Bouwel gains promotion to Antwerp’s Provincial League 1 for the first time in history. Uniquely, the club’s successful side includes six brothers from the Scheurmans family.
1958 / Coming close to the title and promotion to National Division 4 in the club’s best season ever, FC Excelsior Bouwel eventually has to settle for third place in Antwerp’s P1 in its first season at that level, leaving the title to KSK Hoboken and the extra promotion place to VC Vlug & Vrij Terhagen.
1962 / Coached by the duo Frans Scheurmans and René Cavens, FC Excelsior Bouwel finishes in joint-thirteenth place in Provincial League 1 with VV Vosselaar. The two clubs have to play a tie-break match to determine which of them will be relegated to P2; eventually it takes four (!) matches to separate the clubs; with the first two, played in Sint-Pieters-Lille, finishing 1-1 and 2-2, and the third, played at VV OG Vorselaar’s ground, also in 1-1, the fourth encounter, taking place in Vorselaar as well, finishes in a 2-1 win for Vosselaar. As such, FC Excelsior Bouwel drops back into P2 after a five-year spell in Provincial League 1.
1968 / Coached by Jean Bottelberghs, FC Excelsior Bouwel finishes in fourteenth place in P2B – and eventually being condemned to relegation to Provincial League 3 after an unsuccessful set of play-offs.
1971 / Inauguration of the first clubhouse at Terrein Molenstraat; this canteen is enlarged two years later.
1973 / Finishing in thirteenth place in Provincial League 3C with coach Frans Marien, FC Excelsior Bouwel has to play a set of relegation play-offs in a group with K Putte SK and SK Sint-Amands. Eventually, the club finishes in second place – with only group winner K Putte SK earning a ticket for P3. As such, Bouwel is retrograded to Provincial League 4, the newly created bottom division of Antwerp’s provincial league system.
1975 / The pitch at Molenstraat is equipped with a concrete enclosure.
1976 / In the summer of 1976, works get underway to lay out a second pitch at Terrein Molenstraat; this pitch, situated between the clubhouse and Herenthoutse Steenweg, is inaugurated in January 1977, along with a second extension of the clubhouse.
1977 / Finishing in third place in P4D, FC Excelsior Bouwel qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which it is eliminated in R1 by VV Leest (1-0).
1978 / Runners-up in Antwerp’s Provincial League 4C, FC Excelsior Bouwel, coached by André Struyfs, wins automatic promotion to P3. On October 27th, 1978, with the first floodlighted match being played at the ground, Terrein Molenstraat is officially renamed Stadion Georges Bosschaert de Bouwel in honour of the nobleman who put a pitch at the club’s disposal 44 years previously.
1981 / A new, small covered terrace – to be seen in the photos below – is put in place at the southern end of the main pitch at Molenstraat.
1984 / Upon the club’s fiftieth anniversary, FC Excelsior Bouwel acquires the royal epithet, thus officially becoming Koninklijke Football Club (KFC) Excelsior Bouwel.
1989 / Runners-up in P3C, KFC Excelsior Bouwel wins promotion to Provincial League 2 – possibly after a round of play-offs. It is 21 years ago the club last played at this level.
1993 / Finishing last in P2B, KFC Excelsior Bouwel drops back into Provincial League 3.
1994 / Finishing last in P3C, KFC Excelsior Bouwel drops back into Provincial League 4.
1998 / Champions in P4C, KFC Excelsior Bouwel wins promotion to Provincial League 3.
2001 / Champions in P3C, KFC Excelsior Bouwel wins promotion to Provincial League 2.
2003 / Finishing in fourteenth place in P2B, KFC Excelsior Bouwel drops back into Provincial League 3.
2009 / Finishing in twelfth place in P3C, KFC Excelsior Bouwel drops back into Provincial League 4.
2011 / Finishing in fourth place in P4D, KFC Excelsior Bouwel qualifies for the promotion play-offs. Defeating K Bevel FC in R1 (4-2 aggr.), the club is eliminated in the final by KFC Horendonk (3-2 aggr.). However, due to extra promotion places being available following the demise of KVC Willebroek-Meerhof, KVC Rosselaar-Hulsen Sportief, and Zandvliet Sport, the club is placed in Provincial League 3 for the new season as a lucky loser.
2014 / Finishing in fourth place in P3C, KFC Excelsior Bouwel qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which it is eliminated in R1 by KFC Putte (6-5 aggr.).
2015 / Finishing in fifth place in P3A, KFC Excelsior Bouwel qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which it is eliminated in R1 by KFC Vrij Arendonk (5-5 aggr., FC Vrij wins on away goals).
2016 / Finishing in fourteenth place in P3A, KFC Excelsior Bouwel drops back into Provincial League 4 along with KSOC Maria-ter-Heide and K Massenhoven VC.
2017 / Finishing in fifth place in P4D, KFC Excelsior Bouwel qualifies for the promotion play-offs. Successively defeating K Oelegem SK (7-3 aggr.) and RC Westmeerbeek (5-3 aggr.), the club wins promotion to Provincial League 3.
2018 / Finishing in fifth place in P3C, KFC Excelsior Bouwel qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which it is eliminated in R1 by FC Turksport Antwerpen (8-3 aggr.).
2023 / Finishing in fifteenth place in P3C, KFC Excelsior Bouwel drops back into Provincial League 4 along with KFC De Kempen Tielen-Lichtaart B and bottom club KFC Excelsior Vorst.
2024 / Finishing in third place in P4F, KFC Excelsior Bouwel qualifies for the promotion play-offs, being eliminated in R1 by Alberta FC Schilde (1-2).