Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: KSK Oudegem

Terrein Ouburg, Oudegem (KSK Oudegem)

Belgium, province: East Flanders = Oost-Vlaanderen

24 III 2024 / KSK Oudegem - SK Aaigem 4-2 / East Flanders, Provincial League 3D (= BE level 8)

Timeline

1948 / Foundation of a football club in Oudegem, which takes on the name FC Blue Star Oudegem. The club applies for membership of Belgium’s Football Association (KBVB), acquiring registration number 4877 upon being accepted as new members. BS Oudegem’s ground is situated at Berkestraat, to the north of the village centre. In the annals of Oudegem’s football history, there is also talk of another club, Astra Oudegem – but it is unclear if this club was already defunct before the foundation of Blue Star, or existed simultaneously. It is clear, though, that Astra Oudegem never was a member of Belgium’s official FA.
1949 / FC Blue Star Oudegem enters a first team in East Flanders’ provincial divisions for the first time – with this team being placed in Provincial League 3E. The following decade is spent in P3, with the club even withdrawing its first team temporarily for the 1955-56 and 1958-59 seasons.
1964 / Clinching the title in Provincial League 3E, FC Blue Star Oudegem accedes to East Flanders’ Provincial League 2 for the first – and only – time. The stay at this level is short-lived, with relegation following after just one season, in 1965.
1967 / FC Blue Star Oudegem withdraws its first team from the regular provincial divisions.
1968 / FC Blue Star Oudegem folds, ceasing all activities. Registration number 4877 is erased from the Belgian FA’s official lists.
1972 / Four years after the demise of FC Blue Star Oudegem, a successor club sees the daylight, Sportkring (SK) Oudegem, which joins Belgium’s FA under registration number 7731. The founding fathers of the club are André De Kimpe, Paul Pensaert, and Frans Veldeman. The first club chairman is the local GP, Dr. Van Wambeke, who also pays for the construction of the covered stand and pitch enclosure at SK Oudegem’s newly laid-out pitch, Terrein Ouburg, with money from his own pocket. Coached by Roger De Brandt, the club’s first team starts its life in East Flanders’ Provincial League 4G.
1976 / Clinching the title in P4G, SK Oudegem wins promotion to East Flanders’ Provincial League 3 for the first time.
1979 / Clinching the title in P3C, SK Oudegem wins promotion to East Flanders’ Provincial League 2 for the first time. In the following season, the club manages a more than respectable fourth place in P2B.
1983 / Finishing second-from-bottom in P2B, SK Oudegem drops back into Provincial League 3 after four seasons.
1986 / Finishing bottom of the table in P3E, SK Oudegem descends into Provincial League 4, ten years after last having played at that level.
1990 / Finishing in fourth place in P4G, SK Oudegem goes on to win the promotion play-offs, thus managing a return to Provincial League 3.
1993 / Having dropped back into P4 the previous year, SK Oudegem now wins the title in P4F to return to P3 after an absence of just one season.
1996 / Runners-up in P3F, SK Oudegem wins promotion to Provincial League 2 via the play-offs. It is the first time in thirteen years the club finds itself at this level of the league ladder.
1998 / In spite of managing a respectable seventh place in P2 the previous season, SK Oudegem now finishes second from bottom in P2C, thus dropping back into Provincial League 3.
1999 / Runners-up in P3C, SK Oudegem wins the play-offs to return to P2 after just one season, thus heralding the heyday in club history.
2001 / Coached by Wim Waegeman, SK Oudegem finishes in third place in P2C, the best result in club history.
2003 / Building works get underway on the new clubhouse, hemmed in between the covered stand and the old clubhouse. The new construction is inaugurated in April 2004.
2005 / Coached by Omer Van Praet, SK Oudegem takes part in the nationwide Belgian Cup for the first time, bowing out in R1, away at KV Eendracht Aalter (1-1 and 5-4 in penalty shoot-out).
2008 / Still coached by Omer Van Praet, SK Oudegem wins the final of East Flanders’ Provincial Cup against P1 side KVC Jong Lede (2-1). The match takes place at KSK Lebbeke’s Terrein Konkelgoed. Also in 2008, after having managed with just one pitch for the first 36 years of its existence, SK Oudegem acquires the luxury of a second pitch at Terrein Ouburg for training sessions and lower team football.
2010 / Equalling the best club result ever, SK Oudegem finishes in third place in P2C. Qualifying for the promotion play-offs, the club is eliminated in R2 (after drawing a bye for R1) by KVK Svelta Melsele (0-2).
2011 / Finishing second from bottom in P2C, SK Oudegem drops back into P3 after eleven seasons, with the other clubs going down from this division being FC Dynamo Klein-Gent Beervelde and bottom club KV Eendracht Winnik.
2012 / Finishing in fourth place in P3E, SK Oudegem qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which it is eliminated in R1 by KV Eendracht Winnik (0-0 and penalty shoot-out).
2018 / Finishing in fourth place in P3E, SK Oudegem is eliminated in R2 (after drawing a bye for R1) by FC Verbroedering Hofstade (2-3 A.E.T.).
2023 / One year after celebrating its fiftieth anniversary, SK Oudegem acquires the royal epithet, thus officially becoming Koninklijke Sportkring (KSK) Oudegem.