BELGIUM: Union Rapide Ophasselt (1943-1947) / RC Ophasselt (1951-2011) / RSC Ophasselt (2011-)

Terrein Hasseltsestraat, Ophasselt (RSC Ophasselt, formerly Union Rapide Ophasselt / RC Ophasselt)

Belgium, province: East Flanders = Oost-Vlaanderen

1 IV 2024 / RSC Ophasselt - SV Sint-Antelinks B 2-3 / East Flanders, Provincial League 4D (= BE level 9)

Timeline

• 1943 / Foundation of a football club in the East Flemish village Ophasselt, which takes on the name Union Rapide Ophasselt. The club, which joins Belgium’s Football Association receiving registration number 3863 upon being accepted as new member, settles at Terrein Hasseltsestraat, on a pasture facing the local church.
• 1947 / Union Rapide Ophasselt changes its name to become Rapide Club (RC) Ophasselt. Also in or around 1947, the club moves to Terrein De Kat, to the west of the village centre.
• 1948 / Having started its life in Regional League 2 (2e Gewestelijke) five years previously, Rc Ophasselt now drops back into Regional League 3, the bottom level of East Flanders’ regional league pyramid at the time.
• 1951 / In or around 1951, having played some four years at Terrein De Kat, RC Ophasselt moves back to the club’s original ground at Hasseltsestraat.
• 1954 / Clinching the title in East Flanders’ Provincial League 3D, RC Ophasselt accedes to Provincial League 2.
• 1960 / RC Ophasselt wins the title in Provincial League 2C; as such, the club accedes to East Flanders’ Provincial League 1 for the first – and only – time ever. The adventure lasts just for one year, though, with relegation duly following in 1961.
• 1966 / Finishing in fourteenth place in P2C, RC Ophasselt drops back into Provincial League 3.
• 1974 / Finishing in fourteenth place in P3C, RC Ophasselt descends into East Flanders’ Provincial League 4 for the first time in club history.
• 1991 / Having spent seventeen consecutive seasons in the bottom division of East Flanders’ provincial leagues, RC Ophasselt now wins the title in P4D, thus finally managing a return to Provincial League 3.
• 1992 / Managing back-to-back titles, RC Ophasselt finishes in first place in P3D, thus acceding to Provincial League 2 after an absence of 26 years. 
• 1994 / Having suffered two relegations in a row in 1993 and 1994, RC Ophasselt finds itself in Provincial League 4 again.
• 1997 / Finishing in third place in P4D, RC Ophasselt wins a subsequent round of promotion play-offs to accede to Provincial League 3. This time, the stay at that level lasts for two seasons, with relegation following in 1999.
• 2003 / Upon the demise of FC Maria-Lierde, RC Ophasselt takes over that club’s pitch, Terrein Caudenberg in Sint-Maria-Lierde, for lower team football and training sessions.
• 2010 / After a 5-0 away defeat at Eendracht Grotenberge on October 17th, 2010, RC Ophasselt withdraws from East Flanders’ Provincial League 4C.
• 2011 / With its first team not having finished the 2010-11 season, RC Ophasselt are on the brink of folding; at that point, though, the club is taken over by Joeri Kiekens, a football player from Ninove who spent the 2010-11 season at SK Vlierzele. Taking with him his father Jan, an experienced trainer/coach, Mr Kiekens adapts the club name, with Rapide Club (RC) Ophasselt becoming Rapide Santos Club (RSC) Ophasselt; moreover, he changes the club colours from red/green to blue/red. The only member of the old board remaining at the club is secretary Christian De Witte. The chairmanship is handed to Eddy Van Laethem, who is later succeeded by Jan Kiekens.
• 2013 / Finishing in second place in P4C, 6 points behind champions KFC Eendracht Moerbeke, RSC Ophasselt qualifies for the promotion play-offs. In spite of being defeated in R1 by KSC Oosterzele (1-4), the club accedes to Provincial League 3 due to extra promotion places being available (one of the reasons being that KSC Oosterzele concluded a merger with Voorwaarts Gijzenzele that summer, becoming Voorwaarts Gijzenzele-Oosterzele). For the 2013-14 season, the majority of first team home matches are moved to Terrein Caudenberg, the club’s training pitch in Sint-Maria-Lierde.
• 2014 / Finishing in fourteenth place in P3C, RSC Ophasselt drops back into Provincial League 4 along with KSV Maarkedal and Standaard Michelbeke. Also in the summer of 2014, RSC Ophasselt moves all its activities, including first team football, to Terrein Hasseltsestraat. Terrein Caudenberg in Sint-Maria-Lierde is abandoned once and for all.
• 2022 / Finishing in fifth place in P4D, RSC Ophasselt qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is eliminated in R1 by VCE Huise-Ouwegem (5-2). 

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