Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: US Auderghem matr. 309 (1923-1941) / RAS Auderghem (1934-1986) / US Auderghem matr. 7031 (1945-1986) / SC Auderghem (1955-1958) / R Union Auderghem (1986-) / FC Auderghem (2000-2006)

Stade Communal d'Auderghem - Chaussée de Wavre / Gemeentelijk Stadion van Oudergem - Waversesteenweg, Brussels = Bruxelles = Brussel Auderghem = Oudergem (R Union Auderghem)

Belgium, Brussels Capital Area = Région de Bruxelles Capitale = Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest

28 VII 2024 / R Union Auderghem - R Léopold FC 2-2 - Auderghem wins penalty shoot-out: 5-4 / Belgian Cup R1

Timeline

1923 / Foundation of a football club in Auderghem, which takes on the name Union Sportive (US) d’Auderghem and joins Belgium’s Football Association. US Auderghem is placed in Brabant’s Provincial League 3A. It is unclear if, yet rather probable that, US Auderghem played at the ground at Chaussée de Wavre now known as the Stade Communal d’Auderghem from the outset (anyone able to shed more light on the history of the Stade Communal in Auderghem is more than welcome to get in touch with me!).
1926 / Winning the title in Provincial League 3A, US Auderghem accedes to Provincial League 2 for the new season. In December 1926, upon the introduction of the registration number list by Belgium’s FA, US Auderghem obtains number 309.
1931 / Having dropped out of Provincial League 2 the previous year, US Auderghem regains the lost territory after finishing runners up in P3D.
1934 / Foundation of a second club in Auderghem, Association Sportive (AS) d’Auderghem, which joins Belgian’s Football Association with registration number 2152. One year later, the club is placed in Brabant’s Provincial League 3C in its first competitive season.
1939 / AS Auderghem manages its first tangible success, clinching the title in P3D and gaining promotion to Provincial League 2. Meanwhile, in the best season in club history, US Auderghem finishes runners-up in Brabant’s Provincial League 2C, but without a promotion resulting. Thereupon, US Auderghem has to cease activities following the mobilisation of the Belgian armed forces in the summer of 1939.
1941 / After two years of inactivity, US Auderghem’s registration number is erased from the Belgian FA’s official lists.
1942 / AS Auderghem wins the title in P2B, but does not accede to a higher level – in the war years, many of the leagues organised were ‘emergency competitions’ with a reduced number of clubs taking part and without promotion being at stake.
1945 / In the year of the resumption of competitive football in Belgium following the liberation of the German yoke in the fall of 1944, US Auderghem is recreated – but, instead of applying for renewed membership of Belgium’s official FA, the club joins the Ligue Amateur de Football, a recreative league association.
1955 / Foundation of a third club in Auderghem, Sporting Club (SC) d’Auderghem, which joins Belgium’s official FA with registration number 5828, being placed in Brabant’s Provincial League 3I.
1957 / Champions in Provincial League 2A, AS Auderghem wins promotion to Brabant’s Provincial League 1 for the first time. Also in 1957, in the best season in that club’s short history, SC Auderghem finishes in fifth place in Brabant’s Provincial League 3G.
1958 / Having finished bottom of the table in Provincial League 3F, SC Auderghem folds, ceasing all activities. Registration number 5828 is erased from the Belgian FA’s official lists.
1960 / Finishing second-last in Brabant’s Provincial League 1, AS Auderghem drops back into P2 after three years.
1966 / Bottom of the table in P2A, AS Auderghem descends into Provincial League 3 – a level at which the club last played 27 years previously.
1967 / Having been a member of the Ligue Amateur de Football for the past 22 years, US Auderghem now applies for membership of the official Belgian FA, joining with registration number 7031 and being placed in Brabant’s Provincial League 4E for the 1967-68 season.
1970 / Champions in P3C, AS Auderghem manages a return to Provincial League 2 after four years.
1971 / Champions in P2A, AS Auderghem wins promotion to Brabant’s Provincial League 1 for the second time in club history.
1972 / Runners-up in Brabant’s Provincial League 1, AS Auderghem joins league champions FC Liedekerke in a historic promotion to National Division 4 – also the third consecutive promotion for the club.
1973 / In the best season in club history, AS Auderghem finishes in twelfth place in National Division 4D – thereby staying 5 points clear of the relegation zone.
1974 / Bottom of the table in National Division 4A, AS Auderghem drops back into Brabant’s Provincial League 1 after two seasons, along with KSC Grimbergen and FC Overijse.
1979 / Having dropped out of Provincial League 1 the previous season, AS Auderghem regains the lost territory immediately by winning the title in P2A. The new spell at the highest provincial level is short-lived, though, with relegation following after just one season, in 1980.
1982 / Bottom of the table in P2A, AS Auderghem drops back into Provincial League 3.
1984 / Celebrating its fiftieth anniversary, AS Auderghem acquires the royal epithet, thus officially becoming Royale Association Sportive (RAS) d’Auderghem.
1986 / In its last season as a competitive club, RAS Auderghem finishes in fourth place in P3C, while US Auderghem clinches the title in P4E, thus gaining promotion for the first time since the club joined the official Belgian FA seventeen years previously. Following the 1985-86 season, RAS Auderghem and US Auderghem, who had been groundsharers at the Stade Communal for decades, now conclude a merger, resulting in the foundation of Royale Union (RU) d’Auderghem, which retains RAS Auderghem’s registration number 2152. For the new season, RU Auderghem is placed in Brabant’s Provincial League 3C.
1987 / One year after the merger of RAS and US, RU Auderghem clinches the title in P3C, thus gaining promotion to Provincial League 2.
1988 / Clinching its second title in a row, RU Auderghem finishes in first place in P2A, thus gaining promotion to Brabant’s Provincial League 1.
1989 / Runners-up in Brabant’s Provincial League 1, RU Auderghem narrowly misses out on its third promotion in a row.
1990 / After the club’s comet-like rise through the provincial divisions, RU Auderghem now finishes bottom of the table in Brabant’s Provincial League 1, thus dropping back into Provincial League 2.
1991 / Finishing in fifteenth place in P2A, RU Auderghem drops back into Provincial League 3.
1996 / Runners-up in P3B for the second time running, RU Auderghem accedes to Provincial League 2.
2000 / The decision is taken by RU Auderghem’s board to create a satellite club to be able to enter a second regular team in the provincial divisions – this was at a time when B teams were not allowed into the pyramid yet! The newly created club, FC Auderghem, joins Belgium’s FA with registration number 9368 and is placed in Brabant’s Provincial League 4C for the 2000-01 season.
2001 / In its first season as a competitive club, FC Auderghem clinches the title in Provincial League 4C, thus gaining promotion to Provincial League 3. Holding out for two seasons at that level, FC Auderghem drops back into P4 in 2003.
2006 / As B teams are allowed into Brabant’s provincial league pyramid, FC Auderghem withdraws from the Belgian FA, with registration number 9368 being erased, and RU Auderghem fields a B team in Provincial League 4 instead.
2008 / Finishing in fifteenth place in P2A, RU Auderghem drops back into Provincial League 3.
2018 / Runners-up in Brabant ACFF’s Provincial League 3B, 12 points behind champions RCS Nivellois, RU Auderghem accedes to Provincial League 2 directly, without having to go through the motions of a round of play-offs.
2023 / Champions in Brabant ACFF’s Provincial League 2B, 1 point ahead of closest followers RRC Waterloo, RU Auderghem accedes to Provincial League 1 – heralding a return at that level for the first time in 33 years. The decisive points are clinches in the last match of the season, an emphatic 15-0 home win against RCS Nivellois.
2024 / In its first season back at this level, RU Auderghem finishes in a respectable fourth place in Brabant ACFF’s Provincial League 1. The club plays the majority of its 2023-24 home games – and all of them in the second half of the season – on Terrain 2 of the Stade Communal due to floodlight failure on the main pitch. Finishing in fourth place in Brabant ACFF’s Provincial League 1, RU Auderghem qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is eliminated in R1 by Stade Everois RC (1-4) in a home match not played at the Stade Communal, but at Stade Neerstalle in Uccle instead.