BELGIUM: KFC Itegem (1939-±2004)

Hooiwegstadion, Itegem (formerly KFC Itegem)

Belgium, province: Antwerp = Antwerpen

August 2024 / no match visited

Timeline

• 1934 / Foundation of a football club in Itegem, FC Itegem, which joins Belgium’s Football Association with registration number 2151. FC Itegem’s first pitch is situated at Molenheide.
• 1935 / FC Itegem starts its life as a competitive club in Antwerp’s Regional League 3A (3e Gewestelijke). Also in or around 1935, the club abandons Terrein Molenheide, settling at Terrein Herenthoutsesteenweg.
• 1939 / Abandoning Terrein Herenthoutsesteenweg, FC Itegem settles at Terrein Hooiweg – later referred to mostly as the Hooiwegstadion.
• 1950 / Winning the title in Antwerp’s Regional League 3B, FC Itegem accedes to Regional League 2 – only holding out at that level for one season before dropping back in 1951.
• 1952 / Champions in Antwerp’s Provincial League 3B, FC Itegem accedes to Provincial League 2 – this time holding out at that level for two seasons, dropping back into P3 in 1954.
• 1963 / Champions in Antwerp’s Provincial League 3C, FC Itegem manages a return to Provincial League 2 after a nine-year absence.
• 1966 / Champions in P2B, FC Itegem wins promotion to Antwerp’s Provincial League 1 for the first time.
• 1969 / Runners-up in Antwerp’s Provincial League 1, FC Itegem joins champions KSK Hoboken in a historic promotion to National Division 4.
• 1970 / Unable to hold its own at the national level, FC Itegem finishes in second-last place in National Division 4B, dropping back into the provincial leagues along with KFC Verbroedering Geel and bottom club VC De Leeuwkens Teralfene.
• 1972 / Finishing in thirteenth place in Antwerp’s Provincial League 1, FC Itegem drops back into Provincial League 2.
• 1974 / Champions in P2B, FC Itegem manages a return to Antwerp’s Provincial League 1.
• 1977 / Finishing second from bottom in P1, FC Itegem drops back into Provincial League 2.
• 1981 / Finishing second from bottom in P2C, FC Itegem finds itself in Provincial League 3 for the first time in nearly two decades.
• 1982 / Champions in P3C, FC Itegem manages an immediate return to Provincial League 2.
• 1983 / Champions in P2B, FC Itegem wins promotion to Antwerp’s Provincial League 1.
• 1984 / Finishing in last place in Provincial League 1, FC Itegem drops back into Provincial League 2 – destined never to return to the highest provincial level. Also in 1984, upon the club’s fiftieth anniversary, FC Itegem obtains the royal epithet, thus officially becoming Koninklijke Football Club (KFC) Itegem.
• 1996 / Finishing second from bottom in P2C, KFC Itegem drops back into Provincial League 3.
• 1997 / Bottom of the table in P3D, KFC Itegem descends into Provincial League 4 for the first time in club history.
• 1998 / Finishing in third place in P4D, KFC Itegem goes on to win a P3 ticket by winning the promotion play-offs.
• ± 2004 / Marred by financial difficulties, KFC Itegem leaves its Hooiwegstadion, which it rents from a private owner, instead moving first team football to its nearby youth ground at Rozendaelstraat, a municipal property, which was inaugurated long after Terrein Hooiweg - although it is unclear when exactly. With football moving away from the old ground, the Hooiwegstadion has since been in use by a horse-riding club.
• 2013 / Following the 2012-13 season, KFC Itegem folds, ceasing all activities.

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