BELGIUM: OC Sommière (1976-2019)

Stade Raoul Pellegrini, Sommière (formerly OC Sommière / B ground of RCS Onhaye)

Belgium, province: Namur = Namen

August 2024 / no match visited

Timeline

• 1941 / Foundation of a first football club in Sommière, which is given the name Olympic Club (OC) Sommière, and which joins Belgium’s Football Association (URBSFA / KBVB) with registration number 3326.
• 1944 / After an existence of just three years, OC Sommière is wound up, ceasing all activities. 
• 1976 / After paying the debt left by OC Sommière, 323 Belgian francs (a very small amount of money indeed), to the Belgian FA, a new club from Sommière, which takes on the exact same name as its predecessor, is admitted into the ranks of the football federation, obtaining registration number 8397. Most probably, this second OC Sommière played at Stade Raoul Pellegrini (Rue de la Spèche) from the outset.
• 2016 / With most of the history of the club being shrouded in veils – although it is clear it never rose above the level of Namur’s provincial divisions and did play in the bottom tier, Provincial League 4, from 2008 onwards at least – OC Sommière now finishes in second place in Namur’s Provincial League 4D, 16 points behind champions SC Feschaux. Qualifying for the promotion play-offs, the club finishes in third and last place in the group stage, behind Standard Flawinne FC B and RAS Houyet, which both win promotion to Provincial League 3. Due to extra promotion places being available, OC Sommière is drawn in a lucky loser competition against Sporting Espoir Jemeppe B, RSC Petit-Waret, and US Viroin-Treignes, but the club withdraws from this competition, thus missing out on promotion to P3.
• 2018 / Finishing in joint third position in P4D with RJS Anseremme and RCS Hastiérois, OC Sommière takes part in a play-off competition with these two clubs to determine which of them qualifies for the promotion play-offs – with Hastière eventually walking away with the ticket.
• 2019 / After finishing in sixth place in P4D, OC Sommière folds, ceasing all activities. Thereupon, the Stade Raoul Pellegrini is taken over by RCS Onhaye for lower team football and training purposes.
• 2021 / Although exact information regarding the matter is not available, RCS Onhaye probably abandoned the Stade Raoul Pellegrini after just one season (2019-20) or at the end of the COVID lockdown (2021) at its latest. From that moment onwards, the clubhouse has remained in use for village festivals in Sommière, with the pitch itself no longer being maintained.

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