Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: VC Rebellen Houtem (1971-1980) / VC Eendracht Hillegem (1980-1981) / VC Eendracht Houtem (1981-)

Wilfried Lievensstadion, Sint-Lievens-Houtem (VC Eendracht Houtem, formerly VC Rebellen Houtem / VC Eendracht Hillegem)

Belgium, province: East Flanders = Oost-Vlaanderen

4 VIII 2024 / VCE Houtem - FC Goalgetters Sint-Laureins 0-2 / Pre-season friendly

Timeline

1971 / Foundation of a recreational football club in Sint-Lievens-Houtem, which takes on the name Rebellen Houtem and starts its life in Provincial League 3 of the so-called Liefhebbersvoetbalbond (LVB). The club settles on a pitch at Kloosterstraat, where a wooden clubhouse is built at the entrance to the ground on the northeastern side of the pitch. Rebellen Houtem is not the only football club in Sint-Lievens-Houtem, with regular Provincial League club VC Sint-Livinus Sint-Lievens Houtem having existed since 1954 (Belgian FA registration number 5741), with that club’s ground just a stone’s throw away from Kloosterstraat at Polbroek.
1977 / After three titles in a row, Rebellen Houtem now goes on to win the all-Flanders LVB title play-offs.
1980 / Leaving the ranks of the LVB after nine years, Rebellen Houtem switches to the official Belgian FA, receiving registration number 8725 and taking on the name Voetbalclub (VC) Eendracht Hillegem – due to the fact that the municipality of Sint-Lievens-Houtem did not have enough inhabitants for two Belgian FA members, Eendracht chose to enroll as a club from the nearby, and larger, municipality of Herzele, to which the village of Hillegem (only a few km away from Sint-Lievens-Houtem) belonged. In spite of all this, football continued to be played at Terrein Kloosterstraat. For the 1980-81 season, VC Eendracht Hillegem is placed in East Flanders’ Provincial League 4F.
1981 / Completing its circumvention of Belgian FA rules, VC Eendracht Hillegem changes its name to become VC Eendracht Houtem (often abbreviated as VCE Houtem) – given the fact that moving from one municipality to another was allowed after joining Belgium's FA.
1985 / Clinching the title in P4F, VCE Houtem wins promotion to Provincial League 3, one year after village rivals VC Sint-Livinus Sint-Lievens-Houtem achieved a historic promotion to National Division 4 – holding out at that level for three seasons until dropping back into East Flanders’ provincial divisions in 1987.
1988 / The old wooden clubhouse is replaced by a new, much bigger structure, which incorporates a small covered stand.
1991 / Finishing second from bottom in P3D, VCE Houtem drops back into Provincial League 4.
1996 / Champions in P4D, VCE Houtem finds its way back to Provincial League 3 after five years.
2000 / Finishing second from bottom in P3E, VCE Houtem drops back into Provincial League 4.
2004 / Champions in P4D, VCE Houtem finds its way back to Provincial League 3 after four seasons. Incidentally, that same year, village rivals (K)VC Sint Livinus Sint-Lievens-Houtem, marred by financial trouble, fold, ceasing all activities. In the following years, that club’s ground, Terrein Polbroek, is turned into a general recreation area.
2006 / Champions in P3D, 2 points ahead of runners-up FC Doggen Erembodegem, VCE Houtem accedes to East Flanders’ Provincial League 2 for the first time in club history. In the following years, in spite of several finishes near the drop zone, the club becomes a regular feature at that level.
2007 / A covered terrace is built opposite the main stand at Terrein Kloosterstraat.
2014 / In the best season in club history since joining the ranks of the official Belgian FA, VCE Houtem finishes in fourth place in East Flanders' Provincial League 2B. Qualifying for the promotion play-offs, the club is eliminated in R1 by KFC Robur Moerzeke (4-1).
2016 / VCE Houtem’s main pitch at Kloosterstraat – meanwhile renamed the Wilfried Lievensstadion in honour of the owner of the ground – is equipped with a synthetic surface, becoming a municipal pitch, on which recreational clubs in the region are allowed to play their football as well.
2017 / Finishing in fourteenth place in P2B – in other words, in third-last position – VCE Houtem has to play a relegation play-off against the nos. 14 in P2A and P2C, FC Sint-Martens-Latem and KVV Schelde Serskamp-Schellebelle, but those play-offs are broken off after it becomes clear that all three clubs have to be relegated due to not two, but three clubs from East Flanders dropping out of the national divisions. This comes as an extra blow to VCE Houtem, given that the club had won the first two of four relegation play-off matches. As such, the club finds itself in Provincial League 3 after eleven years.
2019 / Runners-up in P3D, 1 point behind champions KSSV Denderleeuw, VCE Houtem qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club defeats SK Oudegem in R1 (4-3 A.E.T.) only to be eliminated away at KFC Eendracht Belzele Evergem in the semi-final.
2020 / In the 2019-20 season, cut short by the COVID lockdown in March 2020, VCE Houtem finds itself in second place in P3B, 6 points behind leaders KVV Sint-Denijssport, with 25 of 30 matches played. As such, the club is placed in Provincial League 2 for the new season as one of three best runners-up in the five Provincial League 3 divisions in East Flanders.
2022 / Due to a gas explosion, VCE Houtem’s clubhouse is reduced to rubble – only to be slowly rebuilt in the following two years.
2024 / Finishing in fourteenth place in P2B, just 1 point above VJ Baardegem which descends into Provincial League 3 directly, VCE Houtem has to play a relegation play-off against the nos. 14 in P2A and P2C, VSV Gent and VK White Boys Sint-Niklaas, having the better of both of these clubs and thus avoiding the drop as the only club of the three.