Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: US Bande (1958-1984) / US Bande Grune (1984-1993) / US de la Wamme (1993-2006) / FC Bande (2006-)

Sunday, 18 August 2024

BELGIUM: US Bande (1958-1984) / US Bande Grune (1984-1993) / US de la Wamme (1993-2006) / FC Bande (2006-)

Stade de la Wamme, Bande (FC Bande, formerly US Bande / US Bande Grune / US de la Wamme)

Belgium, province: Luxembourg

18 VIII 2024 / FC Bande - RUS Bure Reserves 2-0 / Pre-season friendly

Timeline

1958 / Foundation of a football club in Bande, a village along the N4 highway in Belgian Luxembourg. The club takes on the name Union Sportive (US) Bande, acquiring registration number 6220 upon being accepted as new members of the Belgian Football Association (URBSFA / KBVB). Initially, US Bande is founded as a sub-branch of the Patronage Saint-Jacques, led by the local Catholic church - with the village priest, Abbé Dedoyard, being the driving force behind the foundation and the purchase of a plot of land for a pitch. US Bande played its football at the Stade de la Wamme from the outset, with a clubhouse being built in wood on the northern side of the pitch, with a little terrace next to it.
1959 / As Armand Pierre becomes the new club’s first chairman, US Bande is placed in Belgian Luxembourg’s Provincial League 3C for its first season (1959-60), in which the club finishes rock bottom with just 2 points.
1965 / US Bande finishes as runners-up in Provincial League 3C behind champions SC Nassogne.
1966 / US Bande finishes as runners-up in Provincial League 3C behind champions US Melreux.
1968 / Champions in Provincial League 3D, 1 point ahead of closest rivals Alliance FC Oppagne-Wéris, US Bande accedes to Belgian Luxembourg’s Provincial League 2 for the first time.
± 1974 / Construction of a new clubhouse on the southern side of the pitch at Stade de la Wamme. This clubhouse is still standing nowadays, albeit in ruins and thoroughly vandalised.
1976 / Finishing in last place in Provincial League 2C, US Bande drops back into Provincial League 3 after eight seasons.
1984 / Armand Pierre, who had been the club’s chairman from its inception onwards, passes away, being succeeded at the helm of the club by Pol Meunier, a local beer brewer. That same year, the club changes its name to become US Bande Grune.
1985 / Following the 1984-85 season, US Bande Grune withdraws from first team football for one season, returning to Provincial League 3 in 1986.
1989 / With Pol Meunier having started to invest money in the club, US Bande Grune wins the title in Provincial League 3E, 9 points ahead of closest followers US Waha. As such, the club manages a return to Provincial League 2 after an absence of thirteen years.
1990 / US Bande Grune finishes as runners-up in Provincial League 2C, 7 points behind champions ERFC Manhay.
1991 / Champions in Provincial League 2C, 3 points ahead of runners-up RES Champlonaise, US Bande Grune accedes to Belgian Luxembourg’s Provincial League 1 for the first – and only – time in the club’s history.
1992 / US Bande Grune manages to hold its own in Provincial League 1, finishing in twelfth place and thereby avoiding the drop. However, due to chairman and sponsor Pol Meunier leaving, so does virtually the entire squad, resulting in the club not fielding a first team in the 1992-93 season.
1993 / After one sabbatical year, the club is taken over by a group of volunteers led by Guy Brilot. Successful merger talks are held with neighbours SC Harsin (registration number 8435, founded in 1976), a club which had never managed to climb out of Provincial League 3. The result of these talks is a new club, Union Sportive (US) de la Wamme, which retains US Bande Grune’s registration number 6220, playing its football at Bande’s Stade de la Wamme and making a restart in Provincial League 3. Harsin's ground, situated at Rue des Fagnes (approximate house number: 48), is abandoned after the merger.
± 1995 / Construction of a new clubhouse on the southern side of the main pitch at Stade de la Wamme, on the same location as the original clubhouse built in 1958. This new clubhouse has been in use until the present day.
1999 / Finishing in third place in P3E behind US Erezée and RUS Saint-Roch Soy, US de la Wamme qualifies for the play-offs, in which the club manages to win promotion to Provincial League 2.
2000 / Finishing in second-last place in P2C, US de la Wamme drops back into Provincial League 3 after just one season.
2006 / US de la Wamme takes on the new name FC Bande.
2015 / In the best season the club has in the 2010s, FC Bande finishes in fourth place in P3E, narrowly missing out on the promotion play-offs.
2016 / Finishing bottom of the table in P3D with just 5 points from its 24 league matches, FC Bande withdraws from first team football.
2019 / After three years of just fielding a reserves’ team, FC Bande returns to first team football with a team in Provincial League 3D.
2022 / Finishing bottom of the table in P3D with just 1 point from its 26 league matches (goal difference: -136), FC Bande withdraws from first team football yet again, continuing its existence with just a reserves’ team.