Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: FC Lignette (1970-1991) / RA Leuze-Lignette (1991-2023)

Stade Philippe Laho, Pipaix Lignette (formerly FC Lignette / RA Leuze-Lignette)

Belgium, province: Hainaut = Henegouwen

August 2024 / no match visited

Timeline

1901 / Foundation of a first football club in Leuze-en-Hainaut, which takes on the name Leuze Sports and joins the Belgian Football Association. It is unclear where the pitch was situated where Leuze Sports played its home matches.
1920 / Leuze Sports folds, ceasing all activities.
1922 / Refoundation of Leuze Sports, which joins Belgium’s Football Association.
1926 / Upon the introduction of the registration numbers by Belgium’s FA in December 1926, Leuze Sports is attributed number 177.
1927 / Leuze Sports folds, ceasing all activities. That same year, a new club sees the daylight in Leuze-en-Hainaut, Union Sportive (US) Leuzoise, with the club successfully applying for Belgian FA membership, receiving registration number 1023. It is unclear where the pitch was situated where US Leuzoise played its home matches - possibly at Rue du Bergeant.
1928 / One year after the club’s affiliation with Belgium’s Football Association, US Leuzoise takes part in an official championship for the first time, being placed in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3A.
1930 / Champions in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3A, 3 points ahead of runners-up US Lessinoise, US Leuzoise wins promotion to Provincial League 2 – which, until the early 1930s, was the highest provincial division in Hainaut.
1934 / Finishing in second-last place in Hainaut’s P2A, US Leuzoise drops back into Provincial League 3 along with bottom club FC Hollain.
1935 / Champions in Hainaut’s P3B, 3 points ahead of closest rivals FC Flobecquois, US Leuzoise wins promotion to Provincial League 2. The club’s record for the following ten years is blurred, with not all results of the following seasons having been preserved.
1947 / Champions in Hainaut’s P2A, 1 point ahead of closest followers FC Neufvillois, US Leuzoise wins promotion to Provincial League 1 for the first time.
1950 / In what probably was the best season in club history, US Leuzoise finishes as runners-up in Hainaut’s Provincial League 1, 3 points behind champions LC Hornu. In one of the following seven seasons, the club must have dropped back into Provincial League 2, going on to alternate spells in P2 (1957-62, 1965-69, 1970-71) and P3 (1962-65, 1969-70) in subsequent years.
1954 / Obtaining the royal epithet, US Leuzoise officially adapts its name, becoming Royale Union Sportive (RUS) Leuzoise.
1970 / Foundation of a football club in Lignette, a hamlet belonging to the municipality of Pipaix, which would be incorporated into Leuze-en-Hainaut in 1977. The new club, FC Lignette, joins Belgium’s Football Association, obtaining registration number 7676. Most probably, FC Lignette played its home matches at Rue de Mortagne – the ground later renamed Stade Philippe Laho – from the outset.
1971 / Bottom of the table in Provincial League 2A, RUS Leuzoise drops back into Provincial League 3 along with the club finishing second from bottom, SC Quevaucamps. Meanwhile, FC Lignette joins Hainaut’s provincial divisions for the first time in the 1971-72 season, being placed in Provincial League 4A.
1977 / Bottom of the table in P3A, RUS Leuzoise drops back into Provincial League 4 for the first time in club history, along with the club finishing second from bottom, FC Beclers. Meanwhile, FC Lignette records its first success, winning the title in P4B, 5 points ahead of SC Ramevinnes, thus acceding to Provincial League 3 for the first time.
1979 / Champions in Hainaut’s P4B, 8 points ahead of SC Vezon, RUS Leuzoise wins promotion to Provincial League 3.
1980 / Runners-up in Hainaut’s P3A, 2 points behind SC Bruyelle, FC Lignette accedes to Provincial League 2 for the first time – either via a set of promotion play-offs or automatically, due to extra promotion places being available.
1982 / Continuing its success of the previous seasons, FC Lignette now wins the title in P2A, 9 points ahead of closest rivals RSC Templeuvois, thus acceding to Provincial League 1 for the first time in club history.
1983 / Bottom of the table in Hainaut’s P3A, RUS Leuzoise drops back into Provincial League 4 along with the club finishing second from bottom, FC Herinnes.
1985 / Having managed respectable fifth places in its first two seasons at that level, FC Lignette now wins the title in Hainaut’s Provincial League 1, 3 points ahead of closest followers Stade Brainois, thus achieving a historic promotion to National Division 4, the fourth and lowest tier of Belgium’s national league pyramid.
1986 / In the club’s best-ever season, FC Lignette finishes in fifth place in National Division 4C, only 11 points behind champions ROC Charleroi.
1987 / Unable to replicate the success of its first season on the national level, FC Lignette finishes bottom of the table in National Division 4A, thus dropping back into Provincial League 1 along with VC Sint-Lievens-Houtem and RRC Gent. Meanwhile, as champions in Hainaut’s P4B, 1 point ahead of FC Rumes, RUS Leuzoise wins promotion to Provincial League 3.
1988 / Bouncing straight back after their relegation the previous season, FC Lignette wins the title in Hainaut’s Provincial League 1, just a nail-biting single point ahead of runners-up RFC Farciennes and RFC Athois. As such, the club manages a return to National Division 4.
1989 / In its first season back at the national level FC Lignette narrowly manages to hold its own in National Division 4A, finishing in thirteenth place, 1 point ahead of KSV Oudenaarde, which suffers relegation. Meanwhile, as runners-up in Hainaut’s P3B, 11 points behind champions FC Diables Noirs Harchies, RUS Leuzoise secures promotion to Provincial League 2, possibly by winning a set of promotion play-offs or automatically, due to extra promotion places being available. It is the first time in eighteen years the club finds itself at P2 level.
1990 / Rock bottom in National Division 4A, with just 5 points picked up in the entire season, FC Lignette drops back into Provincial League 1 along with VC Jong Lede and KVK Ieper. Meanwhile, results in Leuze-en-Hainaut are not much better; bottom of the table in Hainaut’s P2A, RUS Leuzoise drops back into Provincial League 3 after just one season, along with the club finishing second from bottom, RUS Lessinoise.
1991 / In its last season as an independent club, FC Lignette finishes rock bottom in Hainaut’s Provincial League 1, managing just one win and one draw in thirty matches (goal difference -84) and thus suffering relegation to Provincial League 2, along with RFC Ressaix and RLC Mesvin. Meanwhile, RUS Leuzoise manages a bland ninth place in Provincial League 3A. Following the 1990-91 season, the two clubs conclude a merger, resulting in the foundation of Royale Association (RA) Leuze-Lignette, sometimes abbreviated as RALL, with Leuzoise’s registration number 1023 being retained. First team football moves to FC Lignette’s Stade Philippe Laho. It is unclear if RUS Leuzoise’s ground (possibly situated at Rue du Bergeant in Leuze-en-Hainaut) was abandoned straightaway or retained for lower team football for some more seasons. For the 1991-92 season, the new merger club is placed in Hainaut’s Provincial League 2 on the back of FC Lignette’s relegation to that level.
1993 / Bottom of the table in Hainaut’s Provincial League 2A, RA Leuze-Lignette descends into Provincial League 3 along with the club finishing second from bottom, FC Brunehaut.
1995 / Finishing second from bottom in P3B, RA Leuze-Lignette drops back into Provincial League 4 along with bottom club RRC Péruwelz.
1996 / In the club’s first success since the merger five years previously, RA Leuze-Lignette finishes as runners-up in P4B, 2 points behind champions AS Vaudignies, and joining that club in Provincial League 3 due to extra promotion places being available.
2001 / Champions in Hainaut’s P3A, 4 points ahead of AC Anvaing, RA Leuze-Lignette accedes to Provincial League 2.
2002 / Bottom of the table in Hainaut’s P2A, RA Leuze-Lignette drops back into Provincial League 3 after just one season, along with the club finishing second from bottom, FC Brunehaut.
2011 / After nine consecutive seasons in Provincial League 3, RA Leuze-Lignette now finishes bottom of the table in Provincial League 3A, thus descending into Provincial League 4 along with the team finishing second from bottom, FC Ostiches B.
2012 / Champions in Hainaut’s P4B, 2 points ahead of closest rivals FC Ellezelles, RA Leuze-Lignette manages a return to Provincial League 3 after just one season.
2020 / After years of narrowly avoiding the drop to the bottom division, RA Leuze-Lignette now finds itself in fourteenth place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3B in March 2020, when the 2019-20 season is cut short due to the first COVID lockdown, seven matches before the end of the competition. As such, the club is retrograded to Provincial League 4 along with JSC Brugelette and RLC Givry.
2022 / Runners-up in Hainaut’s P4B, 3 points behind champions RFC Herinnes, RA Leuze-Lignette qualifies for the promotion play-offs. The club goes on to defeat FC Saint-Jean Tournai in R1 (3-0), but due to the match being marred by incidents and bad conduct on the part of both teams, both clubs are fined – and RA Leuze-Lignette is barred from playing the final (R2) against RES Frasnoise B.
2023 / Unable to repeat the near-success of the previous season, RA Leuze-Lignette now finishes in eleventh place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 4A. Following the 2022-23 season, the club folds, ceasing all activities, with registration number 1023 being erased from the Belgian FA’s official lists. A new group of former members planned to restart the club in 2024, but nothing came of it – with the Stade Philippe Laho having fallen into severe disrepair one year after the last football activities at the ground.