Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: RAA Louviéroise (1912-1972)

Stade Triffet, La Louvière (formerly RAA Louviéroise)

Belgium, province: Hainaut = Henegouwen

August 2024 / no match visited

Timeline

1906 / Foundation of what was possibly the first football club in the industrial town of La Louvière, Union Sportive (US) Louviéroise. This club probably never joined Belgium’s Football Association (UBSSA, the future URBSFA / KBVB). The following year, US Louviéroise organises a regional football championship.
1907 / Foundation of a second football club in La Louvière, which is named Central Sportif Club. Apart from football, the activities of Central Sportif Club also include athletics. This club probably did not exist longer than two or three years.
1910 / US Louviéroise changes its name to become Football Club (FC) Louviérois.
1912 / Following an unsuccessful reorganisation, FC Louviérois folds, ceasing all activities. Later that same year, in December 1912, a successor club is founded, Association Athlétique (AA) Louviéroise. According to various sources, AA Louviéroise plays its football at Stade Triffet from the outset. It is unclear if predecessor club US Louviéroise / FC Louviérois also made use of this pitch.
1913 / AA Louviéroise joins Belgium’s Football Association.
1920 / The first league result of AA Louviéroise which can be traced is a fifth place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 2A – with Provincial League 2 being the top provincial division in Hainaut at the time.
1924 / Finishing in bottom place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 2A, AA Louviéroise descends into Provincial League 3.
1926 / With the Belgian FA introducing the system of registration numbers, AA Louviéroise obtains number 93.
1929 / Finishing in third place in P3C, AA Louviéroise wins promotion to Provincial League 2 along with champions Olympic Fontainois and runners-up Fontaine Sportif.
1931 / Finishing in fifth place in P2B, AA Louviéroise is placed in Provincial League 1, the newly created top division of Hainaut’s provincial league system.
1937 / Clinching the title in Hainaut’s Provincial League 1, 9 points ahead of closest followers Union Jemappienne, AA Louviéroise wins promotion to Promotion, the third and lowest level of the national league pyramid, for the first time – with the club being destined to remain at the national level until its demise in 2009. Also in 1937, with the club celebrating its 25th anniversary, AA Louviéroise acquires the royal epithet, thus officially becoming Royale Association Athlétique (RAA) Louviéroise, often colloquially abbreviated to just RAAL.
1952 / Finishing in fourth place in Promotion A, RAA Louviéroise is placed in National Division 3, the newly created third level of the national league pyramid.
1953 / Finishing in second-last place in National Division 3B, RAA Louviéroise descends into National Division 4 (the successor of Promotion as the lowest national league level) along with bottom club R Union Halloise.
1954 / Champions in National Division 4C, no fewer than 22 points ahead of closest rivals VC Vlug & Vrij Terhagen, RAA Louviéroise manages a return to National Division 3 after just one season.
1959 / RAA Louviéroise narrowly misses out on promotion to National Division 2, finishing as runners-up in National Division 3B, just 1 point behind champions K Olse Merksem SC.
1963 / Finishing in second-last position in National Division 3A, RAA Louviéroise drops back into D4 along with bottom club RCS Brainois.
1966 / Champions in National Division 4A, 1 point ahead of R Uccle Sport, RAA Louviéroise wins promotion to D3 after an absence of three seasons at that level.
1968 / Finishing in second-last position in National Division 3B, RAA Louviéroise drops back into D4 along with bottom club KSV Oudenaarde.
1969 / Champions in National Division 4C, 9 points ahead of runners-up FC Heist Sportief, RAA Louviéroise manages a return to D3. Also in 1969, on the occasion of the centenary of the creation of the municipality of La Louvière, a gala match is organised at Stade Triffet between reigning Belgian champions R Standard de Liège and their eternal rivals R Charleroi SC, with the match ending in a 1-0 win for Standard.
1970 / Champions in National Division 3A, 5 points ahead of runners-up – and derby rivals – RAEC Mons, RAA Louviéroise accedes to National Division 2 for the first time in club history.
1972 / With the Stade Triffet being on the smallish and basic side for a National Division 2 team, the decision is taken by municipal authorities to build RAA Louviéroise a much bigger stadium. This new Stade Communal du Tivoli is inaugurated in 1972. Although the main stand (on the northern side of the pitch) and the terraces around the ground were removed over the years, the Stade Triffet remained in use for decades after the departure of the club, among others for recreational (women’s) football. The ground must have been abandoned sometime between 2010 and 2020.

Note - A video below the photos shows a ballet manifestation at Stade Triffet, probably after RAA Louviéroise had moved to Stade Communal du Tivoli in 1972. This film gives a good impression of what the stadium looked like before the stands were demolished.