Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: RES Bellefontaine (19??-2018) / FC Tintifontaine (B) (2018-)

Terrain de la Rue de Virton, Bellefontaine (B ground of FC Tintifontaine, formerly RES Bellefontaine)

Belgium, province: Luxembourg

August 2024 / no match visited

Timeline

1942 / Foundation of a first football club in the village of Bellefontaine, situated to the south of Tintigny in Belgian Luxembourg. The new club takes on the name Entente Sportive (ES) Bellefontaine, acquiring registration number 3403 upon being accepted as members of the Belgian Football Association (URBSFA / KBVB). It is unclear where the pitch of this first club in Bellefontaine was situated.
1950 / As ES Bellefontaine matr. 3403 ceases all activities, being erased from the Belgian FA members’ list in February 1950, a successor club is founded straightaway, bearing the exact same name and acquiring registration number 5403 upon joining Belgium’s FA. The founding president of the new club is Justin Daune. The new club’s pitch is situated in Lieu-dit ‘Rappe’, Route de Saint-Vincent (modern-day Rue des Rappes). It is unclear when ES Bellefontaine switched to the ground at Rue de Virton pictured below.
1951 / ES Bellefontaine matr. 5403 makes its debut as a regular league club in Belgian Luxembourg’s Division III Série A.
1960 / Winning the title in Belgian Luxembourg’s Provincial League 3(B?), 5 points ahead of closest followers SC Muno, ES Bellefontaine wins promotion to Provincial League 2 for the first time.
1970 / Champions in Provincial League 2 (B?), 9 points ahead of closest rivals USA Ochamps, ES Bellefontaine accedes to Belgian Luxembourg’s Provincial League 1 for the first – and only – time in the club’s history.
1979 / Finishing in thirteenth place in Provincial League 1, ES Bellefontaine drops back into Provincial League 2 after nine season, along with bottom club RSC Athusien.
1980 / ES Bellefontaine narrowly misses out on an immediate return to Provincial League 1, finishing 1 point behind RSC Athusien in P2A. ES Bellefontaine goes on to win the play-offs with the runners-up in the two other P2 divisions, CS Sugny and Alliance FC Oppagne, but due to no extra promotion places being available, the club stays in Provincial League 2.
1981 / Finishing in last place in P2A, ES Bellefontaine descends into Provincial League 3, 21 years after last having played in the lowest division of Luxembourg’s provincial divisions.
1988 / Champions in P3B, 2 points ahead of closest followers US Sainte-Marie, ES Bellefontaine manages a return to Provincial League 2 after seven seasons.
1990 / Finishing in second-last place in P2A, ES Bellefontaine drops back into Provincial League 3.
2001 / Obtaining the royal epithet one year after its fiftieth anniversary, ES Bellefontaine officially changes its name to become Royale Entente Sportive (RES) Bellefontaine.
2003 / After more than a decade of very bland results in Provincial League 3, RES Bellefontaine now manages a respectable second place in P3A, ex-aequo with US Assenois, 11 points behind champions RUS Marbehan.
2007 / RES Bellefontaine’s founding father and first chairman Justin Daune passes away after having been on the club’s board for 57 consecutive years.
2014 / Managing the best result in over ten years, RES Bellefontaine finishes in fourth place in P3A. In the early 2010s, the club usually finishes in mid-table positions in the bottom division of the bottom division of Luxembourg’s provincial league pyramid.
2017 / Following the 2016-17 season, in which the club finishes in ninth place in P3B, RES Bellefontaine withdraws from first team football, continuing its existence with a reserves’ team as well as participating in the joint venture youth academy with RUS Marbehan, R Espérance Rossignol, and FC Tintigny, referred to as MaRosTinBel.
2018 / Following successful talks with FC Tintigny, RES Bellefontaine concludes a merger agreement with that club, resulting in the foundation of FC Tintifontaine, with Bellefontaine’s registration number 5403 being retained; Tintigny’s number 6795 is erased from the Belgian FA’s official lists. Following the merger, first team football is played at Tintigny’s ground, Terrain Haut du Sud, with the pitch in Bellefontaine being retained for lower team football and training sessions until the present day.