NETHERLANDS: RKSV Laar

Sportpark Laarderveld, Weert (RKSV Laar, commonly known as "SV Laar")

Netherlands, province: Limburg

27 X 2024 / RKSV Laar - RKVV EVV 3-3 (EVV wins penalty shoot-out: 1-4) / District South II, Regional Cup R1

Timeline

• 1935 / Foundation of a football club in the hamlet of Laar, just to the north of Weert in the Netherlands’ part of Limburg. The new club, which is given the name RKLSV (Rooms-Katholieke Laarder Sportvereniging), joins Roman-Catholic league association RKF (Rooms-Katholieke Federatie), playing in the Limburg sub-branch of this federation, the so-called RKLVB. It is unknown where RKLSV’s first pitch was situated, most probably on a location in Laar proper. It is clear, though, that the club moved away from Laar early on in its history, settling at Terrein Overmans, at the back of Café De Halve Maan. Café De Halve Maan, owned by Wullem Overmans, was situated at Helmondseweg in Weert – on the location now occupied by transportation company Van den Boom. 
• 1940 / Having spent the first five years of its existence in the ranks of Roman-Catholic league association RKF, RKLSV is now constrained to make the step to the official Netherlands’ FA (KNVB, renamed NVB following the German oppression of the Netherlands, abandoning the royal epithet ‘koninklijk’ for obvious reasons) as all other football associations are abolished by German occupation authorities. For the 1940-41 season, the club is placed in the ranks of the so-called Limburgse Voetbalbond (LVB), the association organising football in the Province of Limburg below the level of KNVB (Sunday) League 4 – more specifically in LVB (Sunday) Division 2L.
• 1941 / RKLSV adapts its name to become RKSV (Rooms-Katholieke Sportvereniging) Laar – probably at the behest of NVB authorities due to a club in Leerdam with older rights (founded in 1890) already using the acronym LSV. 
• 1943 / Runners-up in LVB Division 2O, RKSV Laar wins promotion to LVB Division 1.
• 1952 / Finishing in ninth place in LVB Division 1H, RKSV Laar drops back into LVB Division 2.
• 1953 / Champions in LVB Division 2O, RKSV Laar manages an immediate return to LVB Division 1.
• 1954 / Champions in LVB Division 1I, RKSV Laar wins its second promotion in a row, acceding to KNVB (Sunday) League 4 for the first time in club history.
• 1957 / Champions in District South II’s Sunday League 4E, 2 points ahead of runners-up RKVV Koningsbosch, RKSV Laar wins promotion to Sunday League 3 for the first time.
• 1965 / Champions in District South II’s Sunday League 3C, 2 points ahead of closest followers RKVV Obbicht, RKSV Laar accedes to Sunday League 2 for the first time.
• 1966 / Finishing bottom of the table in District South II’s Sunday League 2B, RKSV Laar drops back into Sunday League 3 after just one season.
• 1972 / Finishing in second-last place in District South II’s Sunday League 3C, RKSV Laar is retrograded to Sunday League 4 along with bottom club MHD.
• 1973 / An exchange programme is held between RKSV Laar and English non-league club Manor Athletic FC for the first time – with delegations from one club travelling to the other alternately each summer for the best part of the following thirty years.
• 1975 / Champions in District South II’s Sunday League 4F, 4 points ahead of closest rivals SVVH, RKSV Laar wins promotion to Sunday League 3.
• 1976 / Finishing in second-last place in District South II’s Sunday League 3C, RKSV Laar drops back into Sunday League 4 along with bottom club RKSV Merefeldia.
• ± 1983 / Moving away from Terrein Overmans at Helmondseweg, RKSV Laar settles at the newly laid-out Sportpark Laarderveld, situated in the Molenakker neighbourhood on the eastern outskirts of Weert. The small covered stand, which still graces the main pitch today, was part of the setup from the outset.
• 1984 / Finishing in joint last position in District South II’s Sunday League 4F with RKSVW, RKSV Laar only stays up after winning a tie-break match against the club from Wessem.
• 1985 / Finishing bottom of the table in District South II’s Sunday League 4F, RKSV Laar descends into the ranks of the LVB after 31 years, along with the side finishing second from bottom, SC Leeuwen.
• 1994 / Finishing in fifth place in LVB Division 1F, RKSV Laar either wins promotion to LVB Hoofdklasse via the play-offs or is placed in that division due to it being newly created – no information regarding this is available. LVB Hoofdklasse is the new top division of the LVB, directly below Sunday League 4.
• 1995 / Finishing bottom of the table in LVB Hoofdklasse D, RKSV Laar drops back into LVB Division 1.
• 1996 / Champions in LVB Division 1D, RKSV Laar is placed in the newly created District South II’s Sunday League 5. In 1996, all local sub-branches of the Netherlands’ Football Association KNVB are abolished, with all clubs being incorporated into the regular district leagues.
• 2001 / Coached by Wim Vaessen, RKSV Laar finishes in seventh place in District South II’s Sunday League 5C, ultimately winning promotion to Sunday League 4 in the play-offs.
• 2002 / Still coached by Wim Vaessen, RKSV Laar is unable to cope with the level of Sunday League 4, finishing in twelfth place in District South II’s Sunday League 4E and dropping back into League 5 along with the clubs finishing in the two last places, SV Leveroy and vv Koningslust.
• 2009 / RKSV Laar – by now almost universally referred to as SV Laar – finishes as runners-up in District South II’s Sunday League 5D, 4 points behind champions SC Leeuwen, with the door to League 4 being barred in the subsequent round of promotion play-offs.
• ± 2010 / The main pitch of SV Laar’s Sportpark Laarderveld is equipped with a synthetic surface.
• 2011 / Runaway champions in District South II’s Sunday League 5D, 10 points ahead of closest rivals RKSV Haelen, RKSV Laar wins promotion to Sunday League 4 after an absence of nine years at that level.
• 2014 / Coached by Gerard Hölzken, RKSV Laar clinches the title in District South II’s Sunday League 4E, 7 points ahead of runners-up vv Maarheeze, thus winning promotion to Sunday League 3 after an absence of 38 years at that level.
• 2015 / Still coached by Gerard Hölzken, RKSV Laar manages a fourth place in its first season in District South II’s Sunday League 3C, qualifying for the play-offs, in which the club successively knocks out SV Rood Wit ’62 (6-2 aggr.) and Sportclub Irene (2-2 aggr. & penalty shoot-out). As such, SV Laar wins its second promotion in a row, finding itself in Sunday League 2 for the first time in 49 (!) years.
• 2016 / As on the previous occasion, in the 1965-66 season, RKSV Laar suffers relegation from the League 2 level after just one season – with the club, coached by Eric Caasenbrood, finishing bottom of the table in Sunday League 2F and dropping back into League 3 along with PSV AV and RKSV Braakhuizen.
• 2017 / Finishing in fifth place in District South II’s Sunday League 3B, RKSV Laar qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is eliminated in R1 by Sporting Heerlen (5-4 aggr.).
• 2019 / Coached by Danny Pala, RKSV Laar finishes in second-last place in District South II’s Sunday League 3C, dropping back into League 4 along with bottom club SC Oranje Zwart Helmond, which had withdrawn its first team shortly after the start of the season, folding subsequently.
• 2022 / Coached by Gionni Peluso, RKSV Laar clinches the title in District South II’s Sunday League 4D, winning all of its 26 matches (goal difference: +124) and finishing 16 points ahead of runners-up vv Maarheeze. As such, the club wins promotion to Sunday League 3.
• 2023 / With Gionni Peluso still in charge of the first team, RKSV Laar wins its second title in a row, finishing in first place in District South II’s Sunday League 3C, 32 (!) points ahead of closest ‘followers’, derby rivals RKSV Merefeldia. Yet again, the club remains unbeaten all season, with 25 wins and one draw (goal difference: +70). As such, the club manages a return to Sunday League 2. On October 12th, 2023, after staying unbeaten for a staggering spell of two years and nine months (partly the result of two COVID lockdowns), RKSV Laar loses its away match at RKVV Reusel Sport (3-2), ending a streak of 57 matches without a defeat – thereby breaking a record of unbeaten matches previously held by former national league side SVV (55 matches).
• 2024 / Still coached by Gionni Peluso, RKSV Laar finishes in third place in its first season in Sunday League 2D, thereby qualifying for the promotion play-offs. In those play-offs, the club manages successive victories over vv Moerse Boys (0-2) and vv Oirschot Vooruit (1-4), thereby reaching the final, played at a neutral venue (SV VOAB’s Sportpark Van den Wildenberg in Goirle) against RKSV Cluzona – going on to defeat the club from Wouw as well, 1-2. As a result, SV Laar accedes to Sunday League 1 for the first time in club history. 

All photos: (c) W.B. Tukker / www.extremefootballtourism.blogspot.com. Publication of any of these images only after permission of author

AUSTRIA: SV Mödling (1923-1939, 1945-1950, 1953-1978?) / SV Mödling-Neudorf (1939-1945) / VfB Union Mödling (1950-1953) / ESV Admira Energie (1966) / VfB Mödling (1978?-1997) / VfB Admira Wacker Mödling (B) (1997-2006?) / FSV Fortuna Mödling (2024-)

Stadion der Stadt Mödling, Mödling (FSV Fortuna Mödling, formerly SV Mödling / SV Mödling-Neudorf / VfB Union Mödling / ESV Admira Energie / VfB Mödling / B ground of VfB Admira Wacker Mödling)

Austria, state: Lower Austria = Neder-Oostenrijk

October 2024 / no match visited

Timeline

• 1911 / At the instigation of Franz Zimmermann, a former player of Wiener SC originally hailing from Mödling, a football club is founded in his home town, Sportvereinigung (SV or SVg) Mödling. The club’s first chairman is Viktor Schmiedel, with a pitch being laid out that same year at the Gelände des Hyrtl’schen Waisenanstalt.
• 1912 / Moving away from the Gelände des Hyrtl’schen Waisenanstalt, SV Mödling settles at the so-called Königswiese. That same year, the club takes part in Lower Austria’s provincial championship for the first time.
• 1913 / In its first competitive season, SV Mödling finishes as runners-up in the Southern Group of the Lower Austrian Championship, behind winners Germania Schwechat.
• 1923 / Moving away from the Königswiese, SV Mödling settles at a newly laid-out pitch at Duursmagasse, later renamed Stadion der Stadt Mödling. 
• 1928 / SV Mödling wins its first-ever league title, though it is unclear at which level of the Lower Austrian league pyramid. The club stays put in Lower Austria’s local divisions until after World War II.
• 1939 / SV Mödling merges with SV Wiener Neudorf, in what may have been a so-called Kriegsspielgemeinschaft (KSG) or War Association Agreement – a modus vivendi chosen by many clubs in Austria during the war years, as the German onslaught in World War II requires more and more cannon fodder, with an increasing number of clubs in Austria finding it impossible to field a representative team as a result. Be that as it may, the merger club SV Mödling-Neudorf is disentangled after the war. 
• 1948 / SV Mödling crown themselves champions in the Lower Austrian State League (Landesliga Niederösterreich), 6 points ahead of runners-up SC Harland. As there is no nationwide league yet in post-war Austria, the club does not have the opportunity to win promotion.
• 1950 / Finishing in third place in the Lower Austrian State League, SV Mödling is placed in the newly created Staatsliga B, the second tier of the new national league pyramid. For the 1950-51 season, the club adopts a new name, VfB Union Mödling.
• 1952 / Clinching the title in Staatsliga B, 1 point ahead of closest followers Grazer SC, VfB Union Mödling wins promotion to Staatsliga A, the top flight of Austrian football, for the first time.
• 1953 / VfB Union Mödling drops out of Staatsliga A in the most dramatic of fashions, tying ninth to twelfth place with LASK, SK Sturm Graz, and FC Wien, but having the worst goal difference of the four clubs (-27 vs. -23 for FC Wien), thus dropping back into Staatsliga B after just one season, along with Grazer SC and bottom club Salzburger AK 1914. Following the 1952-53 season, VfB Union Mödling reverts to its old name, SV Mödling.
• 1954 / Finishing in tenth place in Staatsliga B, SV Mödling suffers its second relegation in a row, dropping back to the State League level along with KSV Ortmann, SK Vorwärts Steyr, SV Urfahr Linz, SV Mattersburg, and bottom club ASV Seegraben.
• 1955 / Finishing bottom of the table in Lower Austria’s State League, SV Mödling suffers its third relegation in a row, dropping back to the Second Lower Austrian State League (or ‘Unterliga’), the fourth tier of Austria’s league pyramid, along with Zuckerfabrik Leopoldsdorf and Badner AC.
• 1956 / Suffering a fourth relegation in a row, SV Mödling drops back from the Unterliga into Lower Austria’s 1. Klasse, the fifth tier of Austria’s league system.
• 1958 / In a fifth relegation in six seasons, SV Mödling drops back from Lower Austria’s 1. Klasse into the 2. Klasse, the sixth tier of Austria’s league pyramid.
• 1959 / Clinching the title in the South-Eastern Group of Lower Austria’s 2. Klasse, SV Mödling wins promotion back to the 1. Klasse after just one season.
• 1964 / SV Mödling wins promotion from the 1. Klasse to the Second Lower Austrian State League, the fourth tier of Austria’s league system.
• 1966 / Vienna top flight club ESV Admira Energie, fresh double winners (nationwide title, 3 points ahead of runners-up SK Rapid, and winner of the Austrian Cup, defeating SK Rapid in the final, 1-0) moves away from its historic Leopold-Stroh-Stadion at Hopfengasse in Vienna at the instigation of sponsors NEWAG NIOGAS, who own a plot of land in Maria Enzersdorf, to the south of the Austrian capital, where a new stadium is being built for the club. Admira settles for a short groundshare with SV Mödling in the Stadion der Stadt Mödling before moving into the new Bundesstadion Südstadt, although building works on the projected ground are still ongoing, at the start of the second half of the 1966-67 season.
• 1970 / Dropping out of the Second Lower Austrian State League, SV Mödling drops back into the Lower Austrian 1. Klasse.
• 1976 / Runners-up in the South-Eastern Group of Lower Austria’s 1. Klasse, SV Mödling wins promotion to the Second Lower Austrian State League – by now the sixth tier of Austria’s league system. The club must have suffered a relegation in 1977 or 1978, but no information is available on the matter.
• 1978 / Businessman Hans-Werner Weiss takes over the club with the ambition to move it up the league ladder as quickly as possible. Weiss’ takeover may have coincided with the club changing its name from SV Mödling to VfB Mödling, but information about this name change has sadly not been found yet (Do you know more about this matter? Feel free to get in touch with me; the year 1992, given in some sources, is obviously false).
• 1979 / Winning the title in the Unterliga Süd-Südost, VfB Mödling wins promotion to the Oberliga, the fifth tier of Austria’s league pyramid.
• 1980 / Winning the title in Lower Austria’s Oberliga Ost, VfB Mödling wins promotion to the Second Lower Austrian State League, the fourth tier of Austria’s league pyramid.
• 1981 / Winning the title in the Second Lower Austrian State League, VfB Mödling accedes to the (First) Lower Austrian State League, the third level of Austria’s league system.
• 1985 / Clinching the title in Lower Austria’s State League, VfB Mödling fails to win promotion to the 2. Division in the play-offs against the title-winners of the Viennese and Burgenland State Leagues, with SV Schwechat (Vienna) walking away with the promotion ticket, ahead of VfB Mödling and USV Rudersdorf. For the 1985-86 season, VfB Mödling is placed in the newly created Regionalliga Ost.
• 1986 / Clinching the title in the Regionalliga Ost, 2 points ahead of derby rivals 1. Wiener Neustädter SC, VfB Mödling accedes to the 2. Division.
• 1987 / Finishing as runners-up in the regular 2. Division season, 1 point behind SV Austria Salzburg, VfB Mödling goes on to win the promotion-relegation play-off, acceding to the 1. Division after an absence of 34 years in the top flight of Austria’s football pyramid.
• 1988 / Finishing bottom of the table in the regular 1. Division season, VfB Mödling fails to stave off relegation in the promotion-relegation play-off, finishing in eighth and last place and dropping back into the 2. Division after just one season. That same season, the club reaches the semifinal of the Austrian Cup for the first and only time in its history, following wins over SV Neuberg, SV Feldkirchen, First Vienna FC 1894, and FC Kufstein. In the semis, eventual cup winners Kremser SC bar the way to the final with a 3-1 win (A.E.T.).
• 1990 / Runners-up in the regular 2. Division season behind winners SV Spittal an der Drau, VfB Mödling fails to follow up on this success in the promotion-relegation play-offs, missing out on promotion to the 1. Division.
• 1991 / Winners of the regular 2. Division season, 1 point ahead of closest rivals SK VOEST Linz, VfB Mödling yet again fails to achieve promotion in the promotion-relegation play-offs. Also in 1991, former Austrian international defender, 31-year-old Josef Degeorgi (30 caps between 1982 and 1990 & part of Austria’s squad in the 1982 World Cup), joins VfB Mödling from FK Austria Wien. Degeorgi stayed in Mödling for two seasons, hanging up his boots in 1993. 
• 1992 / Finishing in third place in the regular 2. Division season, VfB Mödling manages to qualify for the 1. Division in the promotion-relegation play-offs along with LASK and Wiener SC.
• 1993 / For the first time in club history, a VfB Mödling player is called up for the Austrian national side. In what was to remain his only international match, defender Michael Zisser scored the only Austrian goal in a 1-3 home defeat against Finland. In fact, Zisser earns himself a transfer to SK Rapid (Vienna) later that same year.
• 1994 / In the most successful season in club history, VfB Mödling, coached by legendary former Austrian superstar striker Hans Krankl, finishes in sixth place in the 1. Bundesliga.
• 1995 / Finishing bottom of the table in the 1. Bundesliga, VfB Mödling descends into the 2. Bundesliga after three years of top flight football, along with FC Linz.
• 1997 / In its last season as an independent club, VfB Mödling finishes in thirteenth place in the 2. Bundesliga, enough to stay up at that level. Following the 1996-97 season, the club accepts an offer to merge with top flight team SCN Admira Wacker from nearby Maria Enzersdorf, which finds itself in grave financial problems. In fact, the club finish bottom of the table in the Bundesliga, staving off direct relegation due to FC Linz concluding a merger with LASK – as a result of which Admira takes over FC Linz’s place in the promotion-relegation play-off against SK Vorwärts Steyr, which is won (5-1 aggr.). The new merger club of SCN Admira Wacker and VfB Mödling is given the name VfB Admira Wacker Mödling. First team football is naturally played at the Bundesliga Südstadt, with the much more modest Stadion der Stadt Mödling being retained for lower team football for the time being.
• 2006 / Lower Austria Titans, an American football club from nearby Maria Enzersdorf, moves from Bundesstadion Südstadt, where it groundshared with VfB Admira Wacker Mödling, to the Stadion der Stadt Mödling. This probably coincided with VfB Admira Wacker Mödling giving up the stadium in Mödling as its B ground. Lower Austria Titans later changed their name to become AFC Rangers Mödling.
• 2024 / A new football club is founded in Mödling, FSV Fortuna Mödling, which is allowed by Mödling’s municipal authorities to move into the Stadion der Stadt Mödling as groundsharers with American football club AFC Rangers Mödling, starting its life in the East/Central Group of Lower Austria's 2. Klasse, the ninth tier of Austria's league pyramid.

All photos: (c) W.B. Tukker / www.extremefootballtourism.blogspot.com. Publication of any of these images only after permission of author

AUSTRIA: Favoritner AC (1922-) / SC Wacker Wien (2024-)

FavAC-Platz an der Kennergasse "Sportplatz auf den Wagemannschen Gründen", Vienna = Wenen Favoriten (Favoritner AC = FavAC & SC Wacker Wien)

Austria, state: Vienna = Wenen

23 X 2024 / SC Wacker Wien - SV Donau 1-7 / Vienna State Cup R2

Timeline

• 1910 / Foundation of a football club in the Viennese district Favoriten, to the south of the city-centre, Favoritner Athletik-Sport-Club (ASC), in August 1910, being a breakaway of bowling club Kegelklub Favorit. Four months later, the club is admitted to the Austrian Football Association under the slightly amended name Favoritner Athletik-Club (AC) – often abbreviated subsequently as FavAC. Favoritner AC is not the oldest football club in Favoriten; there was at least one club founded previously, SK Favoritner Vorwärts, formed in 1906 – the future 1. FFC Vorwärts 06, which disbanded in 2014.
• ± 1912 / In 1911, or in 1912 at its latest, Favoritner AC obtains a pitch of its own, the so-called Steinmetzwiese, not far from the Eastern Railway Station (Ostbahnhof).
• ± 1914 / In 1914 or 1915, Favoritner AC has to give up its ground, the Steinmetzwiese, as it is commandeered by the Austro-Hungarian army, which uses it to train recruits for battle against the forces of Russia, Italy, and Serbia in World War I. Now without a pitch, FavAC goes through some difficult years. 
• 1922 / By the intermediary of the VAS (Verband der Arbeiter- und Soldatenvereinigungen, an association of workers and soldiers), Favoritner AC is given the opportunity to lease a plot of land to lay out a pitch of its own – with the location being referred to initially as the Sportplatz auf den Wagemannschen Gründen, later commonly known as the FavAC-Platz or Sportplatz an der Kennergasse.
• 1924 / Favoritner AC becomes a professional league side, playing in the third tier of Austrian football at that time.
• 1926 / Finding itself in severe financial problems, FavAC withdraws from membership of Austria’s official FA, joining the socialist league association VAFÖ (Vereinigung der Amateur-Fussballvereine Österreichs).
• 1927 / FavAC wins VAFÖ’s cup tournament, the so-called VAFÖ Silberball-Turnier.
• 1934 / As the VAFÖ league association is banned following the short Austrian Civil War in February 1934, upon which the Socialist Party SDAPÖ and all organisations tied to the Labour Movement are banned, including football association VAFÖ. Favoritner AC re-joins the official Austrian FA, being placed in the northern branch of the second tier (II. Liga Gruppe Nord).
• 1935 / Clinching the title in II. Liga Gruppe Nord, 3 points ahead of runners-up Wiener SV, Favoritner AC qualifies for a promotion play-off against the winner in the southern branch of the second tier, SK Slovan Wien. Drawing the first tie 3-3, FavAC goes on to win the home game 1-0, with August Zopp scoring the decisive goal leading to the club acceding to the Staatsliga, the top flight of Austria’s league system, for the first time. As it happens, Favoritner AC thereby replaces its local rivals Favoritner SC, which drops down into the II. Liga after one year in the Staatsliga. 
• 1936 / In the best season in club history, Favoritner AC finishes in eighth place in the Staatsliga, with figures of over 10,000 spectators for derby games at the FavAC-Platz against Viennese rival clubs being no exception. Also in 1936, Favoritner SC, which played in the Staatsliga in the 1934-35 season, folds, ceasing all activities.
• 1937 / In a repeat of the result of the previous season, Favoritner AC finishes in eighth place in the Staatsliga. That summer, the club undertakes a journey to Southern France, where it plays various gala matches against local clubs.
• 1938 / In the year of Austria being absorbed into the Third Reich in the infamous Anschluss in the spring of 1938, Favoritner AC finishes in second-last place in the Staatsliga, thus dropping back to the second tier of the Austrian football pyramid along with FC Wien, Florirdsdorfer AC, and bottom club 1. Simmeringer SC. For the new season, in which German authorities create a Gauliga Ostmark as the top level in Austria, FavAC is placed in Group A of the Viennese District League (Bezirksliga Wien Gruppe A). 
• 1942 / With the German onslaught in World War II requiring more and more cannon fodder, an increasing number of clubs in Austria finds it impossible to field a representative team. As such, clubs are encouraged to form so-called Kriegsspielgemeinschaften (KSG) or War Association Agreements. Having avoided an unwished KSG with Rapid Oberlaa in October 1941, FavAC fields a combined team with FC Mars for the 1942-43 season.
• 1943 / Finishing bottom of the table in Vienna’s 1. Division Group A, the second tier of the Austrian pyramid, Favoritner AC descends into the Viennese 2. Division along with the club finishing in second-last place, Reichsbahn SG II Wien. 
• 1948 / In spite of winning one of the groups of Vienna’s 2. Division, Favoritner AC misses out on promotion to the Viennese 1. Division, probably due to suffering defeat in a promotion play-off. Wiener Liga 2. 
• 1949 / Clinching the title in Vienna’s 2. Division Group A, Favoritner AC goes on to win promotion to Vienna’s 1. Division, the second tier of the Austrian league pyramid – but the third level from 1950 onwards, when a Staatsliga B is formed as the new (near-)nationwide second division. The club’s fate in the following 25 odd years has not been recorded properly, but it is clear that it found itself in Vienna’s local divisions – mostly in the Wiener Liga or Viennese League, the third (and later fourth) level of the Austrian pyramid.
• 1977 / Clinching the title in the Wiener Liga, 3 points ahead of closest rivals SK Slovan-HAC, Favoritner AC wins promotion to the Regionalliga, the third level of Austria’s league system.
• 1978 / Clinching the title in Regionalliga Ost, 6 points ahead of closest followers SC Neusiedl am See, Favoritner AC wins promotion to the 2. Bundesliga – a return of the club to the second tier of Austrian football for the first time in 28 years. 
• 1980 / Finishing bottom of the table in the 2. Bundesliga, Favoritner AC drops back to the third level of Austrian football along with SK Vorwärts Steyr and SV Heid Stockerau.
• 1981 / Winning the title in the third-tier Wiener Liga, 4 points ahead of runners-up SR Donaufeld, Favoritner AC qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which it has the better of SV Stockerau (2-0 aggr.), thus managing an immediate return to the 2. Bundesliga.
• 1982 / Youth academy player Andreas ‘Andy’ Ogris, aged seventeen, joins city rivals FK Austria Wien, where he breaks into the first team one year later, going on to defend the colours of RCD Español, LASK, and VfB Admira Wacker Mödling before hanging up his boots in 1998.
• 1983 / Finishing in joint first position in the 2. Bundesliga with SV St. Veit/Glan, only having to leave the title to St. Veit on goal difference (+16 vs. +12), Favoritner AC wins promotion to the 1. Bundesliga – a return of the club to the top flight of Austrian football after an absence of 45 years. 
• 1985 / After two seasons of fighting against the drop, Favoritner AC now finishes in fourteenth place in the 1. Bundesliga, being retrograded to the second tier along with Wiener SC, SV Spittal an der Drau, SV Austria Salzburg, and bottom club First Vienna FC 1894.
• 1986 / Finishing in second-last place in the Relegation Group of the 2. Bundesliga, Favoritner AC drops back into the third tier of the Austrian football pyramid, the Regionalliga, along with 1. FC Schwechater SC and bottom club Villacher SV. Also in 1986, 20-year-old midfielder Peter Stöger, who broke into FavAC’s first team the previous year after ten years in the club’s youth academy, earns himself a transfer to SK Vorwärts Steyr, going on to defend the colours of First Vienna FC 1894, FK Austria Wien, FC Tirol Innsbruck, SK Rapid (Vienna), LASK, VfB Admira Wacker Mödling, and SC Untersiebenbrunn until hanging up his boots in 2004. After ending his playing career, Stöger went on to a career as a football manager at FK Austria Wien, 1. FC Köln, Borussia Dortmund, and various other clubs.
• 1990 / Former FavAC player Andreas Ogris is part of the Austrian squad in the 1990 World Cup finals in Italy, in which the country bows out after the group stage. Ogris scores the only goal in Austria’s only win in the tournament, against the United States. In total, Ogris would go on to earn 63 caps between 1986 and 1997. 
• 1991 / Champions in Regionalliga Ost, 1 point ahead of closest followers SV Oberwart, Favoritner AC wins promotion to the 2. Bundesliga.
• 1992 / FavAC reaches the semifinals of the Austrian Cup, sensationally knocking out SK Rapid (Vienna) in the round of last 16 (2-0), and with Union Vöcklamarkt and FC Stahl Linz being among the other victims. Eventually, FC Admira/Wacker puts an end to FavAC’s remarkable cup run in the semis (1-2). Also in 1992, former Austrian international player Reinhard Kienast joins FavAC from SK Rapid – only to hang up his boots one year later at the age of 33.
• 1993 / Managing a respectable fourth place in the 2. Bundesliga, Favoritner AC qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which it finishes in last place. FavAC reaches the semifinals of the Austrian Cup for the second year running, following a relatively easy run in which the club successively eliminates Floridsdorfer AC, ASK Ybbs, SC Fürstenfeld, and WSG Swarovski Wattens. The road to the final is barred by SK Rapid (Vienna), with FavAC suffering a 2-1 defeat.
• 1994 / Having managed mid-table positions in the previous two seasons, Favoritner AC now finishes in fourteenth place in the 2. Bundesliga, thus descending into the Regionalliga along with WSG Swarovski Wattens and bottom club Kremser SC.
• 1995 / Clinching the title in Regionalliga Ost, 5 points ahead of closest rivals SV Mattersburg, Favoritner AC manages an immediate return to the 2. Bundesliga.
• 1996 / Favoritner AC manages a respectable sixth place in the 2. Bundesliga. However, due to grave financial problems, the club has to cease all activities for the duration of the 1996-97 season in the fall of 1996.
• 1997 / Being retrograded to the Regionalliga due to its being unable to finish the 1996-97 season in the 2. Bundesliga, Favoritner AC now concludes an association agreement or Spielgemeinschaft with Simmeringer SC, a club from the Wiener Stadtliga (Viennese City League), the fourth level of the Austrian football pyramid. The new Spielgemeinschaft (SG) FavAC/Simmering is placed in Regionalliga Ost, with FavAC itself continuing as the association’s reserves’ team in the Wiener Stadtliga. It is unclear if SG FavAC/Simmering played its football at Simmering’s ground, Simmeringer Had, or at the FavAC-Platz in Favoriten.
• 1998 / SG FavAC/Simmering finishes in thirteenth place in the Regionalliga Ost, thus dropping back to the fourth tier of Austrian football along with SV Oberwart, Wiener SC, and bottom club 1. Wiener Neustädter SC. Meanwhile, Favoritner AC also suffers relegation, in this case from the fourth-tier Wiener Stadtliga to the fifth-tier Oberliga A. Following the 1997-98 season, the association agreement between FavAC and Simmeringer SC is discontinued. Also in 1998, former FavAC’s youth academy player Peter Stöger is part of the Austrian squad for the 1998 World Cup; in total, Stöger won 65 caps for Austria between 1988 and 1999.
• 2002 / Winning the title in Vienna’s Oberliga A, FavAC wins promotion to the Wiener Stadtliga, the fourth tier of Austria’s league pyramid – due to be its home in the following 21 years.
• 2018 / Foundation of SC Wacker Wien – a historic name in Austrian football, given that the former SC Wacker Wien, a club from the neighbourhood of Meidling, founded in 1907, played in the top flight for many years and even won the Austrian title in 1947. After it had merged with ESV Admira Energie to form FC Admira/Wacker in 1971, thus moving away from its ground at Rosasgasse and settling at Admira’s Bundesstadion Südstadt in Maria Enzersdorf, various refoundations had been attempted – all of those proving unviable, with Wacker 72 being absorbed into ASK Liesing only several years after its foundation; and SC Wacker Wien, founded in the 1980s, concluding a merger with ASK Lichtenwörth and moving away from Vienna proper in 1999; and a new SC Wacker Wien, founded in 2005 and playing its football at the Wiener-Viktoria-Platz, being absorbed into Borussia Hetzendorf in 2012. With the club founded in 2018 thus being the fifth incarnation of SC Wacker Wien, it has to start its life in Vienna’s 2. Division, the eighth and lowest level of Austria’s league pyramid. The club settles at Bundesspielplatz Wienerberg.
• 2019 / Runners-up in Vienna’s 2. Division A, SC Wacker Wien wins promotion to the seventh tier of Austrian football, the Viennese 1. Division. Also in 2019, moving away from Bundesspielplatz Wienerberg, SC Wacker Wien settles for a groundshare with SC Ostbahn XI at the Ostbahn-Platz in Vienna-Simmering.
• 2022 / A synthetic surface is put in place on the main pitch of the FavAC-Platz an der Kennergasse; for the duration of the building works, Favoritner AC has to play its home games elsewhere. Also in 2022, SC Wacker Wien wins promotion from the Viennese 1. Division to the Oberliga, the sixth tier of Austria’s league pyramid.
• 2023 / Clinching the title in the Wiener Stadtliga, Favoritner AC manages a return to Regionalliga Ost after an absence of 25 years.
• 2024 / In its first season back in the Regionalliga Ost, Favoritner AC just manages to stave off relegation, finishing just 1 point above the drop zone. Also in 2024, after five years at the Ostbahn-Platz, SC Wacker Wien moves to a groundshare with Favoritner AC at Kennergasse; Wacker is not the only groundsharer at the ground, with other non-league clubs playing their football there including FC Kurd Wien, SV Rojava, and FC Polska.

All photos: (c) W.B. Tukker / www.extremefootballtourism.blogspot.com. Publication of any of these images only after permission of author

BELGIUM: VC De Leeuwkens Teralfene

Terrein Denderweg, Teralfene (VC De Leeuwkens Teralfene)

Belgium, province: Flemish Brabant = Vlaams Brabant

13 X 2024 / VC De Leeuwkens Teralfene - K Olympia SC Wijgmaal 4-1 / Brabant, VFV Provincial League 1 (= BE level 6)

Timeline

• 1941 / Foundation of a first football club in Teralfene, which takes on the name Teralfene Football Club (FC) - often abbreviated colloquially as TFC. Teralfene FC, which settles on a pitch situated at Krommaartweg, joins the Vlaamsche Voetbalbond (VVB), a league association of Flemish clubs founded in 1930 as a protest against the language policies of the official Belgian FA (URBSFA / KBVB), which does all its correspondence in French exclusively.
• 1943 / Abandoning Terrein Krommaartweg, Teralfene FC settles on a newly laid-out pitch at Mollenhoekstraat.
• 1944 / As the VVB is wound up upon the liberation of Belgium due to the association having been heavily involved in collaboration with the German oppressors of Belgium, Teralfene FC folds after an existence of three years.
• ± 1951 / An attempt is made to refound Teralfene FC. In the early 1950s, friendly matches are played against makeshift teams from surrounding villages on two different pitches, Terrein Balleistraat and Terrein Bremptstraat.
• 1955 / After some years of only playing friendly matches, a new football club eventually sees the daylight in Teralfene. This club, which takes on the name Voetbalclub (VC) Sporting Teralfene, was formed by inhabitants of the southern part of the village, known colloquially as Den Dries, who used to live in deep rivalry with their northern counterparts at Den Daal following an inheritance issue in the mid-19th (!) century. VC Sporting, which settles on a newly laid-out pitch at Krekelweg, does not join the official Belgian FA, instead applying for membership of the so-called Katholiek Sportverbond Brabant. The new club's first chairman is Teralfene's mayor Edmond Geeraerts.
• 1956 / One year after the foundation of a football club in Den Dries, the inhabitants of Den Daal form a club of their own, which takes on the name Voetbalclub (VC) De Leeuwkens Teralfene - a name chosen in honour of one of the local brass bands, De Brabantse Leeuw. One of the founders, Frans Van Schuerbeek, is named the club's chairman, with Benoît 'Noeike' Collyns becoming the team's first coach. The club has a pitch situated at Kortenbos, referred to as Terrein Schettenberg. The ground can only be used during weekends, as it is in use as a cow pasture during weekdays. Like its village rivals Sporting, VC De Leeuwkens joins the Katholiek Sportverbond Brabant. The two derby games against Sporting draw some 2,000 spectators. 
• 1957 / After one year of playing in the Katholiek Sportverbond Brabant, VC De Leeuwkens Teralfene joins the official Belgian Football Association, receiving registration number 6031 upon being accepted as new member club; and being placed in Brabant’s Provincial League 3H in its first season. Also in 1957, the club abandons Terrein Schettenberg, settling at Terrein Denderweg, where it has been home ever since.
• 1959 / Village rivals VC Sporting Teralfene are admitted as new Belgian FA members, receiving registration number 6223 upon being accepted as member club; to be admitted, Sporting had to go through the motions of asking permission to VC Leeuwkens due to the fact that Teralfene only had about 3,400 inhabitants at the time - and a second club was usually only admitted as FA member in case of a number of inhabitants exceeding 5,000. The club is placed in Brabant’s Provincial League 3F, where it meets VC De Leeuwkens Teralfene. This club’s ground is situated at Kleine Heideweg, although it later moves slightly further down the road, to Okaaistraat.
• 1965 / Champions in Brabant’s Provincial League 3F, 1 point ahead of runners-up SC Wolvertem, VC De Leeuwkens Teralfene wins promotion to Provincial League 2 for the first time. The successful player-coach is Roger Van Leuven.
• 1967 / Champions in Provincial League 2C, 6 points ahead of runners-up FC Eendracht Kapelle-op-den-Bos, VC De Leeuwkens Teralfene accedes to Brabant’s Provincial League 1 for the first time. The successful player-coach is Roland Martens.
• 1968 / Going from strength to strength, VC De Leeuwkens Teralfene finishes as runners-up in its first season in Brabant’s Provincial League 1, winning direct promotion to National Division 4 along with champions Eendracht Hoeilaart, which finished 4 points ahead of Leeuwkens. The decisive point is obtained in a 1-1 home draw in the last match of the season against the club finishing in third place, Ourodenberg Sport, with an attendance of nearly 2,000 at Denderweg. Leeuwkens' goal is scored ten minutes before the end of the match by player-coach Roland Martens.
• 1969 / In the best season in club history, VC De Leeuwkens Teralfene finishes in thirteenth place in National Division 4A, thereby narrowly holding its own in the fourth and lowest division of the Belgian national league pyramid – finishing just 1 point ahead of the best of the three clubs to drop out of the league, KSV Blankenberge. The decisive points are clinched in a 1-0 home win over FC SV Wevelgem in the second-last match of the season.
• 1970 / Finishing bottom of the table in National Division 4B with coach Roger Van Leuven, VC De Leeuwkens Teralfene drops back into Provincial League 1 along with KFC Verbroedering Geel and FC Itegem.
• 1972 / Finishing bottom of the table in Brabant’s Provincial League 1 with coach Etienne Coppens, VC De Leeuwkens Teralfene drops back into Provincial League 2 along with KFC Avenir Lembeek, KFC Strombeek, and R Union Halloise.
• 1978 / Coached by former K Waterschei SV Thor and RSC Anderlechtois player René Van der Eeckt, VC Leeuwkens Teralfene finishes in second-last place in Brabant’s Provincial League 2C, thus dropping back into Provincial League 3, thirteen years after last having played at that level, along with Black Star FC and bottom club FC Malderen.
• 1982 / Champions in Brabant’s P3F, 1 point ahead of runners-up SV Asse, VC De Leeuwkens Teralfene wins promotion to Provincial League 2. The successful coach is Romain Van Stichel.
• 1983 / Champions in Brabant’s P2C, 1 point ahead of runners-up SK Sint-Paulus Opwijk, VC De Leeuwkens Teralfene manages a return to Provincial League 1. This second promotion in a row is achieved under the aegis of the same coach as the previous season, Romain Van Stichel.
• 1986 / Finishing in fourteenth place in Brabant’s Provincial League 1 with coach Jacques Van den Berghe, VC De Leeuwkens Teralfene drops back into Provincial League 2 after three years, along with R Ixelles SC and bottom club Voorwaarts Hakendover.
• 1987 / After alternating spells in Provincial Leagues 3 and 2, Leeuwkens’ village rivals Sporting Teralfene change their name to become Sporting Affligem, settling as groundsharers with FC Eendracht Hekelgem at Terrein Haezenweg. 
• 1988 / Coached by Marcel Van der Elst, who had replaced Edmond Meertens in the cousre of the season, VC Leeuwkens Teralfene finishes bottom of the table in Brabant's Provincial League 2C, thus descending into Provincial League 3 along with VK Weerde.
• 1992 / Having played five more seasons in Brabant’s Provincial League 4, Sporting Affligem withdraws from the Belgian Football Association, continuing as a recreational club in the Roman-Catholic KAVVV (OV & VB) league, initially playing at Gemeentelijk Centrum Bellekouter, later moving to a groundshare with EMI Essene at Terrein Kerkplein. 
• 2002 / Champions in Brabant’s Provincial League 3F, 2 points ahead of closest rivals FC Denderzonen Pamel, VC De Leeuwkens Teralfene wins promotion to Provincial League 2 after an absence of fourteen seasons. This promotion is achieved in a most unusual way, with the club losing its last match of the season, at home against VC Asse-Terheide, with the title only being achieved due to Pamel also suffering defeat in an away match at Daring Sint-Martens-Bodegem. The successful coaches are Lieven Heymans and Frank Asselman.
• 2004 / Finishing second from bottom in Brabant’s P2C, VC De Leeuwkens Teralfene descends back into Provincial League 3 along with KV Zuun and bottom club KVC Delta Londerzeel - this in spite of the fact that the club had begun the season with a coach of considerable reputation, Theodoros Zakkas, former player of RSC Anderlechtois (youth academy), KSC Eendracht Aalst, Panionios GSS, PS Calamata, AO Chalkis, RAA Louviéroise, KSV Sottegem, and KVC Willebroek-Meerhof (as well as winning three caps for Greece's national team in 1989-90). Zakkas was replaced by Frank Bockstal in the course of the season.
• 2006 / Runners-up in Brabant’s P3F, 7 points behind champions KFC Eppegem, VC De Leeuwkens Teralfene and its coach Milco De Rijck win promotion to Provincial League 2 following a successful round of play-offs.
• 2008 / With the old clubhouse at Terrein Denderweg being knocked down, a replacement is erected within a couple of months - with the new construction being given the appropriate name Liontine, a pun on the club's name (leeuw = lion) and the Dutch word for clubhouse / canteen (kantine).
• 2009 / Finishing in fourteenth place in Brabant’s P2C with coach Luc Keppens, who had replaced Gilbert Christiaens in the course of the season, VC De Leeuwkens Teralfene drops back into Provincial League 3, along with RAS Saintoise and bottom club FC Eendracht Affligem. The decisive defeat was incurred in the second-last match of the season, away at RAS Saintoise (2-1).
• 2010 / The only pitch at Terrein Denderweg is equipped with a synthetic surface. The decision is taken following an unsuccessful attempt by the club to purchase a plot of land close by, in between Denderweg and Molleweg, for the laying out of a B pitch. While the reconstruction works at Denderweg are carried out in the summer and fall of 2010, first team football is moved to FC Doggen's Terrein Resschebeke, just across the provincial border in East Flanders, as well as to FC Eendracht's Affligem's B pitch, Terrein Haezenweg. The club's youth academy is received at these two pitches as well, while also moving part of their activities to EMI Essene's Sportcentrum De Montil.
• 2011 / Runners-up in Brabant’s P3C, finishing 1 point behind champions FC Denderzonen Pamel, VC De Leeuwkens Teralfene qualifies for the play-offs, in which the club finishes in second place in a group of six, thus winning promotion to Provincial League 2 along with FC Saint-Michel and KVC Delta Londerzeel, at the expense of KFC Herent, RAS Jodoigne, and SK Kampelaar. The successful coach is Gerrit Borreman.
• 2018 / Runners-up in Brabant’s VFV P2B, 11 points behind champions KFC Rhodienne-De Hoek, VC De Leeuwkens misses out on promotion; no promotion play-offs are held, with only the best of the numbers two in Brabant’s VFV Provincial League 2 series, OHR Huldenberg in P2A (which picked up 11 points more than Leeuwkens) joining the two champions in Provincial League 1.
• 2023 / Youri Lapage, former player of RSC Anderlecht’s youth academy, SC Eendracht Aalst, FCV Dender EH, KRC Gent, KHO Wolvertem-Merchtem, VC De Leeuwkens Teralfene, and SK Denderhoutem – and incidentally also the grandson of former RSC Anderlechtois star and Belgian national player and coach Paul Van Himst – is named trainer-coach of VC De Leeuwkens in December 2023.
• 2024 / Finishing in fifth place in Brabant VFV’s P2A, VC De Leeuwkens qualifies for the play-offs. Managing successive victories over KFC Rhodienne-De Hoek (0-3), SK Nossegem (1-3), and KVC Houtem-Oplinter (2-1), the club wins a surprise promotion to Provincial League 1 – returning to that level after an absence of 38 years.

Note - Much of the information above was retrieved from a book published on the occasion of the club's 60th anniversary in 2016: "Het Grote Leeuwkens-Boek 1956-2016", by Joris Callebaut & Ernest Van den Broeck. Heartfelt thanks to Leeuwkens' board member Hans Cooman for putting at my disposal a copy of this publication.

All photos: (c) W.B. Tukker / www.extremefootballtourism.blogspot.com. Publication of any of these images only after permission of author