BELGIUM: AC Vaux-sous-Chèvremont (1925-1951) / RAC Chèvremontois (1951-1999) / REV Chaudfontaine (1999-2004) / RFC Chaudfontaine (B) (2004-2008) / RC Vaux (2008-2018) / RC Vaux-Chaudfontaine (2018-)

Terrain de la Rue de la Vesdre, Vaux-sous-Chèvremont (RC Vaux-Chaudfontaine, formerly AC Vaux-sous-Chèvremont / RAC Chèvremontois / REV Chaudfontaine / B ground of RFC Chaudfontaine)

Belgium, province: Liège = Luik

16 II 2025 / RC Vaux-Chaudfontaine - CFC Pontisse Herstal 1-1 / Liège, Provincial League 3B (= BE level 8)

Timeline

• 1925 / Foundation of a football club in Vaux-sous-Chèvremont, a village situated halfway between Liège and Chaudfontaine, on the boards of the River Vesdre. The new club, which is given the name Albert Club (AC) Vaux-sous-Chèvremont, successfully applies for membership of Belgium’s Football Association (URBSFA). Playing its football on the pitch situated at Rue de la Vesdre from the outset, AC Vaux-sous-Chèvremont is a force to be reckoned with in Liège’s provincial divisions in the following decades.
• 1926 / In December 1926, when the Belgian Football Association introduces its list of registration numbers, AC Vaux-sous-Chèvremont acquires number 529.
• 1951 / Acquiring the royal epithet one year after the club’s 25th anniversary, AC Vaux-sous-Chèvremont chooses to take on a new name, henceforth being called officially Royal Albert Club (RAC) Chèvremontois.
• 1953 / Along with R Ans FC, RAC Chèvremontois wins promotion from Liège’s Provincial League 1 to National Division 4 – thus commencing its first and only spell as a national league club.
• 1954 / In National Division 4B, dominated by reputed Flemish clubs such as K Wezel Sport FC, KVV Looi Sport Tessenderlo, R Excelsior FC Hasselt, and FC Lommelse SK, RAC Chèvremontois manages to hold its own by finishing in eleventh place and thus avoiding the drop.
• 1955 / Finishing in fourteenth place in National Division 4D, just 1 point behind R Fléron FC, RCS Andennais, and FC Melen-Micheroux, who all stay up, RAC Chèvremontois descends back into Provincial League 1 after two seasons, along with CS Libramontois and bottom club Entente Bertrigeoise. RAC Chèvremontois would never regain its place in the national leagues in the following decades.
• ± 1980 / The wooden stand which had graced the western touchline of RAC Chèvremontois’ pitch at Rue de la Vesdre is knocked down to make way for a successor constructed in stone – a construction which has been in place until the present day.
• 1997 / Winning the title in Liège’s Provincial League 2, RAC Chèvremontois accedes to Liège’s Provincial League 1.
• 1999 / Having played in Liège’s Provincial League 1 for two seasons, RAC Chèvremontois now drops back into Provincial League 2. Following the 1998-99 season, the club concludes a merger deal with FC Embourg, a club founded in 1948 (registration number 4976). The new club, which retains RAC Chèvremontois’ registration number 529, takes on the name Royal-Embourg-Vaux (REV) Chèvremont. First team football is played at Vaux’s ground at Rue de la Vesdre, while Embourg’s Terrain sur les Greux is retained for lower team football and training sessions. In one of the following three seasons, REV Chèvremont manages to regain its place in Liège’s provincial elite.
• 2004 / Coached by Alex Vardakas and Alain Duys, REV Chèvremont finishes in a relegation place in Liège’s Provincial League 1, thus dropping back into Provincial League 2 for the new season. In mid-2004, the club concludes a merger deal with Cercle Royal Sportif (CRS) Chaudfontaine, a club founded in 1927 (registration number 947), resulting in the foundation of Royal Football Club (RFC) Chaudfontaine, which retains Chèvremont’s number 529. The new club has the luxury of three different grounds; henceforth, first team football is played at CRS Chaudfontaine’s Stade de la Rochette, while the grounds at Rue de la Vesdre (in Vaux) and Rue sur les Greux (in Embourg) are retained for lower team football and training sessions.
• 2008 / As RFC Chaudfontaine abandons the pitch at Rue de la Vesdre in Vaux-sous-Chèvremont, which had become all but redundant due to the club’s youth academy mainly having its place on the three pitches at Rue sur les Greux in Embourg, the initiative is taken to form a breakaway club in Vaux-sous-Chèvremont. The new club, which is given the name Racing Club (RC) Vaux (registration number 9522), becomes the new user of the Terrain de la Rue de la Vesdre, starting its life in Liège’s Provincial League 4E in 2008-09 and managing respectable fourth and third places the first two seasons following its foundation.
• 2012 / Following two relegations in a row, RFC Chaudfontaine finds itself in Provincial League 4, the same division as RC Vaux, for the first time. The two first derby games both end in a draw.  
• 2013 / With RFC Chaudfontaine and RC Vaux finishing in third and fifth places in Liège’s Provincial League 4C, both clubs qualify for the promotion play-offs, with RC Vaux being eliminated in R1 by R Seraing Athlétique FC (5-3). RFC Chaudfontaine reaches the third round, but ultimately also misses out on promotion.
• 2014 / While RFC Chaudfontaine storms to the P4C title and thus winning promotion to Provincial League 3, RC Vaux has a disappointing season, finishing eleven places below their derby rivals.
• 2015 / Runners-up in Liège’s Provincial League 4C, 17 points behind runaway champions CFC Pontisse, RC Vaux qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club knocks out RUSJ Wandruzienne in R1 (2-0), only to be eliminated in R2 by RCS Polonia Retinne (2-0). Meanwhile, in spite of managing a safe seventh place in Provincial League 3C, RFC Chaudfontaine finds itself in such grave financial difficulties, that the club sees no other option but to cease all activities. With registration number 529 being erased from the Belgian FA’s official lists, the former club’s two grounds are taken over by other sports clubs. The Stade de la Rochette in Chaudfontaine becomes the new home of R Standard Chaudfontaine Rugby Club, while Embourg Hockey Club moves into the youth academy ground at Rue sur les Greux in Embourg.
• 2018 / Clinching the title in Liège’s Provincial League 4C, 2 points ahead of runners-up RCS Sart-Tilman, RC Vaux manages to win the first promotion in its ten-year history. Following the 2017-18 season, the club adapts its name, being known henceforth as Racing Club (RC) Vaux-Chaudfontaine.
• 2020 / In the 2019-20 season, cut short in March 2020 due to the first COVID lockdown, RC Vaux-Chaudfontaine finds itself in first place in Liège’s Provincial League 3B, 8 points ahead of closest followers RFC Croatia Wandre. On that basis, the club is placed in Provincial League 2 for the new season. RC Vaux-Chaudfontaine also has its first taste of the nationwide Belgian Cup, being eliminated in R1 by KSC Wielsbeke (1-4).
• 2021 / In July 2021, with devastating floodings ravishing large parts of the Province of Liège, Vaux-sous-Chèvremont is one of the communities hit hardest by the disaster. RC Vaux-Chaudfontaine's pitch at Rue de la Vesdre, situated only yards away from the River Vesdre, is washed away, as well as the clubhouse on the western touchline. Although the covered stand, which houses the dressing rooms, is saved, there is no question that football can be played at the ground for the foreseeable future. The club finds a home for its first team at RSC Beaufays’ former ground, the Terrain du Château d’Eau, while the youth academy is received hospitably by RJS Chêneenne at its Site du Sart-Moray.
• 2022 / While still in its exile at Beaufays, RC Vaux-Chaudfontaine finishes in second-last place in Liège’s Provincial League 2B, thus dropping back into Provincial League 3 along with bottom club AS Houtain-Milanello. Finally, in November 2022, after a year and a half away from its home soil, RC Vaux-Chaudfontaine returns to the Terrain de la Rue de la Vesdre. The pitch has been brought in order, but no replacement clubhouse has been put in place. For the time being, the club has to make do with mobile canteen facilities.
• 2023 / Finishing in fifth place in Liège’s Provincial League 3C, RC Vaux-Chaudfontaine qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is knocked out in R1 by R Standard FC Andrimont (3-0).
• 2024 / Finishing in fourth place in Liège’s Provincial League 3C, RC Vaux-Chaudfontaine qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is knocked out in R1 by R Harzé FC (2-1).

Note – Essential parts of the information above were provided by longtime RC Vaux-Chaudfontaine board member André Detré. Many thanks to him as well as to the club for the warm welcome on my matchday visit.

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