Belgium, province: Liège = Luik
11 V 2025 / AC Soiron - FC Bressoux 0-2 / Liège, Provincial League 4 - promotion play-off R2 (= BE level 9)
Timeline
- 1973 / A group of disgruntled members of Provincial League club FC Ensival in the Province of Liège decides to break away and form a recreational club of their own, which is given the name Athletic Club (AC) Telstar Ensival. Playing as groundsharers with Hoof Baelen on a pitch situated on the fringes of Welkenraedt, this club takes part in a recreational league, the Ligue Amateur (ALFA).
- 1975 / Looking for the possibility to join the official Belgian Football Association (URBSFA / KBVB), the membership of AC Telstar Ensival is on the lookout for a village without a club of its own. Stumbling upon Soiron, where the local mayor, Mr Lekeu, turns out to relish to the idea, they take the decision to move their club there, taking on the name AC Soiron. The founding members are Jean-Marie Romain, Daniel Durbut, Joseph Bemelmans (who takes on the chairmanship), and Guy Bongartz. AC Soiron is admitted as Belgian FA member with registration number 8268. Mr Lekeu puts at the disposal of the young club a plot of land to lay out a pitch. However, this pitch, Terrain Saint-Germain, is mightily uneven and has a huge slope. The club starts its life in Liège’s Provincial League 4, the lowest provincial level.
- 1977 / Moving away from Terrain Saint-Germain, AC Soiron settles on a plot of land which it rents from a local smallholder, Joseph Goé, at Route Croix Maga.
- 1998 / Runners-up in Liège’s Provincial League 4 behind champions FC Surdents, AC Soiron wins direct promotion to Provincial League 3 for the first time, due to extra promotion places being available.
- 1999 / Unable to cope with the level of Provincial League 3, AC Soiron drops back into Provincial League 4 after just one season.
- 2009 / Runners-up in Liège’s Provincial League 4F, 8 points behind champions Etoile Elsautoise B, AC Soiron fails to win promotion in the subsequent round of play-offs.
- 2011 / Finishing in sixth place in Liège’s Provincial League 4C, AC Soiron qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is knocked out in R1 by SC Oneutois (1-0).
- ± 2013 / As the owner of the football ground at Soiron, Mr Joseph Goé, passes away, the location is purchased by Pepinster’s municipal authorities to avoid the club being evicted from its pitch.
- 2017 / Finishing in third place in Liège’s Provincial League 4D, AC Soiron qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club bows out in R1 against R Entente Rechaintoise B (2-3).
- 2018 / Champions in Liège’s Provincial League 4D, 8 points ahead of closest rivals R Excelsior FC Lambermontois – incidentally the first title in club history – AC Soiron wins promotion to Provincial League 3 for the second time.
- 2019 / Finishing in second-last place in Liège’s Provincial League 3C, AC Soiron drops back into Provincial League 4 after just one season, along with bottom side FC Trooz B.
- 2023 / Finishing in fourth place in Liège’s Provincial League 4F, AC Soiron qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is eliminated in R1 by AC Hombourg B (5-1).
- 2025 / Runners-up in Liège’s Provincial League 4E, 11 points behind champions R Union Limbourg FC, AC Soiron qualifies for the promotion play-offs. Knocking out R Alliance Melen-Micheroux B in R1 (2-0), the club is knocked out in R2 by FC Bressoux (0-2). Although the club celebrates its fiftieth anniversary in 2025, it does not apply for the royal epithet due to no certainty existing about its near future. As it turns out, the palace demands any club applying for the epithet to submit its plans for the following five years.
- 2028 (projected) / With the club’s bail to use the pitch at Route Croix Maga running out, AC Soiron will probably cease to exist. Possibly, the club will terminate its activities prior to this date.
Note – Many thanks to AC Soiron’s founding member and longtime chairman Jean-Marie Romain for providing essential parts of information for the article above.
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