NETHERLANDS: vv Jonge Kracht (2021-)

Sportpark De Rode Veste, Huissen Het Zand (vv Jonge Kracht)

Netherlands, province: Guelders = Gelderland

30 VII 2025 / Al Wasl FC - Khaleej Club 2-1 / Pre-season friendly (neutral venue)

Timeline

• 1932 / Foundation of a football club in Het Zand, a hamlet on the southern outskirts of the town of Huissen in Guelders. The new club, which is given the name SDV (probably meaning Sterk Door Vriendschap) joins the RKUVB, a sub-branch of Roman Catholic Football Federation RKF. 
• 1938 / After an existence of six years, SDV folds, ceasing all activities.
• 1945 / Creation of a successor club of SDV in Het Zand, which is given the name Rooms-Katholieke Sportvereniging (RKSV) Jonge Kracht. The new club joins the Nijmegen sub-branch of the official Netherlands’ Football Association KNVB. The club settles on a pitch laid out at Polseweg, often being referred to locally as Terrein De Pol.
• 1970 / Moving away from Terrein De Pol at Polseweg after 25 years, RKSV Jonge Kracht settles at the newly laid-out Sportpark Schalkshof, only a stone’s throw away from the initial location.
• 1979 / Ten (!) years after the decision of the gathered membership of the club to drop the Roman Catholic prefix, the name changed is officialised in a notarial act, with RKSV Jonge Kracht now officially becoming vv Jonge Kracht.
• 2021 / Abandoning Sportpark Schalkshof after 41 years, vv Jonge Kracht moves into the newly laid-out Sportpark De Rode Veste, situated roughly on the same location as the club’s initial pitch, Terrein De Pol – which was partly located on the main pitch of the new park, partly on the third pitch (the pitch adjacent to Polseweg). The clubhouse and covered stand of the new park are still under construction at this stage.
• 2022 / Runners-up in District East’s Sunday League 4D, with an equal number of points as Sportclub Westervoort, but with an inferior goal difference (+72 vs. +78), vv Jonge Kracht has to try to break down to the door to Sunday League 3 in the promotion play-offs. Drawing a bye in R1, the club knocks out vv Angerlo Vooruit in R2 (3-0) and GSV ’38 in the final (2-1), played at RKVV Sprinkhanen’s Sportpark De Meikamer in Nieuw-Dijk. That same year, the clubhouse and grandstand of Sportpark De Rode Veste are inaugurated.
• 2024 / Finishing in third place in District East’s Sunday League 3C, vv Jonge Kracht qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club qualifies for the final following successive wins over vv Witkampers (3-0) and SV Schalkhaar (1-2). In the final, played at vv VIOD’s Sportpark Dichteren in Doetinchem, the club sees off vv Vorden in a spectacular match (5-4). As a result, vv Jonge Kracht finds its way back to Sunday League 2 after an absence of ten years.  

Note - Thanks to vv Jonge Kracht's club archivist Theo Aaldering for providing essential parts of information for the article above.

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

BELGIUM: Velvain Sport (1965-1992) / SC Brunehaut (1992-2013) / RJS Wez-Guignies (2013-)

Stade Charles Brulois, Wez-Velvain Velvain (RJS Wez-Guignies, formerly Velvain Sport / SC Brunehaut)

Belgium, province: Hainaut = Henegouwen

29 VII 2025 / RJS Wez-Guignies - FC Rumes-La Glanerie 1-4 / Pre-season friendly

Timeline

• 1965 / Foundation of a recreational football club in Velvain, the western half of the village and municipality of Wez-Velvain, situated halfway between the city of Tournay (Tournai, Doornik) and the border with France. The new club, which is given the name Velvain Sport, settles on a pitch which is laid out at Rue du Veillé. The club takes part in a recreational league of clubs in Tournay and the surrounding area.
• 1971 / After six years in the recreational divisions, Velvain Sports joins the official Belgian FA, acquiring registration number 7936 upon being accepted as a new member club. However, for the time being, the club refrains from taking part in regular first team football – perhaps sticking to recreational football for the moment, but allowing its youth academy teams to take part in regular FA competitions. That same year, in the nearby village of Guignies, a football club is formed as well, Jeunesse Sportive (JS) de Guignies, which joins the Belgian FA with registration number 7945. It is unclear where the pitch of this club was situated. JS Guignies starts its life as a competitive club in Provincial League 4, the bottom division of the provincial league pyramid in Hainaut.
• 1973 / Two years after joining the Belgian FA, Velvain Sport enters a regular first team in Hainaut’s Provincial League 4 for the first time.
• 1976 / Champions in Hainaut’s Provincial League 4A, 4 points ahead of closest followers Entente Pottoise, Velvain Sport wins promotion to Provincial League 3. 
• 1977 / Winning back-to-back titles, Velvain Sport now finishes top of the table in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3A, with an equal number of points as runners-up AS Obigies, but with a better goal difference (+32 vs. +25). As such, the club accedes to Provincial League 2 for the first time. Also in 1977, the villages of Wez-Velvain and Guignies are absorbed into a newly created, much larger municipality, which is given the name Brunehaut.
• 1978 / Finishing bottom of the table in Hainaut’s Provincial League 2A, Velvain Sport drops back into Provincial League 3 after just one season, along with the club in second-last place, RRC Péruwelz. Meanwhile, JS Guignies finishes as runners-up in Hainaut’s Provincial League 4A, 1 point behind champions AS Saint-Léger. Somehow, due to one extra promotion place being at stake, the club is placed in Provincial League 3 in the following season. 
• 1987 / After nine years as a Provincial League 3 club, Velvain Sport now finishes in third place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3A, going on to join champions FC Excelsior Biévène in Provincial League 2 after a successful round of promotion play-offs. 
• 1988 / Yet again, as on the previous occasion, Velvain Sport only holds out in Provincial League 2 for one season, finishing in second-last place in Hainaut’s P2A and dropping back into Provincial League 3 along with bottom club SC Russeignies.
• 1989 / Runners-up in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3A, 1 point behind champions and derby rivals SC Hollain, Velvain Sport goes on to force its way back into Provincial League 2 in the play-offs.
• 1991 / Finishing in second-last place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3A, JS Guignies drops back into Provincial League 4 after thirteen years, along with bottom club DR Rongy.
• 1992 / In its last season as an independent club, Velvain Sport narrowly staves off relegation, finishing third from bottom in Hainaut’s Provincial League 2A. Meanwhile, JS Guignies finishes as runners-up in Provincial League 4B, with an equal number of points as champions CS Taintignies, but with an inferior number of wins (19 vs 18), thus missing out on promotion. Following the 1991-92 season, Velvain Sport and JS Guignies conclude a merger, resulting in the foundation of Sporting Club (SC) Brunehaut, which retains Velvain’s registration number 7936; Guignies’ number 7945 is erased from the Belgian FA’s official lists. All activities move to Velvain’s ground at Rue de Veillé, with the pitch in Guignies probably being abandoned straightaway. SC Brunehaut takes the place of Velvain Sport in Provincial League 2. In the following years, the name of the new merger club regularly creates confusion, due to derby rivals SC Hollain having taken on the name FC Brunehaut one year previously.
• 1995 / SC Brunehaut finishes as runners-up in Hainaut’s Provincial League 2A, 7 points behind champions RRC Estaimpuis.
• 1997 / Finishing in third place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 2A, SC Brunehaut goes on to win the promotion play-offs, resulting in the club winning promotion to Provincial League 1 for the first time, along with champions RFC Excelsior Biévène. The promotion to the top provincial division gives a group of club volunteers the idea to give the ground at Rue du Veillé an upgrade, with a ticket box and a large covered stand being erected. The design for the stand is made by the man also overseeing the building works in the summer months of 1997, Charles Brulois. Subsequently, the ground is named after him, Stade Charles Brulois.
• 1998 / Finishing in second-last place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 1, SC Brunehaut drops back into Provincial League 2 after just one season, along with RAS Lessines-Ollignies, FC Gilly, RUSC Anderlues, and bottom club ES Frasnoise.
• 2001 / Finishing in second-last place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 2A, SC Brunehaut descends into Provincial League 3 for the first time since the merger, along with bottom club SC Elouges.
• 2005 / Finishing bottom of the table in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3A, SC Brunehaut is retrograded to Provincial League 4 along with the club in second-last place, RFC Molenbaix – the first time the ground at Rue du Veillé in Wez-Velvain sees Provincial League 4 football in 29 years.
• 2013 / After several years in the bottom half of the Provincial League 4 table, SC Brunehaut is taken over by a new presidency, which changes the name of the club to become Jeunesse Sportive (JS) de Wez-Guignies. Apart from being eager to give the club a fresh start, the new leadership wants to end the confusing situation of having SC Brunehaut and FC Brunehaut (from Hollain) co-existing in the same municipality, only several kilometres apart.
• 2014 / In its first season under the new name, JS Wez-Guignies manages its best result in years, finishing as runners-up in Hainaut’s Provincial League 4B, 1 point behind champions FC Mont-de-l’Enclus. Subsequently, the club misses out on promotion in the play-off rounds.
• 2020 / In the 2019-20 season, cut short due the first COVID lockdown in March 2020, JS Wez-Guignies finds itself in first place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 4B, 9 points ahead of RFC Wiersien B (and with two matches in hand). On that basis, the club is accorded promotion to Provincial League 3 for the new season.
• 2022 / Finishing in third-last place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3A, JS Wez-Guignies drops back into Provincial League 4 along with CS Taintignies and bottom side RUS Tournai-Warcoing B. Subsequently, pressed down by financial problems, the club’s board decides to withdraw from first team football temporarily, continuing with just recreational teams and a small youth academy.
• 2024 / After two years without first team football, JS Wez-Guignies returns with a fanion team in Provincial League 4. That same year, the club acquires the royal epithet, officially becoming Royale Jeunesse Sportive (RJS) de Wez-Guignies.

Note – Thanks to Eric Daubechies, chairman of RJS Wez-Guignies since 2019, for essential parts of information included in the article above.

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

BELGIUM: KRC Bissegem

Sportcentrum Ter Biezen, Bissegem (KRC Bissegem)

Belgium, province: West Flanders = West-Vlaanderen

27 VII 2025 / KRC Bissegem - KVC Ardooie 1-2 / Belgian Cup R1

Timeline

• 1919 / In the village of Bissegem, in the immediate vicinity of Courtray (Kortrijk, Courtrai), football is being played on a pasture owned by the Ameye brothers at Oliemolenstraat. Most probably, there was no football club as such, with matches being organised against other makeshift teams from surrounding villages.
• 1924 / Most probably, in 1924, Racing Club (RC) Bissegem was founded, with the club, as so many others in West Flanders between World Wars I & II, seeking affiliation with the so-called Vlaamsche Voetbalbond (VVB), a league association of Flemish clubs and a rival of the official Belgian Football Association (KBVB / URBSFA). The founding fathers of the club are André De Backere, André Ameye, and Maurice Vermandele. RC Bissegem is placed in VVB West Flanders Division 3, with home matches being played on a pitch situated at the back of a local inn called Belle-Vue, situated at modern-day Tuinwijklaan. 
• ± 1929 / RC Bissegem folds following a petty conflict among the membership about two local cafés vying for the right to be the team’s official clubhouse.
• ± 1932 / RC Bissegem is refounded, with the club joining the VVB and being placed in VVB West Flanders Division 3. Most probably, the club settled on a new pitch, Terrein Tientjesstraat. By the 1936-37 season, RC Bissegem had won promotion to Division 2.
• ± 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, RC Bissegem may have ceased its activities – or possibly already at an earlier stage, by 1942 or 1943.
• 1945 / RC Bissegem is refounded, with the club now joining the official Belgian Football Association with registration number 4250. Allegedly, the foundation was partly funded through the receipts of a gala match between a local team and a team of the British military forces which had liberated the region, with the homes having the edge (6-4) in an event attended by some 1,500 spectators. With the club settling on the old pitch at Tientjesstraat, Gilbert Coolsaet takes on the role of first chairman of this new, third guise of RC Bissegem. 
• 1946 / In the 1945-46 season, the first of RC Bissegem as a member of the Belgian FA, the club wins the title, probably in West Flanders’ Regional League 3, resulting in the club winning promotion to Regional League 2. The exact achievements of the club until 1957, when it finds itself in Provincial League 3, are not available to the writer of this article.
• ± 1950 / Moving away from Terrein Tientjesstraat, RC Bissegem settles on a newly laid-out pitch at Heulsestraat – not the current main pitch, but a location coinciding with the location of the modern-day sports hall and tennis pitches, just next to it.
• 1951 / RC Bissegem wins a title, but it is unclear in which division.
• 1952 / RC Bissegem takes part in the Belgian Cup for the first time.
• 1953 / RC Bissegem takes part in the Belgian Cup for a second time.
• 1954 / RC Bissegem wins a title, but it is unclear in which division.
• 1963 / Finishing in fourth place in West Flanders’ Provincial League 3C, RC Bissegem wins promotion to Provincial League 2, due to extra promotion places being available.
• 1967 / Finishing in fourth place in West Flanders’ Provincial League 2B, RC Bissegem drops back into Provincial League 3.
• 1970 / Runners-up in West Flanders’ Provincial League 3C, RC Bissegem wins promotion to Provincial League 2, due to extra promotion places being available.
• 1974 / Finishing in twelfth place in West Flanders’ Provincial League 2B, RC Bissegem drops back into Provincial League 3.
• ± 1975 / As Bissegem’s municipal authorities invest into local sports infrastructure, an indoor sports hall is constructed on the location of RC Bissegem’s pitch, with the club moving only several dozens of yards to the east, where a new main pitch is laid out. In fact, the covered stand adorning the pitch is built into the wall of the sports hall, which is given the name Sportcentrum Ter Biezen.
• 1976 / Finishing in thirteenth place in West Flanders’ Provincial League 3C, RC Bissegem descends into West Flanders’ Provincial League 4 for the first time.
• 1978 / Champions in West Flanders’ Provincial League 4C, RC Bissegem manages a return to Provincial League 3 after an absence of two years. 
• 1981 / Former RC Bissegem youth player Claude Verspaille makes his debut in the flagship team of professional league club KV Kortrijk. The defender goes on to have a long career, playing for Club Brugge KV and R Excelsior Mouscron before hanging up his boots at KV Kortrijk in 2000.
• 1982 / Finishing bottom of the table in West Flanders’ Provincial League 3C, RC Bissegem drops back into Provincial League 4.
• 1983 / Champions in West Flanders’ Provincial League 4D, RC Bissegem manages an immediate return to Provincial League 3.
• 1991 / Finishing bottom of the table in West Flanders’ Provincial League 3C, RC Bissegem drops back into Provincial League 4.
• 1993 / Runners-up in West Flanders’ Provincial League 4C, RC Bissegem goes on to win the promotion play-offs, thus managing a return to Provincial League 3 after two seasons.
• 1996 / One year after the club’s fiftieth anniversary, RC Bissegem acquires the royal epithet, thus officially becoming Koninklijke Racing Club (KRC) Bissegem.
• 1997 / Finishing in third-last place in West Flanders’ Provincial League 3C, KRC Bissegem drops back into Provincial League 4.
• 2004 / Champions in West Flanders’ Provincial League 4C, KRC Bissegem manages a return to Provincial League 3 after seven years.
• 2005 / Finishing in fourth place in West Flanders’ Provincial League 3C, KRC Bissegem goes on to win promotion to Provincial League 2 via a subsequent round of play-offs. It marks the return of the club to this level after an absence of 31 years.
• 2006 / Finishing in third-last place in West Flanders’ Provincial League 2B, KRC Bissegem drops back into Provincial League 3 along with KFC Poperinge, VV Tielt, and bottom club KFC Kuurne.
• 2013 / Joint runners-up in West Flanders’ Provincial League 3C with KSK Geluwe, 5 points behind champions DOSKO Kanegem, KRC Bissegem goes on to defeat KSK Geluwe in a tie-break match for second place (2-1), resulting in a more advantageous draw in the ensuing promotion play-offs. In those play-offs, Bissegem goes on to edge past KSK Beveren-Leie in R1 (1-0 aggr.) and KSC Oostrozebeke in R2 (4-3 aggr.), as a result of which the club earns promotion to Provincial League 2. 
• 2015 / Finishing in third-last place in West Flanders’ Provincial League 2B, KRC Bissegem is retrograded into Provincial League 3, along with DOSKO Kanegem, R Dottignies Sports, and bottom club KVC DOSKO Beveren.
• 2018 / Champions in West Flanders’ Provincial League 3C, 1 point ahead of runners-up KSK Voorwaarts Zwevezele B, KRC Bissegem wins promotion to Provincial League 2 after an absence of three years. 
• 2019 / Finishing in third-last place in West Flanders’ Provincial League 2B, KRC Bissegem drops back into provincial League 3 along with KFC Olympic Ledegem and bottom club US Ploegsteert-Bizet.
• 2021 / The main pitch at Sportcentrum Ter Biezen is laid out anew as a 3G.
• 2022 / Runners-up in West Flanders’ Provincial League 3C, 17 points behind runaway champions KVC DOSKO Beveren, KRC Bissegem goes on to win a promotion play-off against FC Eendracht Hooglede (8-1 aggr.), resulting in the club returning to Provincial League 2. 
• 2025 / Champions in West Flanders’ Provincial League 2B, 8 points ahead of closest followers KFC Aalbeke Sport, KRC Bissegem achieves a historic promotion to Provincial League 1. Moreover, after an absence of 72 years, the club makes its return in the Belgian Cup, suffering elimination in R1 at the hands of KVC Ardooie.

Note – Thanks to KRC Bissegem board members Philippe Verschaete for providing essential parts of information for the article above.

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