BELGIUM: EC Erpion (1968-2015) / Erpion-Lacs de l'Eau d'Heure (2015-2019) / Erpion-Lacs de l'Eau d'Heure (B) (2019-) / JS Erpion (B) (2022-)

Stade Michel & Anne-Marie Algoet terr. 1, Erpion (B pitch of Erpion-Lacs de l'Eau d'Heure & JS Erpion, formerly EC Erpion & A pitch of Erpion-Lacs de l'Eau d'Heure)

Belgium, province: Hainaut = Henegouwen

July 2025 / no match visited

Timeline

• 1967 / Foundation of a football club in Erpion, a tiny village in the Province of Hainaut halfway between Beaumont, Froidchapelle, and Walcourt. The new club takes on the name Espoir Club (EC) Erpion, with Alfonse François taking on the role of chairman. Acquiring membership of the Belgian Football Association (URBSFA / KBVB) under registration number 7081 in June 1967, the club settles on a pitch laid out on a plot of farmland alongside Rue de Froidchapelle, to the south of the village. In the 1967-68 season, EC Erpion does not take part with a first team in Hainaut’s regular provincial divisions yet.
• 1968 / Moving away from its pitch at Rue de Froidchapelle, EC Erpion moves to a newly laid-out pitch in the heart of the village, at the back of the farmstead of Michel Algoet and his wife Anne-Marie at Rue du Général Galet – the current Ruelle Catton leading to the ground not yet existing at the time. The ground does not dispose of a clubhouse yet, with the players being allowed to use Algoet’s stables as dressing rooms. In the summer of 1968, one year after its foundation, EC Erpion enters a first team in Hainaut’s bottom division, Provincial League 3, for the first time.
• 1970 / Finishing in twelfth place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3E, EC Erpion is placed in the newly created bottom division of Hainaut’s provincial league system, Provincial League 4. 
• 1992 / Having featured in the lower reaches of Hainaut’s Provincial League 4 for the best part of the past two decades, EC Erpion now manages a respectable second place in Provincial League 4G, with an equal number of points as JS Solrézienne, 6 points behind champions – and derby rivals – JS Froidchapelloise.
• 1993 / Champions in Hainaut’s Provincial League 4G, 1 point ahead of closest rivals Roux Sport, EC Erpion wins promotion to Provincial League 3. Also in 1993, a clubhouse is erected alongside the northern touchline of the pitch at Ruelle Catton.
• 1998 / EC Erpion manages a runner-up finish in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3E, 4 points behind champions R Gosselies Sports. 
• 2000 / Champions in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3E, 7 points ahead of closest followers US Solrézienne, EC Erpion wins promotion to Provincial League 2 for the first time in club history.
• 2007 / Finishing bottom of the table in Hainaut’s Provincial League 2C, EC Erpion drops back into Provincial League 3 after seven years, alongside the club in second-last place, RRFC Gozéen.
• 2009 / EC Erpion finishes as runner-up in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3D, 3 points behind champions R Baileux Sport. 
• 2010 / EC Erpion finishes as runner-up in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3D, 1 point behind champions RFC Farciennes. Also in or around 2010, a second pitch is added to the set-up at Erpion’s ground at Ruelle Catton. This second pitch is situated to the east of the main pitch.
• 2011 / Finishing in third place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3D, EC Erpion qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is knocked out in R1 in a crazy away match against RES Frasnoise (7-6).
• 2012 / Champions in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3D, 8 points ahead of closest followers Trazegnies Sports, EC Erpion manages a return to Provincial League 2 after five years.
• 2015 / Finishing in second-last place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 2C, EC Erpion descends into Provincial League 3 along with bottom club R Baileux Sport. Following the 2014-15 season, in an attempt to broaden its appeal to the wider region, the board of EC Erpion decides to rename the club Erpion-Lacs de l’Eau d’Heure (sometimes abbreviated as ELLEH) – named after the artificial lakes to the east of the village, a popular tourist destination.
• 2016 / Runner-up in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3D, 13 points behind runaway champions RJS Thudinienne, Erpion-Lacs de l’Eau d’Heure qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club eases past ES Mominoise in R1 (5-1), going on to defeat RFC Nalinnois in the final (0-2). As such, the club wins promotion to Provincial League 2. 
• 2018 / Erpion-Lacs de l’Eau d’Heure finishes in second place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 2C, 9 points behind champions SC Montignies, but misses out on the promotion play-offs. 
• 2019 / Works are completed on a synthetic pitch at Ruelle Catton in Erpion, on a location partly overlapping the old second pitch of the ground – but situated slightly to the south of the original layout. On the occasion of the inauguration of this new 3G and its small covered stand, the ground as a whole is renamed Stade Michel & Anne-Marie Algoet in recognition of the farming couple, who had put part of their farmland at the club’s disposal in 1968. From the 2019-20 season, first team football is moved to this new Terrain 2 – as well as most lower team matches.  
• 2022 / Foundation of a second football club in Erpion, Jeunesse Sportive (JS) Erpion, which acquires membership of Belgium’s FA under registration number 9779. The new entity is created under the wings of Erpion-Lacs de l’Eau d’Heure to allow more senior players to engage in first team football. JS Erpion’s first team is placed in Hainaut’s Provincial League 4, playing its home matches on the synthetic pitch, Terrain 2.

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