Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: FC Elougeois (1934-1982) / SC Elouges (1982-2008) / ES Elouges-Dour (2008-2013) / ES Elouges-Dour (B) (2013-±2015) / FC Sainte-Odile Elouges (2018-)

Terrain de Sainte-Odile, Elouges (FC Sainte-Odile Elouges, formerly FC Elougeois / SC Elouges / ES Elouges-Dour / B ground of ES Elouges-Dour)

Belgium, province: Hainaut = Henegouwen

July 2025 / no match visited

Timeline

± 1919 / Shortly after the end of World War I, with the British forces being hailed as liberators in Belgium following the defeat of the German occupiers, football is brought to the attention of the inhabitants of the Borinage region by the soldiers from overseas. Several clubs are formed in the aftermath, one of them being Sporting Club (SC) Elouges in the eponymous mining town. It is unclear where the pitch of SC Elouges was situated.
± 1920 / SC Elouges joins the Belgian Football Association (URBSFA / KBVB).
1921 / SC Elouges folds, ceasing all activities.
1922 / SC Elouges is re-established, joining the Belgian FA.
1924 / After two years, the reincarnated version of SC Elouges folds, ceasing all activities.
1934 / Foundation of a new football club in Elouges, which takes on the name FC Elougeois, acquiring membership of the Belgian FA with registration number 2195.
1935 / FC Elougeois starts its existence as a competitive club in Hainaut’s Regional League 3.
1936 / FC Elougeois finishes as runner-up in Hainaut’s Regional League 3B, 3 points behind champions FC Ville-Pommeroeul.
1938 / Runner-up in Hainaut’s Regional League 3B, 2 points behind champions HC Lens, FC Elougeois wins promotion to Regional League 2 along with the aforementioned club as well as Polonia Hautrage and JS Grandglise. In the post-war years, the club maintains itself in Regional League 2 – renamed Provincial League 2 in 1952.
1945 / A second club sees the daylight in Elouges, Etoile Rouge (ER) Elouges, which joins Belgium’s FA with registration number 4279. Most probably, judging from its name, ER Elouges was an outspokenly socialist football club, which may have meant that FC Elougeois was an establishment and/or perhaps a Roman Catholic entity. It is unclear where the ground of ER Elouges was situated.
1946 / One year after its foundation, ER Elouges starts its existence in Hainaut’s Regional League 2 – which is striking, given that Regional League 3 was the bottom level of the pyramid, the usual starting point for an emerging club.
1951 / Following five seasons in Hainaut’s Regional League 2, ER Elouges folds, ceasing all activities, with registration number 4279 being struck from the Belgian FA’s membership list three years later, in 1954.
1957 / Having been a regular feature in Regional League 2 & Provincial League 2 in the past two decades, FC Elougeois now finishes in second-last place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 2B, resulting in the club descending into Provincial League 3, along with bottom club AS Obaix-Buzet.
1959 / Champions in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3B ahead of runner-up RLC Mesvinois, FC Elougeois wins promotion to Provincial League 2.
1969 / Finishing bottom of the table in Hainaut’s Provincial League 2A, FC Elougeois drops back into Provincial League 3 after ten seasons, along with the club in second-last place, RUS Leuzoise.
1970 / Champions in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3B, 5 points ahead of closest rivals ASC Baudour, FC Elougeois manages an instant return to Provincial League 2.
1973 / Finishing bottom of the table in Hainaut’s Provincial League 2A, FC Elougeois drops back into Provincial League 3, alongside RSC Templeuvois.
1975 / In spite of finishing in second-last place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3A, FC Elougeois avoids relegation alongside bottom club FC Esplechin thanks to the administrative relegation of number 13 in the final table, FC Saint-Ghislain. That year, the club concludes a sponsorship deal with Jean Zarzecki, originally a businessman with Polish origins, who had grown up in Elouges before moving elsewhere.
1976 / One year after concluding a sponsorship deal with FC Elougeois, Jean Zarzecki takes over the role of chairman of the club, with the express goal of reaching the national divisions as soon as possible.
1977 / Runaway champions in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3B, 17 points ahead of closest followers US Estinnoise, FC Elougeois accedes to Provincial League 2.
1978 / FC Elougeois finishes as runner-up in Hainaut’s Provincial League 2A, 3 points behind derby rivals RSC Boussu-Bois.
1979 / Runaway champions in Hainaut’s Provincial League 2A, 10 points ahead of closest followers RLC Hornu, FC Elougeois accedes to Provincial League 1 for the first time in club history.
1980 / FC Elougeois finishes as runner-up in Hainaut’s Provincial League 1, 4 points behind champions URS Centre.
1981 / Champions in Hainaut’s Provincial League 1, with an equal number of points as runner-up Stade Brainois, but with 21 victories (vs. 20 wins for the club from Braine-le-Comte), FC Elougeois achieves a historic promotion to the national league level, making its debut in National Division 4 in the 1981-82 season. That same year, the club receives R Standard de Liège in a Belgian cup tie at the Terrain de Sainte-Odile, with the match ending in a win for the club from Liège who would go on to win the cup competition that year.
1982 / Unable to hold its own at the national league level, FC Elougeois finishes in second-last place in National Division 4A, dropping back into Provincial League 1 after just one season, alongside RA Marchiennoise des Sports and bottom club Stade Gedinnois. Following the 1981-82 season, a merger is concluded between FC Elougeois and Provincial League 1 club RSC Boussu-Bois, resulting in relegation to Provincial League 1. The new club, created in a tight partnership between the respective chairman, Robert Urbain of RSC Boussu-Bois and Jean Zarzecki of FC Elougeois, is given the name R Francs Borains Boussu-Bois Elouges, which retains registration number 167 of RSC Boussu-Bois; number 2195 of FC Elougeois is struck from the Belgian FA’s membership list. Following the merger, all activities are moved to the Stade Saint-Charles in Boussu-Bois. In Elouges, a phoenix club is formed straightaway to take the place of FC Elougeois at the Terrain de Sainte-Odile, with the new club being given the name SC Elouges, which is allowed into the ranks of the Belgian FA under registration number 8850 and being placed in the bottom division of the league ladder, Hainaut’s Provincial League 4.
1990 / SC Elouges manages a runner-up finish in Hainaut’s Provincial League 4D, 2 points behind champions US Thumaide.
1993 / Finishing in third place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 4C, SC Elouges goes on to win the promotion play-offs, thus acceding to Provincial League 3 for the first time.
1994 / Champions in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3B, 4 points ahead of closest rivals US Thumaide and FC Saint-Ghislain, SC Elouges achieves back-to-back promotions, acceding to Provincial League 2 for the first time.
1997 / In the best season in its history as an independent club, SC Elouges manages a sixth place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 2B, a results which is equalled in the following season.
2001 / Finishing bottom of the table in Hainaut’s Provincial League 2A, SC Elouges descends into Provincial League 3 after seven years, along with R Stade Antoing and SC Brunehaut.
2002 / Finishing in second-last place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3B, SC Elouges experiences its second relegation in a row, descending into Provincial League 4, along with FC Basèclois, RUS Belstam, and bottom club JS Gaurain.
2003 / Runner-up in Hainaut’s Provincial League 4B, 4 points behind champions FC Flénu, SC Elouges goes on to win the promotion play-offs, thus managing an immediate return to Provincial League 3.
2005 / Finishing bottom of the table in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3B, SC Elouges is retrograded into Provincial League 4, along with the club in second-last place, RLC Givry.
2006 / Runaway champions in Hainaut’s Provincial League 4C, 12 points ahead of closest followers RAS Honnelles, SC Elouges manages a return to Provincial League 3 after one year only.
2008 / Finishing in eighth place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3B in its last season as an independent club, SC Elouges concludes a merger with FC Dour from the nearby village of Dour, resulting in the foundation of Entente Sportive (ES) Elouges-Dour, with registration number 8850 of SC Elouges being retained; number 9491 of FC Dour is erased from the Belgian FA’s official lists. Initially, first team football moves to the Terrain de Sainte-Odile in Elouges, with the Terrain du Moranfayt in Dour being retained for lower team football and training sessions. Plans are presented by the Dour municipal council to realise a synthetic playing field on the Terrain du Moranfayt by 2010.
2009 / With works getting underway at the Terrain du Moranfayt, ES Elouges-Dour has to move all its activities to the Terrain de Sainte-Odile in Elouges, which has been given a new natural grass surface.
2010 / Champions in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3B, 2 points ahead of closest rivals FC Thulin, ES Elouges-Dour wins promotion to Provincial League 2.
2011 / Finishing in third place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3B, ES Elouges-Dour qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club knocks out RLC Hornu in R1 (0-1), only to suffer elimination at the hands of FC Havré in R2 (6-0).
2013 / Three years after the planned realisation of the plans, the synthetic playing field at the Terrain du Moranfayt is inaugurated. First team football moves to the new location straightaway, with the Terrain de Sainte-Odile in Elouges being retained for lower team football and training sessions.
± 2015 / ES Elouges-Dour abandons the Terrain de Sainte-Odile in Elouges, with all activities being moved to the Terrain du Moranfayt in Dour. The pitch in Elouges remained in use for recreational football only in the following seasons.
2018 / Foundation of a new football club in Elouges, which takes on the name FC Sainte-Odile Elouges, acquiring membership of the Belgian FA with registration number 9708. The new club’s founding fathers all had their roots in the indoor football club Ecole Futsal Sainte-Odile Jeunes, which developed its activities in the indoor sports hall adjacent to the football pitch of the Terrain de Sainte-Odile. With no first team being fielded – but there may very well have been a recreational team taking part in the recreational competitions of the Royal Groupement Corporatif Centre Mons Borinage (RGCCMB) – FC Sainte-Odile Elouges sticks to building a youth academy instead in the following years.
2021 / After three years of only engaging in youth academy football, FC Sainte-Odile Elouges fields a first team in Hainaut’s Provincial League 4 for the first time.
2023 / Finishing in fifth place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 4C, FC Sainte-Odile Elouges qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is knocked out in R1 by USC Jemappes B (1-0).
2025 / Runner-up in Hainaut’s Provincial League 4B, 7 points behind champions RFC Wiersien B, FC Sainte-Odile Elouges qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club bows out in R1 against RSC Templeuvois B (0-1).
2026 / Finishing in fifth place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 4B, FC Sainte-Odile Elouges qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club eases past FC Harchies-Bernissart B in R1 (5-1), going on to eliminate ASC Havinnes in R2 (2-1), only to suffer defeat in the final against RSB Frameries B (5-0). In the ensuing lucky loser play-off, FC Sainte-Odile is knocked out in the semis by ES Mominoise B (5-4).