Extreme Football Tourism: 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.