Extreme Football Tourism: 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.