LUXEMBOURG: FC Atert Bissen (2019-)

Stade Klengbousbierg, Bissen (FC Atert Bissen)

Luxembourg, canton: Mersch

28 IX 2025 / FC Atert Bissen - FC Una Strassen 3-1 / National Division (= LUX level 1)

Timeline

• 1945 / At the end of the German occupation of Luxembourg, a new football club is founded in Bissen, a village in the heart of the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg. The new FC Atert Bissen is in fact the fourth successive football club in the village, following FC Jeunesse Bissen (1917-1923), FC Red Star Bissen (1929-1934), and FC 42 (1942-1944). A first pitch is laid out for the new club on a pasture owned by Bitz Batty, situated at Am Brill. 
• 1946 / A new ground is inaugurated for FC Atert Bissen at Am Brill, on a pasture owned by Ms Ecker.
• ± 1961 / Moving away from Terrain Gérard Bitz at Am Brill, FC Atert Bissen settles on a newly laid-out pitch, Terrain Paafend, situated on a pasture owned by a local smallholder, Jos Wietor.
• 1995 / Moving away from Terrain Paafend, FC Atert Bissen settles on a newly laid-out pitch, Terrain Am Bousbierg, situated at Rouschter Strooss. Terrain Paafend remains in use for lower team football and training sessions.
• 2013 / Bissen’s municipal authorities give the go-ahead sign for a projected new ground for the club at Klengbousbierg, a stone’s throw away from Terrain am Bousbierg.
• 2015 / Bissen’s municipal authorities approve of the design for a clubhouse at the projected Stade Klengbousbierg by architect’s office Holweck Bingen.
• 2017 / The second pitch of the projected Stade Klengbousbierg, equipped with a synthetic surface, is handed over to FC Atert Bissen, allowing part of the club’s activities to move to the new ground. All the remaining teams follow in the following months.
• 2018 / In January 2018, the clubhouse at Terrain Am Bousbierg is knocked down. As such, first team football moves to the 3G pitch at Stade Klengbousbierg after the 2017-18 winter break. Meanwhile, the old ground has to make way for a new-to-be-built senior home. On the pitch, FC Atert Bissen experiences success, finishing top of the table in Division 1 Group 1, 10 points ahead of closest followers FC Lorentzweiler. As such, the club accedes to Promotion d’Honneur, the second tier of Luxembourg's football pyramid.
• 2019 / Finishing in third-last place in Promotion d’Honneur, FC Atert Bissen goes on to suffer defeat in a promotion-relegation play-off against FC Young Boys Weiler-la-Tour (3-1 A.E.T.). As such, the club drops back into Division 1 along with FC 72 Erpeldange, FC Koeppchen Wormeldange, and bottom club US Sandweiler. Meanwhile, in March 2019, the new main pitch as well as the clubhouse at Stade Klengbousbierg are inaugurated with a gala match between Luxembourg’s national team and Belgian top flight club R Union Saint-Gilloise (2-1). The new ground has an estimated capacity of 2,000. Meanwhile, apart from the two pitches at the new facility, Terrain Paafend, the main pitch of FC Atert Bissen until 1995, still remains in use for training purposes.
• 2020 / In the 2019-20 season, cut short due to the first COVID lockdown in March 2020, FC Atert Bissen finds itself in second-place in Division 1 Group 1, 8 points behind FC Marisca Mersch. On that basis, the club is admitted to Promotion d’Honneur for the new season.
• 2022 / Finishing in thirteenth place in Promotion d’Honneur, FC Atert Bissen goes on to save its skin in a promotion-relegation play-off against FC Jeunesse Useldange (4-0).
• 2023 / Finishing in second-last place in Promotion d’Honneur, FC Atert Bissen drops back into Division 1 along with FC Jeunesse Junglinster, FC Luxembourg City, and bottom club FC Jeunesse Schieren.
• 2024 / Runaway champions in Division 1 Group 1, 14 points ahead of closest followers US Feulen, FC Atert Bissen wins promotion to Promotion d’Honneur – along with the aforementioned club.
• 2025 / Finishing in third place in Promotion d’Honneur, FC Atert Bissen qualifies for a promotion-relegation play-off against SC Bettembourg, going on to win that encounter, played at Stade Käerjenger Dribbel in Bascharage (1-0). As such, the club accedes to the National Division, the top flight of Luxembourg’s league pyramid, for the first time, along with champions FC Mamer 32 as well as UN Käerjéng 97 and FC Jeunesse Canach.

Note - Part of the information in the above has been derived from a booklet published on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of FC Atert Bissen in 2020: (anon.), "75 Joer FC Atert Bissen 1945-2020", FC Atert Bissen: Bissen 2020. Thanks to the club for putting a copy of this booklet at my disposal.

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

BELGIUM: K Velm VV

Terrein Davidstraat, Velm (K Velm VV)

Belgium, province: Limburg

27 IX 2025 / K Velm VV - Zonhoven United FC 2-2 / Limburg, Provincial League 1 (= BE level 6)

Timeline

• 1935 / Foundation of a football club in Velm, a village in the far south of the Belgian Province of Limburg. The new club takes on the name Sparta Velm, which acquires registration number 2273 upon being accepted as a new member of the Belgian Football Association (URBSFA / KBVB). It is unclear where the new club’s pitch was situated.
• 1936 / Sparta Velm starts its existence as a competitive club in Limburg’s Regional League 2C (2e Gewestelijke C).
• 1937 / Sparta Velm withdraws its team from Regional League 2.
• 1938 / After a one-year break, Sparta Velm restarts in Limburg’s Regional League 2.
• 1946 / Finishing in second-last place in Limburg’s Regional League 2C, Sparta Velm descends into Regional League 3.
• 1947 / Having managed a sixth place in Limburg’s Regional League 3C, Sparta Velm withdraws from competitive football for a second time.
• 1949 / After two years of inactivity on the part of Sparta Velm, the club’s registration number 2273 is erased from the Belgian FA’s official lists.
• 1968 / A new club sees the daylight in Velm, which takes on the name Velm Voetbalvereniging (VV). The new club, which acquires registration number 7216, settles on a pitch laid out on a pasture at Waalhovenstraat. In the 1968-69 season, Velm VV only competes in the reserves’ leagues.
• 1969 / Moving away from Terrein Waalhovenstraat after one year, Velm VV moves into a newly laid-out ground at Davidstraat, where the club has been home ever since; the main pitch of the ground has a slope of some two metres from end to end. Also in 1969, Velm VV forms a regular first team for the first time, which is placed in Limburg’s Provincial League 3, the bottom division in Limburg’s provincial league system at that time.
• 1971 / Finishing in fourteenth place in Limburg’s Provincial League 3D, Velm VV descends into the newly created Provincial League 4.
• 1987 / Runners-up in Limburg’s Provincial League 4B, Velm VV wins promotion to Provincial League 3, thus returning to that level after an absence of sixteen seasons.
• 1996 / Finishing bottom of the table in Limburg’s Provincial League 3C, Velm VV drops back into Provincial League 4.
• 2000 / Finishing in fourth place in Limburg’s Provincial League 4C, Velm VV goes on to win the promotion play-offs, thus acceding to Provincial League 3.
• 2001 / Finishing bottom of the table in Limburg’s Provincial League 3D, Velm VV suffers immediate relegation back into Provincial League 4.
• 2003 / Clinching the first title in club history, Velm VV finishes in first place in Limburg’s Provincial League 4D, thus acceding to Provincial League 3 after an absence of two seasons.
• 2005 / Finishing bottom of the table in Limburg’s Provincial League 3C, Velm VV drops back into Provincial League 4 along with the club in second-last place, VV RKC Hasselt.
• 2006 / Velm VV finishes as runners-up in Limburg’s Provincial League 4D, 2 points behind champions Red Star Opheers. The club is deprived of success in the ensuing round of promotion play-offs.
• 2007 / Runners-up in Limburg’s Provincial League 4D along with KV Heur VV, 16 points behind champions Eendracht Henis, Velm VV once again fails to break down the door to Provincial League 3 in the play-offs.
• 2008 / Champions in Limburg’s Provincial League 4D on goal difference (+35 vs. +25 for K Heers VV), Velm VV wins promotion to Provincial League 3.
• 2011 / Finishing in second-last place in Limburg’s Provincial League 3C, Velm VV drops back into Provincial League 4 after three years, along with K Hoger-Op Heide Hasselt, K Bolderberg FC, RDK Gravelo, and bottom club Amandina VC.
• 2017 / Finishing in fifth place in Limburg’s Provincial League 4A, Velm VV qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is eliminated in R1 by Membruggen V&V (3-2 aggr.).
• 2018 / Upon the club’s fiftieth anniversary, Velm VV acquires the royal epithet, thus officially becoming Koninklijke Velm Voetbalvereniging (K Velm VV). In the summer of 2018, works get underway on the main pitch of Terrein Davidstraat, with a synthetic surface being put in place after the characteristic slope has been taken away by raising the eastern end of the pitch by some two metres. While the works are underway, most of the activities of the club, including first team football, are temporarily moved to Jeugdcentrum Seminarie, the youth academy ground of K Sint-Truidense VV. Eventually, on December 8th, 2018, the new 3G pitch at Terrein Davidstraat is inaugurated in the presence of Sint-Truiden’s mayor, Veerle Heeren.
• 2020 / In the 2019-20 season, cut short by the first COVID lockdown in March 2020, K Velm VV finds itself in second place in Limburg’s Provincial League 4C, 11 points behind league leaders KFC De Jeugd Borgloon. On that basis, the club is placed in Provincial League 3 for the new season.
• 2022 / Finishing in third place in Limburg’s Provincial League 3C, K Velm VV qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is knocked out by FC Turkse Rangers in R1 (4-1 in the away match & refusing to play the home tie subsequently).
• 2023 / Runners-up in Limburg’s Provincial League 3A, 9 points behind champions K Kortessemse VV, K Velm VV qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club has the better of K Kaulille FC in R1 (1-3), only to be eliminated in R2 by FC Maasland Noordoost (3-1).
• 2024 / Champions in Limburg’s Provincial League 3A, 8 points ahead of local rivals RDK Gravelo, K Velm VV wins promotion to Provincial League 2 for the first time in club history.
• 2025 / Finishing in fourth place in Limburg’s Provincial League 2A, K Velm VV qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club knocks out FC Maasland Noordoost in R1 (1-4), going on to edge past HIH Hoepertingen in R2 (2-2 & penalty shoot-out). As such, the club achieves a historic promotion to Provincial League 1.

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

NETHERLANDS: vv Irene '58

Terrein Ruiterspoor, Den Hout (vv Irene '58)

Netherlands, province: North Brabant

27 IX 2025 / vv Irene '58 - TVC/Breda 1-5 / District South I, Saturday League 5D (= NL level 10)

Timeline

• 1958 / Foundation of a football club in Den Hout, a village to the west of Oosterhout in North Brabant, with the new club taking on the name Voetbalvereniging (vv) Irene ’58. The new club, which settles on a pitch laid out at Achterstraat, takes its place in the Sunday divisions of Afdeling Noord-Brabant (alternately referred to as Brabantse Voetbalbond, BVB), the North Brabant feeder league system of KNVB District South I’s Sunday League 4.
• ± 1960 / Moving away from Terrein Achterstraat, vv Irene ’58 moves to a newly laid-out pitch at Herstraat.
• ± 1961 / Moving away from Terrein Herstraat, vv Irene ’58 settles at Terrein Het Gat, at the back of Café Verweijmeren, to the east of the village.
• ± 1963 / Moving away from Terrein Het Gat, vv Irene ’58 settles on a newly laid-out pitch at Bankenweg.
• ± 1965 / Moving away from Terrein Bankenweg, vv Irene ’58 settles on a newly laid-out pitch at Ruiterspoor, close to the village centre. Here, the club has the luxury of a training pitch nearby, first to the northeast of the main pitch (area now taken by the village school), later to the west of the pitch (area hemmed in between the pitch and the windmill).
• ± 1980 / With the training pitch near the windmill being given up, the training facilities of vv Irene ’58 are now moved to Terrein Hoge Akker, two streets away, on the southern outskirts of the village.
• 1996 / Following a reorganisation of the non-league pyramid in the Netherlands, which sees the abolition of all feeder leagues and the clubs playing in them being integrated into the regular league system, vv Irene ’58, which had never reached the level of Sunday League 4 in the first 38 years of its existence, is placed in the newly created District South I’s Sunday League 6.
• 2001 / With Sunday League 6 being abolished in District South I, vv Irene ’58 is placed in Sunday League 5.
• 2008 / Finishing in fourth place in District South I’s Sunday League 5D, vv Irene ’58 goes on to win the promotion play-offs, thus acceding to Sunday League 4 for the first time in its existence. That same year, as the club celebrates its fiftieth anniversary, vv Irene ’58 is given the anniversary medal of the City of Oosterhout.
• 2013 / Finishing in fifth place in District South I’s Sunday League 4D, vv Irene ’58 qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club knocks out vv Dubbeldam (zo) in R1 (4-3 aggr.), only to be eliminated in R2 by VVR (3-0 aggr.).
• 2016 / The training pitch of vv Irene ’58 at Den Akker is laid out anew with a synthetic surface.
• 2018 / Clinching the title in District South I’s Sunday League 4C, 9 points ahead of closest followers SC Hoge Vucht, vv Irene ’58 manages an unprecedented promotion to Sunday League 3. The successful coach is Tijs van Bragt.
• 2019 / In the best season in club history, vv Irene ’58 finishes in eleventh place in District South I’s Sunday League 3B, just 1 point ahead of the drop zone.
• 2020 / vv Irene ’58 signs Jack Beusenberg, former NAC professional league defender (1974-82), as its head coach. However, Beusenberg only stays until the fall of 2020 before leaving the club voluntarily.
• 2022 / Finishing bottom of the table in District South I’s Sunday League 3B, vv Irene ’58 drops back into Sunday League 4 after four years. However, the club chooses to switch from the Sunday to the Saturday pyramid, thus taking its place in Saturday League 4 for the new season.
• 2024 / Finishing in ninth place in District South I’s Saturday League 4F, vv Irene ’58 descends into the newly created Saturday League 5, along with vv PCP, SSC ’55, vv Olympia ’60, DVVC, and bottom club UVV ’40.

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