Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: K Blauwvoet Oevel (1975-2023) / K Blauwvoet Oevel (B) (2023-)

Terrein Ilsestraat terr. 3, Oevel (B pitch of K Blauwvoet Oevel, formerly A pitch of K Blauwvoet Oevel)

Belgium, province: Antwerp = Antwerpen

6 IX 2025 / K Blauwvoet Oevel U17 - RWL Sport U17 1-4 / VFV Regional U17 - Group BQ

Timeline

1924 / Foundation of a football club in Oevel, a village in the rural southeast of the Province of Antwerp. The new club, which is given the name FC Unitas Oevel, joins the Belgian Football Association (URBSFA / KBVB). It is unclear where this club’s pitch was situated.
1926 / FC Unitas Oevel starts its life as a competitive club, being placed in Antwerp’s Regional League 3 (3e Gewestelijke). Later that same year, as the Belgian FA introduces its system of registration numbers, FC Unitas Oevel acquires number 405.
1928 / After two seasons in Antwerp’s Regional League 3, FC Unitas Oevel withdraws from competitive football.
1929 / Registration number 405 of FC Unitas Oevel is erased from the Belgian FA’s official lists in January 1929.
1930 / Foundation of a new club in Oevel, which takes on the name Blauwvoet Oevel. Refraining from membership of the official Belgian FA, the new club probably joined the so-called Kempische Voetbalbond (KVB). The club’s first pitch is laid out on a pasture at Dumpelstraat.
1935 / Five years after the club’s foundation, Blauwvoet Oevel joins the Belgian FA, obtaining registration number 2223 upon being accepted as a new member club. The club is placed in Antwerp’s Regional League 3 for the 1935-36 season.
± 1940 / Moving away from Terrein Dumpelstraat, Blauwvoet Oevel settles on a pitch laid out at the back of Mechelsestraat – where a road, Lammendries, was constructed later.
1951 / Blauwvoet Oevel qualifies for the nationwide Belgian Cup for the first time.
1952 / Having managed two runners-up finishes in Antwerp’s Regional League 3 in the previous two seasons, Blauwvoet Oevel now conquers the title at that level, gaining promotion to the newly created Provincial League 2.
1956 / Finishing in second-last place in Antwerp’s Provincial League 2C, Blauwvoet Oevel descends into Provincial League 3.
1958 / Champions in Antwerp’s Provincial League 3E, Blauwvoet Oevel manages a return to Provincial League 2 after two seasons.
1962 / Finishing bottom of the table in Antwerp’s Provincial League 2B, Blauwvoet Oevel drops back into Provincial League 3.
1964 / Champions in Antwerp’s Provincial League 3C, Blauwvoet Oevel gains promotion to Provincial League 2.
1972 / Finishing in third-last place in Antwerp’s Provincial League 2C, Blauwvoet Oevel drops back into Provincial League 3.
1975 / Blauwvoet Oevel moves its first team football to a new pitch laid out at Ilsestraat. Upon inauguration, the clubhouse is offered to the club by Oevel’s municipal authorities. While first team football moves to the new ground, Terrein Lammendries is retained for a few more years for lower team football and training sessions.
1976 / Finishing in second-last place in Antwerp’s Provincial League 3C, Blauwvoet Oevel descends into Provincial League 4 for the first time.
1977 / Runners-up in Antwerp’s Provincial League 4F, Blauwvoet Oevel manages an immediate return to Provincial League 3.
1978 / Finishing in second-last place in Antwerp’s Provincial League 3C, Blauwvoet Oevel drops back into Provincial League 3 immediately.
1979 / Champions in Antwerp’s Provincial League 4D, Blauwvoet Oevel manages an immediate return to Provincial League 3.
1980 / Upon the club’s fiftieth anniversary, Blauwvoet Oevel acquires the royal epithet, thus officially becoming Koninklijke Blauwvoet Oevel. Also around this time, the club abandons its training ground at Lammendries.
1982 / Runners-up in Antwerp’s Provincial League 3C, K Blauwvoet Oevel wins promotion to Provincial League 2.
1986 / Champions in Antwerp’s Provincial League 2C, K Blauwvoet Oevel manages a historic promotion to Provincial League 1.
1988 / In the best season in club history, K Blauwvoet Oevel finishes in eighth position in Antwerp’s Provincial League 1.
1990 / Finishing in second-last place in Antwerp’s Provincial League 1, K Blauwvoet Oevel drops back into Provincial League 2 after four years.
1994 / Finishing bottom of the table in Antwerp’s Provincial League 2C, K Blauwvoet Oevel is retrograded into Provincial League 3.
2000 / Champions in Antwerp’s Provincial League 3D, K Blauwvoet Oevel wins promotion to Provincial League 2.
2002 / Finishing in second-last place in Antwerp’s Provincial League 2C, K Blauwvoet Oevel descends into Provincial League 3.
2003 / Suffering back-to-back relegations, K Blauwvoet Oevel finishes in third-last place in Antwerp’s Provincial League 3D, thus finding itself in Provincial League 4 after an absence of 24 years at the bottom level of Antwerp’s provincial divisions.
2005 / Champions in Antwerp’s Provincial League 4D, 4 points ahead of closest rivals K Immer Voort FC, K Blauwvoet Oevel manages a return to Provincial League 3 after two years.
2009 / Finishing bottom of the table in Antwerp’s Provincial League 3D, K Blauwvoet Oevel descends into Provincial League 4 along with FC Netezonen, KFC Tongerlo, KFC De Vrijheid Herselt, KFC Excelsior Vorst, and FC Larum.
2010 / Runners-up in Antwerp’s Provincial League 4D, 3 points behind champions FC Punt, K Blauwvoet Oevel qualifies for the promotion play-offs, edging past FC Excelsior Kessel in R1 (3-3 aggr. & away goals) and going on to defeat K Putte SK in R2 (2-1 aggr.). As such, the club manages an immediate return to Provincial League 3.
2011 / Finishing in third place in Antwerp’s Provincial League 3C, K Blauwvoet Oevel qualifies for a promotion play-off, in which the club defeats KFC Broechem (4-2 aggr.), as a result of which promotion to Provincial League 2 is achieved.
2012 / Finishing in second-last place in Antwerp’s Provincial League 2B, K Blauwvoet Oevel drops back into Provincial League 3 immediately, along with AC Olen and bottom club KSK Sefa Herentals.
2015 / Finishing bottom of the table in Antwerp’s Provincial League 3C, K Blauwvoet Oevel drops back into Provincial League 4 along with KFC Heultje, Blauberg Sport, and VV Laakdal.
2018 / Finishing in fifth place in Antwerp’s Provincial League 4D, K Blauwvoet Oevel qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is knocked out in R1 by KFC Excelsior Vorst (2-0 aggr.).
2019 / Finishing in fourth place in Antwerp’s Provincial League 4E, K Blauwvoet Oevel fails to win promotion in the subsequent round of play-offs.
2020 / In the 2019-20 season, cut short due to the first COVID lockdown in March 2020, K Blauwvoet Oevel finishes in third place in Antwerp’s Provincial League 4D, 3 points behind FC Punt-Larum and 1 point behind FC Netezonen. On that basis, the club is placed in Provincial League 3 in the new season along with the two aforementioned clubs.
2023 / Runners-up in Antwerp’s Provincial League 3C, 7 points behind champions KVNA Wortel, K Blauwvoet Oevel qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is knocked out in R1 by Minderhout VV (0-0 & penalty shoot-out). Later that same year, on December 12th, 2023, a new clubhouse is inaugurated at Terrein Ilsestraat, constructed alongside a new main pitch, laid out on the training pitches to the northern side of Ilsestraat. The old main pitch, to the south of the same road, remains in use for lower team football and training sessions as Pitch/Veld 3.