Extreme Football Tourism: 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.