Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: SK Nieuwe Kempen (2003-2015)

Saturday, 6 September 2025

BELGIUM: SK Nieuwe Kempen (2003-2015)

Terrein Resedastraat, Nieuwe Kempen (formerly SK Nieuwe Kempen)

Belgium, province: Limburg

September 2025 / no match visited

Timeline

± 1971 / Foundation of a football club in Nieuwe Kempen, a hamlet halfway between Opglabbeek and Zwartberg, the northernmost neighbourhood of Genk, in Belgian Limburg, constructed in the course of the 1960s as a new neighbourhood. The new club, which is given the name FC Nieuwe Kempen, joins a recreational football association, the so-called Koninklijke Belgische Liefhebbersvoetbalbond (KBLV). The club settles on a pitch laid out at Petuniastraat.
1981 / FC Nieuwe Kempen changes its name to become Sport- & Kultuurvereniging (SK) Nieuwe Kempen.
1986 / Under the leadership of chairman Frits Cardinaels, SK Nieuwe Kempen makes the leap to the official Belgian Football Association (URBSFA / KBVB), acquiring registration number 9028 and being placed in Limburg’s Provincial League 4.
2003 / Moving away from Terrein Petuniastraat, SK Nieuwe Kempen settles on a newly laid-out ground at Resedastraat, in the immediate vicinity of the local community centre, Gemeenschapscentrum De Krinkel. On the new location, the club has the luxury of three pitches. At the point of the move, the club plays in Limburg’s Provincial League 4, which it had only escaped for one season (1992-93) since joining the Belgian FA seventeen years previously.
2004 / On March 26, 2004, the clubhouse at Terrein Resedastraat is officially inaugurated by Oudsbergen’s mayor Benny Spreeuwers and Noël Schoofs, honorary president of SK Nieuwe Kempen.
2009 / Champions in Limburg’s Provincial League 4B, 3 points ahead of closest rivals K Waterloos VV, SK Nieuwe Kempen accedes to Provincial League 3.
2010 / Finishing in third place in Limburg’s Provincial League 3C, SK Nieuwe Kempen qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club eases past KFC De Jeugd Borgloon (6-0 aggr.) and KFC Ham United (7-2 aggr.) in the first two rounds, only to be knocked out in the final by KWS Alken (1-1 aggr. & away goals). Adding insult to injury, the club goes on to also suffer defeat in a lucky loser round against Sporting Grote-Heide (1-2), thus missing out on promotion.
2011 / Champions in Limburg’s Provincial League 3B, 3 points ahead of runners-up K Zutendaal VV, SK Nieuwe Kempen wins promotion to Provincial League 2 for the first and only time in its existence.
2012 / In the best season in club history, SK Nieuwe Kempen manages a fifth place in Limburg’s Provincial League 2A. In the promotion play-offs, the club is knocked out in R1 by Herk Sport Hasselt VV (4-2 aggr.).
2014 / Finishing bottom of the table in Limburg’s Provincial League 2A, SK Nieuwe Kempen drops back into Provincial League 3 along with K Achel VV and Calcio Genk.
2015 / Finishing in second-last place in Limburg’s Provincial League 3B, SK Nieuwe Kempen suffers back-to-back relegations, descending into Provincial League 4 along with bottom club Ven VV Maaseik. However, following the 2014-15 season, SK Nieuwe Kempen folds, ceasing all activities due to financial difficulties. The club’s registration number 9028 is erased from the Belgian FA’s official lists.
2017 / Two years after the demise of SK Nieuwe Kempen, Terrein Resedastraat is taken over by Rugbyclub Maasland, which moves from its old ground, the so-called Kasteelterrein at Kapelweg in Wurfeld. In the process, the club also changes its name to become Rugbyclub Oudsbergen.