Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: K Standard Elen

Terrein Het Ven, Elen (K Standard Elen)

Belgium, province: Limburg

6 IX 2025 / K Standard Elen - Turkse FC 2-3 / Limburg, Provincial League 1 (= BE level 6)

Timeline

1927 / Foundation of a first football club in Elen – spelled as Eelen at the time – a village on the Belgian Limburg side of the River Meuse, which forms the border with the eponymous Dutch province. The new club, which is given the name Standaard Eelen, acquires registration number 782 upon being accepted as new members of the Belgian FA (URBSFA / KBVB). It is unclear where the pitch of this club was situated.
1937 / After an existence of ten years, all spent in the lower reaches of Limburg’s Regional Leagues (Gewestelijke divisies), Standaard Eelen folds, ceasing all activities.
1941 / A new club sees the daylight in Elen. Eelen Sport, which obtains registration number 3259 upon joining the Belgian FA, settles on Terrein De Papoel at Zandstraat, a rather basic facility without dressing rooms in situ. Home players change their clothes in the greenhouse of the adjacent garden centre, while the aways and the referee have to use the facilities of Café Langstraat, further down the road. Eelen Sport starts its life as a competitive club in Limburg’s Regional League 2.
1944 / After three seasons in Limburg’s Regional League 2, Eelen Sport withdraws from competitive football.
1947 / After three years of inactivity – and being rather heavily indebted to the Belgian FA – Eelen Sport officially folds, with registration number 3259 being erased from the Belgian FA’s official lists.
1952 / Five years after the official demise of Eelen Sport, a recreational football club sees the daylight in Elen, with the rather original name Elen Rap en Knap being adopted. The club settles on a ground laid out at Kasteeldreef, at the crossroads with the driveway to Kasteel Sipernau. It is unclear in which league system Elen Rap en Knap played its football.
1955 / After an existence of barely three years, Elen Rap en Knap folds, ceasing all activities.
1956 / Foundation of a new football club in Elen, which takes on the name Standard Elen. The founding fathers of the new club are H. Janssen & D. Vanderhoven. The first pitch of the new club is situated at Rijksweg – with dressing rooms being added to the set-up there in 1957 or 1958.
1957 / One year after the club’s foundation, Standard Elen successfully applies for membership of the Belgian FA, obtaining registration number 6047.
1958 / After one year as an aspirant club, Standard Elen is placed in Belgian Limburg’s Provincial League 3 for the 1958-59 season.
1959 / Moving away from Terrein Rijksweg, Standard Elen settles at Terrein Het Ven, situated at Stationsstraat. This pitch coincides with the current (synthetic) B pitch of Terrein Het Ven.
1961 / Clinching the title in Limburg’s Provincial League 3B, Standard Elen wins promotion to Provincial League 2 for the first time.
1962 / Finishing bottom of the table in Limburg’s Provincial League 2A, Standard Elen drops back into Provincial League 3 after just one season.
1967 / Clinching the title in Limburg’s Provincial League 3E, Standard Elen manages a return to Provincial League 2 after five years.
1969 / Finishing in second-last place in Limburg’s Provincial League 2A, Standard Elen descends into Provincial League 2.
1970 / At Terrein Het Ven, a second pitch is added to the set-up, situated to the west of the original pitch, laid out eleven years previously. Subsequently, this new pitch becomes the main pitch of the park – having remained so ever since.
1972 / The new main pitch at Terrein Het Ven is adorned with new dressing rooms and a canteen, both constructed in a combined effort by club members.
1981 / Finishing bottom of the table in Limburg’s Provincial League 3B, Standard Elen descends into Provincial League 4 for the first time.
1982 / Champions in Limburg’s Provincial League 4E, Standard Elen manages an immediate return to Provincial League 3.
1986 / Finishing in second-last place in Limburg’s Provincial League 3B, Standard Elen tumbles back into Provincial League 4.
1997 / Champions in Limburg’s Provincial League 4C, Standard Elen wins promotion to Provincial League 3 after an absence of eleven years at that level.
1998 / Finishing in third-last place in Limburg’s Provincial League 3C, Standard Elen is retrograded into Provincial League 4 after just one season.
2000 / Champions in Limburg’s Provincial League 4B, Standard Elen manages a return to Provincial League 3.
2003 / Runners-up in Limburg’s Provincial League 3B, Standard Elen wins promotion to Provincial League 2 after an absence of 34 years at that level.
2004 / Finishing bottom of the table in Limburg’s Provincial League 2C, Standard Elen suffers relegation to Provincial League 3 after just one season.
2006 / Champions in Limburg’s Provincial League 3C, 4 points ahead of runners-up K Wit-Ster Beverst, Standard Elen wins promotion to Provincial League 2.
2007 / One year after the club’s fiftieth anniversary, Standard Elen acquires the royal epithet, thus officially becoming Koninklijke (K) Standard Elen.
2008 / Finishing bottom of the table in Limburg’s Provincial League 2A, K Standard Elen drops back into Provincial League 3 along with Turkse FC and Red Star Beverlo.
2009 / Runners-up in Limburg’s Provincial League 3B, 4 points behind champions Park FC Houthalen, K Standard Elen goes on to win the promotion play-offs, thus managing an immediate return to Provincial League 2.
2012 / Finishing in fourth place in Limburg’s Provincial League 2A, K Standard Elen qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club knocks out K Daring Huvo Jeuk in R1 (5-3 aggr.) and VV Brustem Centrum in R2 (2-1 aggr.). Thus having qualified for the final, the club suffers elimination in a double encounter with SK Moelingen (4-2 aggr.) – thus missing out on an unprecedented promotion to Provincial League 1.
2016 / Finishing in fifth place in Limburg’s Provincial League 2A, K Standard Elen qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is knocked out in R1 by KEWS Schoonbeek-Beverst (6-5 aggr.).
2019 / Finishing in third place in Limburg’s Provincial League 2A, K Standard Elen fails to win promotion to Provincial League 1 in the play-offs – in spite of wins over K Eendracht Henis and KFC Hamont 99.
2025 / Finishing in third place in Limburg’s Provincial League 2B, K Standard Elen qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club manages successive wins over KFC Anadol (6-4) and KVV Hoeselt (1-2), thus achieving a historic promotion to Provincial League 1.