Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: EMI Essene

Saturday, 9 May 2026

BELGIUM: EMI Essene

Edmond Moyson-Arena - Kerkplein, Essene (EMI Essene)

Belgium, province: Flemish Brabant = Vlaams Brabant

9 V 2026 / EMI Essene - Racing Butsel 2-1 A.E.T. / Brabant, VFV Provincial League 4 - promotion play-off R2 (= BE level 9)

Timeline

1957 / In Essene, a village in the west of the Flemish part of the Province of Brabant in the heart of Belgium, a village football team called EMI Essene is competing in the Katholiek Sportverbond, a Catholic rival association of the official Belgian Football Association (URBSFA / KBVB). It is unclear when EMI Essene saw the daylight, but it is clear the club started out as the corporate football team of milk factory EMI – with the abbreviation standing for Essense Melkfabriek Isidorus or Essense Melkerij-Inrichting, depending on which source is followed. The club plays its football on a ground in the heart of the village, to the west of Kerkplein – not the current main pitch, but a pitch directly to its south, on a plot of land taken nowadays by the event location De Montil.
1959 / EMI Essene joins the official Belgian FA with registration number 6259 – and an adapted name; given that corporate names are not allowed, the acronym EMI is now given the adapted meaning of Elk Met Ideaal. The club is placed in the bottom division of Brabant’s provincial leagues at that time, Provincial League 3.
1965 / Finishing in third-last place in Brabant’s Provincial League 3F, EMI Essene is placed in the newly created Provincial League 4 for the 1965-66 season.
1967 / EMI Essene finishes as runner-up in Brabant’s Provincial League 4B, an achievement the club would repeat in 1972.
± 1975 / A clubhouse is erected alongside the northern touchline of the ground at Kerkplein.
1983 / Runner-up in Brabant’s Provincial League 4D, EMI Essene accedes directly to Provincial League 3 due to extra promotion places being available.
1984 / Finishing in second-last place in Brabant’s Provincial League 3F, EMI Essene drops back into Provincial League 4 after just one season.
± 1985 / As EMI Essene has to give up its main pitch, which is taken over for other uses, the club moves its football to the pitch adjacent to it, i.e. the current main pitch. Meanwhile, two training pitches are at its disposal at the western end of the ground to make up for the loss of the main pitch.
1998 / EMI Essene finishes as runner-up in Brabant’s Provincial League 4B
2001 / Runner-up in Brabant’s Provincial League 4B, 5 points behind champions KVK Wemmel, EMI Essene accedes to Provincial League 3 directly due to extra promotion places being available. Also in 2001, with the old clubhouse dating back to the 1970s being knocked down, a replacement construction is erected at the western end of the main pitch.
2002 / In the best season in club history, EMI Essene manages an eighth place in Brabant’s Provincial League 3F.
2003 / Finishing in second-last place in Brabant’s Provincial League 3F, EMI Essene descends into Provincial League 4 along with bottom club VK Sint-Agatha-Berchem.
± 2005 / A two-storey building is erected alongside the southern touchline of the main pitch at Terrein Kerkplein, which has served as the club’s dressing rooms until the present day.
2011 / Champions in Brabant’s Provincial League 4D, 3 points ahead of closest rivals VC Den Boskant Peizegem and Daring Sint-Martens Bodegem – incidentally the club’s first-ever title – EMI Essene manages a return to Provincial League 3 after an absence of six years.
2012 / Finishing in second-last place in Brabant’s Provincial League 3C, EMI Essene drops back into Provincial League 4 alongside bottom team Sporting Eizeringen B.
2014 / Champions in Brabant’s Provincial League 4D, 5 points ahead of closest followers VK Liedekerke B, EMI Essene accedes to Provincial League 3.
2017 / Finishing in second-last place in Brabant’s VFV Provincial League 3D, EMI Essene is retrograded into Provincial League 4, along with bottom team KFC Rhodienne-De Hoek B.
2025 / Finishing in fourth place in Brabant’s VFV Provincial League 4B, EMI Essene qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club draws a bye in R1, only to suffer elimination in R2 at the hands of KFC Werchter (0-2). Also in 2025, Terrein Kerkplein is officially renamed Edmond Moyson-Arena in honour of a long-serving club volunteer who had fallen seriously ill.
2026 / Finishing in third place in Brabant’s VFV Provincial League 4B, EMI Essene qualifies for the promotion play-offs. Drawing a bye in R1, the club edges past Racing Butsel in R2 (2-1 A.E.T.), going on to defeat KVK Wemmel B in the final (2-3); as a result, the club manages a return to Provincial League 3 after an absence of nine years.