Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: FC Pulle (1965-1994) / KFC Petrus Paulus Pulle (1994-2004) / KFC Pulle (2004-)

Terrein aan de Torenstraat (KFC Pulle, formerly FC Pulle / KFC Petrus Paulus Pulle)

Belgium, province: Antwerp = Antwerpen

1 VIII 2026 / KFC Pulle - KVV OG Vorselaar B 3-2 / Antwerp, Regional Cup P3-P4 - group stage, group 6

Timeline

1949 / Foundation of a football club in Pulle, a village situated halfway between Lierre and Herentals in the Province of Antwerp; the new club, FC Pulle, joins the Belgian Football Association (URBSFA / KBVB) with registration number 5173, with smallholder Jan Van Laer taking on the chairmanship. Settling on a pitch at Keulsebaan, at the back of Café Jan Moortgat, the club starts its life with a preliminary season in the reserves’ divisions.
1950 / FC Pulle starts its existence as a competitive club in Antwerp’s Regional League 3 (3e Gewestelijke), which is renamed Provincial League 3 two years later.
1958 / Champions in Antwerp’s Provincial League 3B, FC Pulle wins promotion to Provincial League 2 for the first time.
1959 / In the best performance in club history, FC Pulle manages a tenth place in Antwerp’s Provincial League 2B.
1960 / Finishing bottom of the table in Antwerp’s Provincial League 2B, FC Pulle drops back into Provincial League 3.
1965 / Moving away from Terrein aan de Keulsebaan, FC Pulle moves to a newly laid-out pitch at Torenstraat, where the club has been home until the present day. Most probably, the pitch at Keulsebaan was retained for lower team football and training sessions.
1972 / Finishing in twelfth place in Antwerp’s Provincial League 3D, FC Pulle is placed in the newly created Provincial League 4 for the 1972-73 season.
1983 / Runner-up in Antwerp’s Provincial League 4E, FC Pulle wins promotion to Provincial League 3. That same year, a group of disaffected members decides to break away to form a new club, Petrus Paulus Pulle, often abbreviated as PP Pulle, which settles at the old ground at Keulsebaan. Instead of joining the official Belgian FA, PP Pulle successfully applies for membership of the so-called Katholiek Sportverbond (KSV).
1986 / Finishing in second-last place in Antwerp’s Provincial League 3C, FC Pulle drops back into Provincial League 4 after three years.
1987 / Runner-up in Antwerp’s Provincial League 4B, FC Pulle manages an immediate return to Provincial League 3.
1988 / Finishing bottom of the table in Antwerp’s Provincial League 3C, FC Pulle descends back into Provincial League 4 after one season only.
1994 / After eleven years, a reconciliation is achieved between FC Pulle and Petrus Paulus Pulle, resulting in a merger club, which is given the name FC Petrus Paulus Pulle, often abbreviated as FC PP Pulle. With the old PP Pulle renouncing its membership of the KSV league association, first team football in Provincial League 4 continues to be played on the pitch at Torenstraat, with Terrein aan de Keulsebaan remaining in use for some more years as a training ground.
1999 / Clinching the title in Antwerp’s Provincial League 4C with coach Danny Rymen, FC Petrus Paulus Pulle wins promotion to Provincial League 3. That same year, upon the club’s fiftieth anniversary, the royal epithet is obtained, with the club thus officially being renamed Koninklijke Football Club (KFC) Petrus Paulus (PP) Pulle.
2001 / A second pitch is added to the set-up at Torenstraat for lower team football and training sessions; this may have coincided with the abandonment of the pitch at Keulsebaan.
2003 / Finishing in second-last place in Antwerp’s Provincial League 3C, KFC Petrus Paulus Pulle drops back into Provincial League 4.
2004 / For the 2004-05 season, KFC Petrus Paulus Pulle officially takes on the simplified name KFC Pulle. That same year, the old clubhouse at Torenstraat is knocked down to make way for a completely new edifice.
2005 / The new clubhouse at Terrein aan de Torenstraat is inaugurated.
2007 / KFC Pulle finishes as runner-up in Antwerp’s Provincial League 4D, 1 point behind champions Minderhout VV.
2012 / Finishing in third place in Antwerp’s Provincial League 4B, KFC Pulle qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club eases past K Brecht SK in R1 (7-0 aggr.), only to suffer defeat in the final against RKVV DOSKO (3-1 aggr.).
2013 / Finishing in fifth place in Antwerp’s Provincial League 4C, KFC Pulle qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club manages successive wins over SK Hezewijk in R1 (3-1 aggr.) and KFC Sint-Martinus Halle in R2 (final: 6-2 aggr.). As such, KFC Pulle accedes to Provincial League 3. The successful coach is Kristof Van Nueten.
2015 / Finishing in third-last place in Antwerp’s Provincial League 3A, KFC Pulle drops back into Provincial League 4 after one season only, alongside KFC Heidebloem Pulderbos and bottom club KFC Horendonk.
2016 / Finishing in fifth place in Antwerp’s Provincial League 4D, KFC Pulle qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is knocked out in R1 by K Schelle Sport (5-2 aggr.).
2017 / Runner-up in Antwerp’s Provincial League 4B, 13 points behind runaway champions VC Mortsel Oude God, KFC Pulle qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club bows out in R1 against KFC Heidebloem Pulderbos (4-3 aggr.).
2018 / Champions in Antwerp’s Provincial League 4B, 1 point ahead of closest rivals KFC Heidebloem Pulderbos, KFC Pulle wins promotion to Provincial League 3.
2020 / In the 2019-20 season, cut short due to the first COVID lockdown in March 2020, KFC Pulle finds itself in third-last place in Antwerp’s Provincial League 3A after 27 of 32 matches played; on that basis, the club is retrograded into Provincial League 4 along with K Brecht SK, KFC Meerle, and bottom club K Borsbeek Sport (which, incidentally, ceases all activities following the season).
2023 / Champions in Antwerp’s Provincial League 4E, 5 points ahead of closest rivals KSK Oosthoven, KFC Pulle wins promotion to Provincial League 3. The successful coach is Kristof Van Nueten.
2024 / In spite of only finishing in eleventh place in Antwerp’s Provincial League 3C, KFC Pulle qualifies for the promotion play-offs by virtue of the team winning the first of the so-called period titles, a phase of the first ten matches of the season. In the play-offs, KFC Pulle edges past KFC Molenzonen-Hallaar in R1 (4-4 A.E.T. & penalty shoot-out), going on to suffer defeat in the final against K Minderhout VV (4-1). However, due to extra promotion places turning out to be available, the club accedes to Provincial League 2 after an absence of 64 years at that level. The successful coach is Kristof Van Nueten.
2025 / KFC Pulle secures a prolonged stay in Antwerp’s Provincial League 2B by the skin of their teeth, finishing ahead of drop-outs KVV Zwaluwen Olmen only by virtue of securing 10 wins (as opposed to 8 for Olmen).
2026 / Finishing in second-last place in Antwerp’s Provincial League 2B, KFC Pulle drops back into Provincial League 3 after two years, along with K Verbroedering Balen and bottom club KFC Meer.