Belgium, province: Antwerp = Antwerpen
1 VIII 2026 / KFCV Alberta Geel - Atletico Adler FC 10-1 / Antwerp, Regional Cup P3-P4 - group stage, group 6
Timeline
- ± 1917 / In Winkelomheide, a hamlet not far from Geel in the Province of Antwerp, a recreational football team sees the daylight, FC Heidezonen. The team, which found its origins in an earlier local group of youngsters playing football with a pig bladder, with them referring to themselves as ‘Heidebloem’. FC Heidezonen most probably played its football on a pitch in the vicinity of Café Louis Vandecruys. Not much later, another recreational football team, Belgica, is formed in Winkelomheide.
- 1925 / Following a merger of FC Heidezonen and Belgica, a proper football club is founded in Winkelomheide; FC Hei-Sport Gheel, which joins the Belgian Football Association (URBSFA / KBVB). Given the lack of further details regarding the club’s performance in the following years, Hei-Sport probably competed in a league of candidate clubs and reserve teams. It is unclear where the pitch of this new club was situated.
- 1926 / As the Belgian FA introduces its system of registration numbers, FC Hei-Sport Gheel receives number 506.
- 1928 / After barely three years, FC Hei-Sport Gheel renounces its membership of the Belgian Football Association. This does not imply that the club folded, as it may have continued its existence in another league association, e.g. the Vlaamsche Voetbalbond (VVB) or the Kempische Voetbalbond (KVB).
- 1936 / A club from Winkelomheide, Hei Sport Gheel – either newly founded or the old FC Hei-Sport Gheel after a spell in a different league association – seeks affiliation with the Belgian Football Association, acquiring registration number 2390 upon being accepted. For the 1936-37 season, Hei Sport Gheel is placed in Antwerp’s Regional League 3 (3e Gewestelijke).
- 1939 / After three years in Antwerp’s Regional League 3, Hei Sport Gheel folds, ceasing all activities – possibly due to many of its players being called up to perform their military service upon the mobilisation of the Belgian armed forces in the summer of 1939.
- 1942 / During the German occupation of Belgium, a new club sees the daylight in Winkelomheide, FC Alberta Geel. Although not being accepted as Belgian FA member yet, the club is allowed to take part in the 1942-43 season in Regional League 3. FC Alberta’s first ground is Terrein Den d’Juus van Mol in Hezemeer – with players being allowed to use the nearby Café Den Hollander to change clothes.
- 1943 / One year after joining competitive league football under the auspices of the Belgian FA, FC Alberta Geel is officially accepted as a new member club under registration number 3926.
- 1950 / In spite of the existence of FC Alberta Geel, a new club is formed in Winkelomheide, Heisport Geel, which is allowed into the Belgian FA with registration number 5399. Heisport Geel plays its football at Terrein Kemeldijk, situated near the crossroads with Gemeenteheide. Oddly, FC Alberta Geel seems to have moved to a pitch referred to as Terrein Kemeldijk as well around this same time, leading to the assumption that both clubs may have groundshared – or playing their football on two adjoining pitches.
- 1951 / One year after its affiliation to the Belgian FA, Heisport Geel starts its existence as a competitive club in Antwerp’s Regional League 3 (renamed Provincial League 3 in 1952), resulting in two derby games against FC Alberta Geel each season.
- 1960 / In the best season in club history, otherwise marred by continued bad results, Heisport Geel manages an eighth place in Antwerp’s Provincial League 3B. Also in or around 1960, FC Alberta Geel moves away from Terrein Kemeldijk, settling on a newly laid-out ground at Gasthuisheide.
- 1970 / Following a fourteenth place in Antwerp’s Provincial League 3A in the 1969-70 season, Heisport Geel withdraws from first team football – however without folding; the club may very well have fielded recreational and/or youth teams in the 1970-71 season.
- 1971 / A merger is concluded between FC Alberta Geel and Heisport Geel, leading to the foundation of FC Verbroedering Alberta Geel, which retains Alberta’s registration number 3926; Heisport’s number 5399 is erased from the Belgian FA’s official lists. That same year, the new club settles on a brand new ground, laid out on a plot of farmland owned by a local smallholder, Petrus Van Olmen, at Hollandsebaan; this is the ground where the club has been home ever since.
- 1972 / Finishing in seventh place in Antwerp’s Provincial League 3H, FC Verbroedering Alberta is placed in the newly created Provincial League 4 for the 1972-73 season.
- 1974 / Clinching its first title, FC Verbroedering Alberta finishes top of the table in Antwerp’s Provincial League 4E, thus gaining promotion to Provincial League 3.
- 1978 / Finishing in thirteenth place in Antwerp’s Provincial League 3C, FC Verbroedering Alberta drops back into Provincial League 4.
- 1989 / Champions in Antwerp’s Provincial League 4E, FC Verbroedering Alberta manages a return to Provincial League 3 after eleven years.
- 1992 / Finishing bottom of the table in Antwerp’s Provincial League 3D, FC Verbroedering Alberta is retrograded into Provincial League 4 after three years.
- 1993 / Former Alberta youth player, winger Robby Van de Weyer, who had joined the academy of KVC Westerlo some years previously, makes his professional league debut for the club in National Division 2 at the age of eighteen. In the following years, Van de Weyer goes on to have spells at K Lierse SK, Germinal Beerschot Antwerpen, KFC Verbroedering Geel, KVSK United, KFC Racing Mol-Wezel, and Verbroedering Geel-Meerhout – ultimately hanging up his boots in 2012.
- 1994 / As FC Verbroedering Alberta Geel acquires the royal epithet, the club officially takes on the name Koninklijke Football Club (KFC) Verbroedering Alberta Geel.
- 1995 / Finishing in third place in Antwerp’s Provincial League 4C, KFC Verbroedering Alberta goes on to win the promotion play-offs, thus acceding to Provincial League 3.
- 1996 / Finishing in third-last place in Antwerp’s Provincial League 3D, KFC Verbroedering Alberta drops back into Provincial League 4 after just one season.
- 1998 / Former Alberta youth player, wingback Filip Daems, who had joined the academy of KFC Verbroedering Geel nine years previously, makes his professional league debut at the age of twenty with K Lierse SK. In a successful career, Daems goes on to have subsequent spells at Gençlerbirliği SK, Borussia Mönchengladbach, and KVC Westerlo, ultimately hanging up his boots in 2017; notably, Daems also gained 8 caps for the Belgium national side between 2004 and 2010.
- 2000 / Runner-up in Antwerp’s Provincial League 4D, KFC Verbroedering Alberta wins promotion to Provincial League 3 for the new season, probably after a round of play-offs.
- 2001 / Finishing in second-last place in Antwerp’s Provincial League 3D, KFC Verbroedering Alberta drops back into Provincial League 4 after just one year.
- 2003 / Runner-up in Antwerp’s Provincial League 4D, KFC Verbroedering Alberta wins promotion to Provincial League 3 for the new season, probably after a round of play-offs.
- 2004 / Finishing in third-last place in Antwerp’s Provincial League 3D, KFC Verbroedering Alberta descends into Provincial League 4 after just one season, alongside Sint-Dimphna FC Zammel and bottom club KVV Zwaluwen Olmen.
- 2012 / Finishing in third place in Antwerp’s Provincial League 4E, KFC Verbroedering Alberta qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club knocks out KSC Maccabi-Voetbal Antwerpen in R1 (4-2 aggr.), only to be pegged back by K Oelegem SK in the final (4-0 aggr.).
- 2019 / Ultimate clubman and honorary president of KFC Verbroedering Alberta, Frans Kerckhofs, passes away on February 19th, 2019, at the age of 86. Later that year, the ground at Hollandsebaan is renamed in his honour, the Frans Kerckhofsstadion.
- 2022 / After a string of particularly unsuccessful seasons, KFC Verbroedering Alberta temporarily withdraws from first team football in Provincial League 4.
- 2023 / KFC Verbroedering Alberta returns to first team football in Antwerp’s Provincial League 4.
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