Extreme Football Tourism: BELGIUM: CS Vielsalm (1) (1919-1921) / CS Vielsalm (2) (1922-1925) / CS Vielsalm matr. 1214 (1928-1939) / Excelsior Vielsalm (1941-1942) / RCS Vielsalm matr. 3470 (1942-1995) / RCS Vielsalm (B) (1995-2017) / RCS de la Salm (C) (2017-)

Stade Saint-Gengoux / François Lejeune terr. 2 "Hermanmont", Vielsalm (C pitch of RCS de la Salm, formerly main pitch of CS Vielsalm - Excelsior Vielsalm - RCS Vielsalm & B pitch of RCS Vielsalm)

Belgium, province: Luxembourg = Luxemburg

23 VIII 2026 / RCS de la Salm Reserves - RESC Houffaloise Reserves 3-3 / Luxembourg, Reserves' League - Group G

Timeline

1919 or 1920 / Foundation of a first football club in Vielsalm, a town in the far north of the Belgian Province of Luxembourg. The new club takes on the name Cercle Sportif (CS) Vielsalm, which joins the Belgian Football Association (URBSFA / KBVB) in 1920. It is unclear if, yet rather probable that, the club played its football on the pitch known as Stade Saint-Gengoux at modern-day Rue Hermanmont from the outset. No other location for football within the confines of the town has been recorded – and the ground was certainly already in use before the start of World War II.
1921 / CS Vielsalm folds, ceasing all activities.
1922 / Refoundation of CS Vielsalm.
1923 / The phoenix version of CS Vielsalm joins the Belgian FA.
1925 / With the club not having played competitive football in its first two years in the Belgian FA, CS Vielsalm now concludes a merger with neighbour club SS Salmienne from nearby Salmchâteau, resulting in the foundation of Entente Salmienne, with all activities moving to the ground in Salmchâteau, Champ des Dames.
1926 / As the Belgian FA introduces its system of registration numbers, Entente Salmienne receives number 555.
1928 / As a new, third successive CS Vielsalm is founded in Vielsalm, with registration number 1214 being obtained when being accepted into the Belgian FA, the 1925 merger is effectively disentangled. Settling at Stade Saint-Gengoux, CS Vielsalm starts its existence as a competitive club in the Special Championship, a league division for new clubs, being placed in Group E.
1929 / Clinching the title in Group E of the Special Championship, CS Vielsalm is placed in Luxembourg’s Regional Division 3 for the new season.
1930 / Champions in Luxembourg’s Regional League 3B, CS Vielsalm goes on to defeat D3A winners CS Halanzy in a play-off match, resulting in the club winning promotion to Regional League 2, the highest provincial level at the time.
1932 / In Salmchâteau, Entente Salmienne reverts to its pre-merger name SS Salmienne.
1933 / CS Vielsalm suffers relegation from Luxembourg’s Regional League 2 into Regional League 3 after three seasons.
1936 / Clinching the title in Luxembourg’s Regional League 3B, 3 points ahead of closest rivals FC Hottonnais, CS Vielsalm wins promotion to Regional League 2.
1937 / Clinching the title in Luxembourg’s Regional League 2 ahead of closest rivals US Èthe-Belmont and FC JS Athus, CS Vielsalm wins promotion to Promotion, the third and lowest national league level, for the first and only time in the history of football in Vielsalm. The club has the benefit of having a large military base in the vicinity of the town, with many soldiers of the Chasseurs Ardennais regiment reinforcing the first team.
1938 / Unable to cope with the national league level, CS Vielsalm picks up only 3 points (1 win, 1 draw) in 26 matches in Promotion B, thus finishing bottom of the table and dropping back into the provincial divisions alongside Juprelle Union FC and Saint-Nicolas FC Liège.
1939 / As the Belgian army mobilises in the face of the looming threat of a German invasion of Belgium, CS Vielsalm sees its first team heavily depleted, with the club withdrawing from competitive football as a result.
1940 / One year after withdrawing from competitive football, CS Vielsalm is officially wound up, with registration number 1214 being erased from the membership list of the Belgian FA.
1941 / After the dust of the German invasion of Belgium has settled down, a new club sees the daylight in Vielsalm, with the name Excelsior Vielsalm being adopted. The founding fathers of the club are Jean Bruyère, Louis Bruyère, Charles Evrard, Eugène Géradin, Alexandre Glaude, Omer Hoffman, Albert Kopp, Jules Martin, Léon Monfort, Willy Paquay, Joseph Talbot, and Jules Urbain.
1942 / Excelsior Vielsalm joins the Belgian FA under a more familiar name, CS Vielsalm – with this being the fourth club of this name seeing the daylight in 25 years. Receiving registration number 3470, the new CS Vielsalm settles at Stade Saint-Gengoux (Hermanmont). Omer Hoffman becomes the club’s first chairman. He submits a request at the Belgian FA for his club to be allowed to join the Liège regional divisions, but this plea goes unheard, with CS Vielsalm being placed in Group D of Luxembourg’s Special Championship. At some point in the club’s history, CS Vielsalm acquired an additional training pitch in the hamlet of Ville-du-Bois, some 1 km to the east of the town proper. It is unclear if this Stade Josy was the same ground which had been used by the short-lived Wallonie Sportive (WS) Ville-du-Bois between 1924 and 1927.
1943 / Having played in the Special Championship in the past season, CS Vielsalm is now transferred to the regular league pyramid, being placed in Regional League 2B, by now the second level of the provincial divisions in Luxembourg.
1944 / Clinching the title in Luxembourg’s Regional League 2B, 3 points ahead of runners-up Bomal FC and OC Rochois, CS Vielsalm wins promotion to Provincial League 2 (renamed Provincial League 1 in 1952).
1959 / Finishing in third-last place in Luxembourg’s Provincial League 1, CS Vielsalm descends into Provincial League 2.
1960 / Runaway champions in Luxembourg’s Provincial League 2B, 13 points ahead of closest followers JR Aye, CS Vielsalm manages an immediate return to Provincial League 1.
1963 / Finishing bottom of the table in Luxembourg’s Provincial League 1, CS Vielsalm drops back into Provincial League 2.
1964 / Finishing in second-last place in Luxembourg’s Provincial League 2C, CS Vielsalm descends into Provincial League 3.
1966 / Champions in Luxembourg’s Provincial League 3D ahead of runners-up ES Champlonaise and RSS Salmienne, CS Vielsalm manages a return to Provincial League 2 after two years.
1969 / Champions in Luxembourg’s Provincial League 2B, 3 points ahead of runner-up OC Rochois, CS Vielsalm manages a return to Provincial League 1 after an absence of six years.
1971 / Finishing in thirteenth place in Luxembourg’s Provincial League 1, CS Vielsalm descends into Provincial League 2 after two years.
1972 / Finishing in second-last place in Luxembourg’s Provincial League 2C, CS Vielsalm tumbles back into Provincial League 3.
1973 / Runner-up in Luxembourg’s Provincial League 3G, 1 point behind champions AS Regné, CS Vielsalm wins promotion to Provincial League 2.
1977 / Runaway champions in Luxembourg’s Provincial League 2C, 12 points ahead of closest followers Bomal FC, CS Vielsalm wins promotion to Provincial League 1.
1981 / Finishing in third-last place in Luxembourg’s Provincial League 1, CS Vielsalm drops back into Provincial League 2 alongside JR Aye and bottom club RA Florenvillois.
1991 / A second pitch is added to the set-up at Stade Saint-Gengoux (Hermanmont), to the east of the already existing (main) pitch, with the club’s goal being to create a clubhouse and covered stand alongside this new pitch, which is the projected new main pitch of the ground. This coincides with the abandonment of the club’s training pitch, the Stade Josy in Ville-du-Bois.
1993 / Having obtained the royal epithet in 1992, CS Vielsalm now officially changes its name to become Royal Cercle Sportif (RCS) Vielsalm.
1994 / Finishing in second-last place in Luxembourg’s Provincial League 2C, RCS Vielsalm drops back into Provincial League 3, alongside bottom club – and derby rivals – RSS Salmienne.
1996 / With the new clubhouse and covered stand alongside the second pitch of Stade Saint-Gengoux (Hermanmont) being inaugurated, first team football moves to this new main pitch. In subsequent years, the small wooden covered stand, situated next to the old clubhouse alongside the old main pitch, is knocked down. The pitch as well as the old clubhouse are retained, the former for lower team football and training sessions, the latter as storage room.
2017 / Following the 2016-17 season, a merger is concluded between RCS Vielsalm and RSS Salmienne, resulting in the foundation of Royal Cercle Sportif (RCS) de la Salm, with registration number 555 of RSS Salmienne being retained; number 3470 of RCS Vielsalm is erased from the Belgian FA’s membership list. The first chairman of the new club becomes Jean-Marie Thomas. First team football moves to the Champs des Dames in Salmchâteau, with the main pitch and side-pitch of the Stade Saint-Gengoux (Hermanmont) in Vielsalm remaining in use for lower team football and training sessions. In the following years, first team football regularly swaps from the main pitch of Stade Saint-Gengoux (Vielsalm) and the Champ des Dames in Salmchâteau.
2020 / RCS de la Salm merges its youth academy with the academies of neighbour clubs R Lierneux FC and RUS Sartoise in a newly formed youth academy club, which is given the name Jeunesse Unie Nord-Ardenne (JUNA) Salm-Sart-Lierneux, with this ‘club’ acquiring registration number 9796 upon being admitted as a new member of the Belgian FA.
2025 / The ground in Vielsalm, of which the old name Stade Saint-Gengoux has long fallen into disuse, is officially renamed Stade François Lejeune in honour of the man who served RCS Vielsalm as chairman between 1985 and 2017.

Note - Below, a compilation of photos of two different visits: pictures 1-3 & 6-7 = non-matchday visit, July 2026 / pictures 4-5 & 8-24 = match visit, August 2026. The last photo shows the pitch from the air in c. 2000, with a small covered stand still being in place next to the old clubhouse.