Belgium, province: Namur = Namen
9 VIII 2026 / FCE Tarciennois - RFC Somzée 3-3 - Somzée wins penalty shoot-out (2-3) / Namur, Provincial Cup R2
Timeline
- 1915 / A photo has been preserved of a group of football players in Tarcienne, sporting a plate ‘Foot-Ball Club de Tarcienne’. This club – if it was ever officially founded – never joined the Belgian Football Association (URBSFA / KBVB) and it is unlikely that it survived the hardships of the German occupation of Belgium in World War I.
- 1956 / Foundation of a football club in Tarcienne, a village in the Province of Namur, just beyond the southern outskirts of Charleroi; the new club, founded by three local youngsters who had previously played for ROC Charleroi, Arthur Montel, Léon Dupont, and Michel Vandenbosch, takes on the name Espoir Tarciennois, with M. Monroy taking on the role of chairman.
- 1957 / Espoir Tarciennois joins the Belgian Football Association, acquiring registration number 6004 upon being accepted as a new member club. A pitch is laid out at Rue de Noisetiers, close to the American Military Cemetery; the ground is usually referred to as Terrain du Pavé, but please note that this does not coincide with the pitch where the club settled later on, in the summer of 1980. For the 1957-58 season, Espoir Tarciennois is placed in Namur’s Provincial League 3.
- 1964 / Espoir Tarciennois manages a runner-up finish in Namur’s Provincial League 3.
- 1965 / Clinching the title in Namur’s Provincial League 3, Espoir Tarciennois wins promotion to Provincial League 2. The skipper of the successful team is Emile Philippe.
- 1969 / Suffering relegation from Namur’s Provincial League 2 after four years, Espoir Tarciennois finds itself in Provincial League 3 again. That summer, moving away from its ground near the American Military Cemetery, FC Espoir Tarciennois settles on a newly laid-out pitch on the western outskirts of the village centre, the Terrain du Marais or Terrain du Try des Marais. at the crossroads with Rue de Sausy.
- 1970 / As the soil of the Terrain du Marais proves too marshy, an emergency solution has to be found, with the club settling on a temporary ground, the Terrain du Calvaire, a plot of farmland put at the disposal of the local footballers by a local smallholder, E. Vandenbroeck. The new ground, alternatively referre to as Terrain du Grand Bon Dieu, was situated at Rue de Gerpinnes, close to the village cemetery.
- 1979 / Thanks to the intervention of the municipal authorities of Walcourt, FC Espoir Tarciennois can move to a newly laid-out ground with several pitches alongside the Route Nationale 5, referred to as the Terrain du Pavé. The club takes up playing here, in spite of the fact that the facilities have not been completely finished yet.
- 1980 / Upon the completion of the works on the Terrain du Pavé, the ground is officially inaugurated on August 16th, 1980, as the Stade Daniel Damanet - in honour of a youth player who fell victim to a lethal accident the year before. It has to be pointed out, though, that the name Stade Daniel Damanet never really stuck, with the ground still being known primarily as the Terrain du Pavé.
- 1981 / On the club’s 25th anniversary, the name Espoir Tarciennois is officially adapted to become Football Club (FC) Espoir Tarciennois, often abbreviated as FCE Tarciennois or FCE Tarcienne.
- 1997 / Runner-up in Namur’s Provincial League 4B, 1 point behind champions JS Morialmé, FC Espoir Tarciennois goes on to win promotion to Provincial League 3 via the play-offs, holding out at that level until at least 2001.
- 2009 / Finishing in second-last place in Namur’s Provincial League 3B, FC Espoir Tarciennois descends into Provincial League 4 along with R Ham FC and bottom club REFC Moustier.
- 2014 / Runner-up in Namur’s Provincial League 4E, 5 points behind champions RCS Florennois, FC Espoir Tarciennois qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is drawn into a group with FC Auvelais B and REFC Evelette-Jallet; suffering an away defeat against the former (3-1) and managing a home win against the latter (4-3), the club finishes in second place – sufficient for promotion to Provincial League 3.
- 2015 / Finishing in thirteenth place in Namur’s Provincial League 3B, FC Espoir Tarciennois drops back into Provincial League 4, along with RFC Somzée B, Etoile Taminoise, and bottom club REFC Moustier.
- 2016 / Champions in Namur’s Provincial League 4F, 2 points ahead of closest rivals Flavion Sport B, FC Espoir Tarciennois manages an immediate return to Provincial League 3.
- 2018 / Runner-up in Namur’s Provincial League 3C, 4 points behind champions ES Petigny-Frasnes, FC Espoir Tarciennois qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club finishes top in its group of three following successive wins over Jeunesse Taviétoise (0-2) and US Beauraing 61 B (1-0). As such, Tarcienne wins promotion to Provincial League 2.
- 2019 / Finishing bottom of the table in Namur’s Provincial League 2B, FC Espoir Tarciennois drops back into Provincial League 3 after one season only, alongside RSFC Bièvre and RUS Assesse.
- 2020 / In the 2019-20 season, cut short due to the first COVID lockdown in March 2020, FC Espoir Tarciennois finds itself top of the table in Namur’s Provincial League 3C after 22 of 30 matches played, 2 points ahead of closest rivals RFC Bioul 81. On that basis, Tarcienne is placed in Provincial League 2 for the new season.
- 2024 / Finishing in fifth place in Namur’s Provincial League 2B – in what may have been the club’s best-ever performance – FCE Tarciennois qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is knocked out in R1 by ES Petigny-Frasnes (2-1).
- 2025 / A new clubhouse is constructed alongside the touchline on the south side of the main pitch at the Stade Daniel Damanet.
Note 1 – Many thanks to Tarcienne's local historian Marc Dumont for providing me with priceless source material concerning the history of FC Espoir Tarciennois and its successive grounds.
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