Belgium, province: Hainaut = Henegouwen
27 IX 2026 / JS Solrézienne - JS Jamioulx 2-0 / Hainaut, Provincial League 3D (= BE level 8)
Timeline
- 1966 / Foundation of a football club in Solre-Saint-Géry, a small village not far from Beaumont in the so-called Botte du Hainaut, the southeastern part of the Province of Hainaut. The new club takes on the name Jeunesse Sportive (JS) Solrézienne, acquiring membership of Belgium’s Football Association (URBSFA / KBVB) with registration number 6933. The club settles on a newly laid-out park with two pitches at Rue Sainte-Anne, at the back of the house of Mr Lucien Bernard. Bernard is the owner of most of the plot on which the two pitches are situated. The main pitch is only available in the September to April period, as cows are allowed onto the pitch to graze during the summer months. A very small clubhouse is constructed out of wood and corrugated metal sheet; the garage of Mr Bernard’s house at Rue Sainte-Anne 11 is subdivided into two very small dressing rooms. The ground is given the name Stade Léopold Dethy-Lucien Bernard – with Léopold Dethy being the local agricultural merchant who takes on the role of chairman. In the club’s debut season, JS Solrézienne is placed in the Hainaut’s divisions for reserves’ teams.
- 1967 / Having competed in the reserves’ league for one season, JS Solrézienne is now placed in the regular league pyramid, in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3 – the bottom level in Hainaut’s provincial divisions until the introduction of Provincial League 4 in 1970.
- 1978 / Finishing bottom of the table in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3D, JS Solrézienne descends into Provincial League 4, along with the club in second-last place, FC Standard Châtelet.
- 1980 / Clinching the title in Hainaut’s Provincial League 4H, 1 point ahead of closest rivals FC Chimay, JS Solrézienne wins promotion to Provincial League 3 – the first tangible success in club history.
- 1986 / Finishing in second-last place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3D, JS Solrézienne drops back into Provincial League 4 after six seasons, along with bottom club SC Pont-de-Loup.
- 1989 / Lucien Bernard, one of the founding fathers of JS Solrézienne and owner of the grounds of the main pitch as well as half of the second pitch, passes away. Following his passing, the owner of the other half of the training pitch decides to end the lease agreement with JS Solrézienne one-sidedly, with the club having had only half a training pitch at its disposal. Needless to say, the arrangement with cows being allowed to graze the main pitch during the summer period came to an end to allow the club to continue playing on this location.
- 1993 / Finishing in fourth place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 4F, JS Solrézienne goes on to win the subsequent play-off round, thus acceding to Provincial League 3.
- 1994 / Finishing in second-last place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3E, JS Solrézienne is retrograded into Provincial League 4, along with bottom club FC Pont-de-Loup-Aiseau. In the following two decades, JS Solrézienne remains a regular feature in Provincial League 4, with a fifth place in 2008 being the best result.
- 2017 / JS Solrézienne withdraws from first team football, remaining inactive during the 2017-18 season.
- 2018 / With a new board taking over the club, JS Solrézienne restarts in Hainaut’s Provincial League 4.
- 2019 / Authoritarian champions in Hainaut’s Provincial League 4H with 26 wins from 26 matches, with a gap of 22 points separating them from runner-up CS Forges, JS Solrézienne wins promotion to Provincial League 3. Poignantly, two days before the match which gave the club the title, Mrs Lucien Bernard passed away; from that time onwards, the house at Rue Sainte-Anne 11 has remained uninhabited – with the Bernard heirs allowing the club to continue making use of the dressing rooms in the garage.
- 2023 / Finishing in fourth place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3D, incidentally the best result in club history, JS Solrézienne qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club knocks out JS Jamioulx in R1 (4-3), only to suffer elimination in R2 at the hands of La Squadra Mouscron (0-1).
- 2025 / Finishing in fourth place in Hainaut’s Provincial League 3D, thereby repeating the result of the 2022-23 season, JS Solrézienne qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club bows out in R1 against Péruwelz FC B (2-1).
Note – Below, a compilation of photos of two different visits: pictures 1-6 = non-matchday visit, July 2025 / pictures 7-35 = match visit, September 2026.
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