BELGIUM: RAC Neuvillers

Terrain de la Remihage, Neuvillers (RAC Neuvillers)

Belgium, province: Luxembourg

August 2024 / no match visited

Timeline

• 1922 / Foundation of a first football club in Neuvillers, a village in the Belgian Province of Luxembourg, not far from Libramont. The new club, which joins the Belgian Football Association (URBSFA / KBVB), takes on the name Amical Club (AC) Neuvillers, settling on a pitch laid out at Rue Notre Dame. 
• 1926 / No fewer than four years after its affiliation to the Belgian Football Association, AC Neuvillers starts its existence as a competitive club in the reserves’ divisions. That same year, in the month of December, as the Belgian FA introduces its system of registration numbers, AC Neuvillers receives number 241. 
• 1927 / AC Neuvillers is placed in Luxembourg’s Regional League 2 for the 1927-28 season.
• 1928 / AC Neuvillers gives up its place in Regional League 2 after one season only.
• 1931 / After at least two years of inactivity, registration number 241 of AC Neuvillers is struck from the Belgian FA’s membership list.
• 1942 / Refoundation of AC Neuvillers, with the club acquiring registration number 3586 upon joining the Belgian FA. This phoenix version of AC Neuvillers settles on the same pitch at Rue Notre Dame as its predecessor.
• 1945 / Not having taken part in competitive football in the war years, AC Neuvillers takes its place in a competition of emerging clubs, i.e. not in the regular regional divisions.
• 1947 / After two years in the competition of emerging clubs, AC Neuvillers folds, ceasing all activities. Registration number 3586 is struck from the membership list of the Belgian FA.
• 1949 / Second refoundation of AC Neuvillers, with the club receiving a new registration number, 5191, and settling on a newly laid-out pitch at Voie de Rossart. In the 1949-50 season, AC Neuvillers takes its place in a competition of emerging clubs, in a group with Cugnon FC, ES Poupehan, CS Sugny, USA Ochamps, FC Nevraumont-Biourge, SHC Offagne, and AS Opontoise.
• 1950 / AC Neuvillers takes its place in Luxembourg’s bottom division, Regional League 3, renamed Provincial League 3 in 1952.
• 1956 / AC Neuvillers finishes as runner-up in Luxembourg’s Provincial League 3B, 2 points behind champions US Chestrolaise.
• 1957 / AC Neuvillers finishes as runner-up in Luxembourg’s Provincial League 3B for the second year in a row, this time behind Forrières FC.
• 1958 / Clinching the title in Luxembourg’s Provincial League 3B, 2 points ahead of closest rivals RC Longlier, AC Neuvillers wins promotion to Provincial League 2 for the first time.
• 1967 / Finishing in third-last place in Luxembourg’s Provincial League 2B, AC Neuvillers descends into Provincial League 3 after nine years.
• 1968 / AC Neuvillers finishes as runner-up in Luxembourg’s Provincial League 3B, 2 points behind champions LC Warmifontaine.
• 1969 / AC Neuvillers finishes as runner-up in Luxembourg’s Provincial League 3B for the second year running, this time behind ES Orgeotoise.
• 1970 / Champions in Luxembourg’s Provincial League 3C, 6 points ahead of closest followers ES Saint-Pierre, AC Neuvillers wins promotion to Provincial League 2.
• 1971 / Finishing in third-last place in Luxembourg’s Provincial League 2A, AC Neuvillers descends into Provincial League 3 after one season only.
• 1973 / Finishing in joint first place in Luxembourg’s Provincial League 3C with RC Longlier, AC Neuvillers goes on to defeat its rivals in a tie-break match, thus gaining promotion to Provincial League 2.
• 1974 / AC Neuvillers finishes as runner-up in Luxembourg’s Provincial League 2B, 3 points behind champions ES Champlonaise.
• 1979 / Finishing bottom of the table in Luxembourg’s Provincial League 2, AC Neuvillers drops back into Provincial League 3 after five years.
• 1982 / Champions in Luxembourg’s Provincial League 3C, 3 points ahead of closest rivals SC Tillet and US Rossart, AC Neuvillers wins promotion to Provincial League 2.
• 1984 / AC Neuvillers finishes as runner-up in Luxembourg’s Provincial League 2B, 2 points behind champions Entente Bertrigeoise. Also in 1984, construction works get underway on a new-to-be-built ground for AC Neuvillers in the hamlet of Remihage, to the west of Neuvillers proper.
• 1985 / Clinching the title in Luxembourg’s Provincial League 2B, 3 points ahead of closest rivals US Tellinoise, AC Neuvillers wins promotion to Provincial League 1 for the first time in club history. That same year, after one year of construction works, the club settles on its newly constructed main pitch at Rue de la Remihage, while retaining its original pitch at Voie de Rossart for lower team football and training sessions.
• 1989 / Finishing in third-last place in Luxembourg’s Provincial League 1, AC Neuvillers drops back into Provincial League 2 after four years.
• 1991 / Finishing in second-last place in Luxembourg’s Provincial League 2B, AC Neuvillers drops back into Provincial League 3.
• 1998 / AC Neuvillers finishes as runner-up in Luxembourg’s Provincial League 3C, 4 points behind champions FC Paliseulois.
• 1999 / Clinching the title in Luxembourg’s Provincial League 3B, 4 points ahead of closest rivals JS Sainte-Marie-Wideumont, AC Neuvillers manages a return to Provincial League 2 after an absence of eight years.
• 2000 / Finishing bottom of the table in Luxembourg’s Provincial League 2B, AC Neuvillers drops back into Provincial League 3 after one season only, along with ES Saint-Pierre and JS Tavigny.
• 2001 / Acquiring the royal epithet two years after its fiftieth anniversary, AC Neuvillers adapts its name, officially becoming Royal Amical Club (RAC) Neuvillers.
• 2003 / As a training pitch is inaugurated at Terrain de la Remihage, situated to the west of the main pitch, RAC Neuvillers abandons its B ground at Voie de Rossart.
• 2004 / RAC Neuvillers finishes as runner-up in Luxembourg’s Provincial League 3D, 10 points behind runaway champions RUS Tellinoise.
• 2005 / Clinching the title in Luxembourg’s Provincial League 3D, 7 points ahead of closest followers ESL Redu, RAC Neuvillers wins promotion to Provincial League 2.
• 2007 / Finishing in third-last place in Luxembourg’s Provincial League 2, RAC Neuvillers drops back into Provincial League 3 after two years.
• 2011 / Champions in Luxembourg’s Provincial League 3C, 5 points ahead of closest rivals RJS Sainte-Marie-Wideumont, RAC Neuvillers wins promotion to Provincial League 2. Also in 2011, works get underway on a third pitch at Terrain de la Remihage, situated on the other side of the road. 
• 2012 / After one year of works, the newly laid-out Terrain 2 of the ground at Remihage is inaugurated, with a small covered stand adorning the new pitch. Whereas the training pitch laid out in 2003 does not have the correct dimensions for senior football, the new pitch allows for part of the club’s lower team football to be moved away from the main pitch. Simultaneously, an additional block of dressing rooms is inaugurated.
• 2022 / Finishing in fifth place in Luxembourg’s Provincial League 2B, RAC Neuvillers qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is knocked out in R1 by RUS Assenois (3-0).
• 2026 / Finishing in third place in Luxembourg’s Provincial League 2B, RAC Neuvillers qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club has the better of FC Bertrix in R1 (5-3) before suffering elimination in R2 at the hands of FC Bercheux (1-1 A.E.T. & penalty shoot-out).

Note – Thanks to RAC Neuvillers board member Mathieu Mouzon for providing important additional information for the article above.

All photos: (c) W.B. Tukker / www.extremefootballtourism.blogspot.com. Publication of any of these images only after permission of author